Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2017/Programme/Submission/First Bulgarian wiki postage stamp
Title of your proposal[edit]
- First Bulgarian wiki postage stamp
Name(s) and/or username(s)[edit]
- Vassia Atanassova, User:Spiritia
- Wikimedians of Bulgaria UG (signee)
Topic[edit]
- Partnerships (GLAM collaborations, Other institutional collaborations, Wiki Medicine projects? STEM?)
Type of submission (Please choose one)[edit]
- Presentation (one-to-many)
Summary[edit]
In 2016, Bulgaria had its first official Wikimedia-related postage stamp, and to the best of our knowledge, the second wiki stamp in the world after the one from Wikimania 2011 in Haifa, Israel.
The choice of the image on the stamp was made by the Council of Postage Stamps Issuance of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies, selecting among the Top 10 winners of the "Wiki Loves Earth 2016 in Bulgaria. The procedure took about 6 months from the idea to the official stamp validation ceremony, and it practically costed zero.
It is good to know that traditionally, postage stamps are created from drawings, but it is a recent trend globally to have stamps created from photographs, so our idea for a WLE-inspired stamp was not too novel to be rejected. However, it still requires a designer to make the overall design of the stamp. Luckily, we had an establish stamp painter who volunteered to provide the design of our stamp for free.
While different countries have different procedures for postage issuance, the Wikimedians of Bulgaria UG shows that even without a formal structure and dedicated budget, having an official wikimedian postage stamp is possible. And the advantages of having one are multiple: it turned out to be a wonderful present and strong incentive in article writing challenges. An occasion to reach out to new target groups, as well as a positive institutional contact that may potentially can further evolve into a collaboration.
In the presentation, I'm going to present more about the difficulties that had to be overcome (legal and organizational), and certain specifics of postage issuance that should be taken into consideration by any other Wikimedia affiliate that decides to follow our example.
Expected outcomes[edit]
Inspire other countries in CEE have their own wiki postage stamps. :)
Duration (without Q&A)[edit]
- Normal presenetation time (~20 minutes)
Specific requirements[edit]
Slides or further information[edit]
- The first WLE postage stamp depicts a griffon vulture in Bulgaria, WLE Blog, 14 September 2016