Wikimania Committee/Minutes/2020-11-10

Wikimania 2022 Working Session 1

Wikimania 2021 wrapped up successfully in August 2021, surpassing goals for global participation, inclusivity, and welcoming newcomers. It also provided the Wikimedia movement with intersectional evaluation results to build a solid foundation for future Wikimanias, including key lessons for virtual participation. Starting in November 2021, the Wikimania Steering Committee has been discussing these results and much more to create a unique and welcoming event in 2022.

After reviewing the results and debriefing from the experience of Wikimania 2021, the Steering Committee and some members of the Wikimania 2021 Core Organizing Team, are having conversations around: roles and responsibilities; collaboration practices for the committee; scenarios for the global pandemic in August 2022 and possible models for Wikimania; relatedly, the composition of the 2022 Core Organizing Team; finally, the group will be discussing locations, technology infrastructure, communication cadence, and a high-level timeline.

Session overview

Discussion of roles and responsibilities, and tools for collaboration, including those on wiki.

Attendance

Andrew Lih, Anna Torres, Butch Bustria, Eric Luth, Deror Avi, Florence Devouard, Gnangarra, Iván Martinez, Iolanda Pensa, Lodewijk, Susanna Mkrtchyan, Yamen Bousrih

Summary

Roles and responsibilities

• The Steering Committee (SC) is responsible for making sure Wikimania happens and is a global, movement-wide event
• SC are there from year to year to share the experience and try to avoid repetition of lessons learnt
• The SC operates on a larger timescale annually and from one Wikimania to another
• Each Wikimania also has a Core Organizing Team (COT) with a shorter timeline and tighter milestones

Tools

• A simple tool for project tracking is key – a platform that everyone in the committee commits to using
• Communication is also key and has multiple facets: simple communication with in the committee; more regular communication with the movement; and important milestones for the project
• In general, tools should be intuitive, simple, and require minimal training for newcomers
• External tools have proven useful and practical, and are widely used in the movement (e.g. Pretalx)
• To use a project management tool (Asana or Trelo have been used by some members) and keep Wikis updated
• Wiki will continue to be used and updated, e.g. for program proposals and for transparency, but also potentially for discussions

What's next?

Various scenarios and possible models for Wikimania 2022