Wikimania 2022/Scholarships/Wikimeetup of Wikimedians in Bangladesh during Wikimania/Report
Goals[edit]
We planned to hold an in-person gathering where all active Wikimedians in Bangladesh can be hosted. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to organize a mass gathering for a long period of time. So we take the opportunity by arranging Wikimania Bangladesh-2022. It was a pleasure for us that we were able to allow all active Wikimedians across the country, those who were interested in participating.
Outcome[edit]
| Target outcome | Achieved outcome | Explanation |
| Our aim was to arrange the in-person meetup for 50 participants. | We were pretty close to our target. We had 46 people present at the event day. | Few people cancelled their participation just before the event date due to their personal urgency. We also allowed only those who has a minimum knowledge or contribution to Wikimedia movement. |
| Data packages for 30 persons | Data packages provided to 17 remote participants | Only 17 people applied for the data package. We provided the facility for all of them. |
Learning[edit]
- What worked well?
- It was a gathering of Wikimedians of Bangladesh after a long time. People joined with enthusiasm. In spite of it being only a 1-day event, we tried to keep enough space in between so the participants can have spaces to socialize and strengthen their interpersonal networking.
- Though it was planned as a general meetup at first, later the program design changed a little bit and we tried to create an environment of a scaled-down version of Wikimania where the participants can get a little experience of Wikimania within the limited capacity we had.
- We tried to invite a mixed-up group of Veteran Wikimedians, relatively newer Wikimedians, Wikimedians from different ethnicities and gender, foundation staff, wikimedians from other affiliates, and WMF Staff who showed interest. We also invited a few guests from like-minded organizations for example- Bangladesh Open Source Network, Internet Society Bangladesh Chapter, and Technology Media Guild Bangladesh along with one person Asiatic Society of Bangladesh who also happens to be an active Wikipedian. Some of them were present at the event, some couldn't make it.
- In our 1-day program, we had six 15-minute presentation sessions, six 5-minutes lightning talk sessions, and one 2-hour long group discussion session. For the presentation sessions and lightning talks, we asked for proposals for presentations beforehand and presenters from different backgrounds presented their presentations on various topics. In the group discussion, participants were assigned to smaller groups to discuss on one singular agenda and after the discussion, one representative from each group came to the stage and presented what they have discussed in their group. It was a very engaging session.
- We have seen talks of various possible future partnership opportunities during the social space networking and also the possibilities are still in-pursuit after the event as well.
- At the end of the event, we collected anonymous feedback for the event where we received feedback from the participants. One of the most repeated feedback was that we should arrange this kind of conference event more frequently.
- What did not work so well?
- The process of the approval of the event and grant took much longer than expected. Therefore, we had little time to prepare for the event and improvise a number of things and were forced to drop off a few plans that we initially planned for. For example, we planned to run an RFC with the community about the criteria for selecting event participants. We had to drop that plan due to a lack of time.
- We also planned for only 50 participants, which included active Wikimedians, underrepresented Wikimedians from different ethnicities, languages and gender, foundation staff, Wikimedians from other affiliates, and WMF Staffs. We had received almost 80 applications for participation from the community alone. It was a very tough task for the organizing team to choose the participants. There were expressions of disappointment from applicants who didn't make the final participants list. The organizing team also felt helpless because of the limited resources and time we had.
- We communicated with the participants several times before confirming their invitations. In spite of all our efforts, 4 out of 50 participants didn't come to the event. We reached them after the event, and all of them responded that they had some last-minute unavoidable personal circumstances so they couldn't come.
- Many participants had to travel from remote places to Dhaka (where the event was held) to attend only a 1-day event. We didn't plan for accommodation for them. It was a very tiring journey for the participants.
- One of the repeating feedback was this event should have been planned for more than one day and included a few training sessions in it.
- The grant money came to us very late (after the event). Since the event was already announced and seeing the enthusiasm of the participants, organizers had to finance the event (later reimbursed) out of their own pocket instead of postponing. We recognize that this was not ideal and shouldn't be repeated often in the future.
- What would you do differently next time?
- Definitely, we would consider having multiple-day conferences with more participants capacity next time. Successfully arranging this event with limited resources and time, our volunteers are now confident that they can arrange bigger events in the future.
Finances[edit]
Grant funds spent[edit]
| S/L | Items | Details | Amount (BDT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Venue with Amenities |
|
62558 |
| 2 | Food & Beverage |
|
76230 |
| 3 | Swag & Gifts |
|
72600 |
| 4 | Internet Data Scholarships | 17 Internet data scholarships given to scholarship applicants to join main Wikimania 2022 Online Events | 5100 |
| 5 | Travel Scholarships | 17 Participants claimed for Tavel Scholarships with in-transit refreshments | 37000 |
| 6 | COVID-19 Safety Products and First Aid Kit |
|
7620 |
| 7 | Administrative cost |
|
27082 |
| 8 | Transfer and other fees (10%) | 30704 | |
| Total | 318894 |
Remaining funds[edit]
We have BDT 18,860 remaining. If possible, we would like to spend the remaining funds on other ongoing or planned WMBD programs.
Remaining funds have been used or will be used for other approved mission-aligned activities. This use has been requested in writing and approved by WMF.
Gallery[edit]
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Group Discussion -
Group photo -
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Souvenir
