Wikimedia Philippines/Reports/Annual report, 2014

Events

January

The GLAM–Wiki group of Wikimedia Philippines worked together with a group of heritage documentors (Joel Aldor, Manolo Noche, Fung Yu and Christian Aguilar) to come up with a Cultural Heritage Mapping project for the Chapter. Plans for a cultural mapping activity began as early as 2011, but had been stalled or failed due to the lack of expertise. With two years of holding Wiki Loves Monuments in the Philippines and a list of cultural heritage sites built for the project, the Board of Trustees gave the green signal to the project on January 18 and worked to obtain grant funding for it. The project will train volunteers, who will be assigned to different locations overall the Philippines, to document important cultural heritage sites, enhance their photography skills and Wikipedia editing skills.

February

Chapters Dialogue

Kira Krämer, a consultant at Wikimedia Deutschland, visited the Philippines from February 8 to 10. She talked to WMPH President Eugene Villar and former WMPH President Jojit Ballesteros and asked several questions regarding WMPH, Wikimedia Foundation and the whole Wikimedia movement. The visit was part of the Chapters Dialogue project that was initiated by Wikimedia Deutschland. The Chapters Dialogue objective is to better understand and observe the Wikimedia movement through face-to-face interviews with all stakeholders. (See the Chapters Dialogue Documentation of Insights)

Chapters Dialogue Facebook page

STI College Novaliches IT'SA Day

On February 14, the Wikimedia Philippines participated at the IT’SA Day in STI College Novaliches, Quezon City. There was a Wikipedia editing booth visited by students. Upon visiting the booth, students were asked if they want to try to edit Wikipedia and win a Wikipedia t-shirt. Those who were able to contribute quality entries were declared as winners. WMPH members Jojit Ballesteros, Bel Ballesteros, and Joel Encinas served as judges for the Photoristic Photo Editing Contest. The entries of the top three winners were uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. (See photos of the event)

GRC IT Week

The Wikimedia Philippines was one of the sponsors for the third year of the Global Reciprocal College (GRC) IT Week that was held at the Caloocan City Science High School last February 15. The event was organized by the GRC’s College of Computer Studies and PhilIT.Org and was attended by students from GRC. During the event, Jojit Ballesteros, WMPH founding member, delivered a talk about Wikipedia and the Wikimedia movement. At the end of his talk, he called a volunteer from the audience to create an account in Wikipedia and edit an article. A brave young man went to the stage and taken the challenge. After successfully editing an article, Jojit gave the volunteer a Wikipedia t-shirt.(See photos of the event)

March

Smart Communications Tie up

Brought about by Ingrid Flores' visit to the Philippines to forge an agreement for the Wikimedia Foundation for Wikipedia Zero, key officers of Wikimedia Philippines—Eugene Villar, Paolo Barazon, Josh Lim and Roel Balingit—met with key people from Smart Communications to discuss possible partnerships.

April

Wikimedia Conference 2014

The annual Wikimedia Conference returned to Germany this year, where it was hosted by Wikimedia Deutschland at the offices of Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. Wikimedia Philippines was represented at the conference by trustees Jenna delos Reyes and Emman Ramirez, as well as Secretary Josh Lim, who attended as a member of the Affiliations Committee. The three attended sessions on chapter development, projects and the future of Wikimedia movement affiliates, and led to renewed interest in Wikimedia Philippines' activities by other Wikimedia chapters and user groups.

May

Wikipedia Philippine Cultural Heritage Mapping Project

The Wikipedia Philippine Cultural Heritage Mapping conference was held at the Herald Suites in Makati last May 2 to 4, where 48 screened-volunteers from all over the country attended. The three-conference workshop taught the participants the basics of Wikipedia editing, uploading of images in Wikimedia Commons.
UNESCO Heritage expert and architect Augusto Villalon delivered the opening remarks of the conference and cited the conference as the “first very organized effort to document heritage”. Architect Villalon further added that “nobody has pulled it together (before), and hopes this project will be able to pull this through.”
The second day of the conference also saw a "WikiExpedition Manila" event where the participants were divided into 16 groups and were given an assignment to identify heritage sites in the districts of Manila they were assigned. Apart from identifying the sites, the groups had to photograph and write articles about it on Wikipedia. Some teams who were asked to provide a letter took the time to look for Internet cafés to print a formal letter seeking permission to document the sites, while others had to talk for a good amount of time with the owners to learn more about the history of the "heritage" house. That evening all participants were deeply engaged in their Wikipedia editing assignment, and according to the hotel staff some went back to their rooms only around five in the morning.
The project was sponsored by Smart Communications and supported by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.

Smart Communications event press release: Smart powers Wikimedia’s Philippine cultural heritage mapping project
Philippine Star: Smart powers Wikimedia’s Phl cultural heritage mapping project

Meeting at the National Historical Commission of the Philippines

On May 6, Wikimedia Philippines was invited to meet with officials of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines at their offices in Ermita, Manila. The organization, represented by Chairman of the Board Paolo Barazon and Philippine Cultural Heritage Mapping Project project lead Joel Aldor, met with NHCP Chairperson Maria Serena Diokno and other officers and officials to discuss ways for Wikimedia Philippines and the NHCP could work together on potential future projects. A presentation was delivered on the CHMP and the project's roadmap, as well as a call to action for the NHCP to support the project. Later in the year, the NHCP indicated in a letter their support for the CHMP, making it easier for project volunteers to document heritage sites throughout the country.

First Manila Wikipedia Edit-a-thon

The first Manila Edit-a-thon was held last May 31, at the Smart Tower, Ayala Avenue, Makati. It was attend by 20 participants who were given an introduction to Wikipedia, the Wikimedia movement and the local Wikimedia chapter – Wikimedia Philippines. Eugene Villar and Josh Lim went over the rudiments of Wikipedia editing, Roel Balingit facilitated teaching "Illustrating Wikipedia". The program wrapped up by sharing the editing experience of the participants.

June

Wikipedia Workshop at Malacanang

WMPH conducted a workshop at the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO).

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Annual Meeting

The fourth Annual Meeting of Wikimedia Philippines was held at the WSI Corporate Center in Makati City on June 14, 2014, with 35 members of Wikimedia Philippines in attendance. This was also the first annual meeting where elections for the Board of Trustees was held using new guidelines for holding elections and filling potential vacancies; with four seats up for election: these were filled by Josh Lim, Paolo Barazon, Marco San Andres and Juan Bautista Alegre. Vera Gesite was also elected as the organization's Internal Auditor, replacing Relly Bautista. In addition, members were briefed on the status of the Philippine Cultural Heritage Mapping Project, and the rollout of Wikipedia Rewards was announced.

July

Open Web Day at STI College Novaliches

In the tradition of the Open Web Day events, the Wikimedia Philippines and STI College Novaliches partnered together to conduct seminars for the students of Novaliches High School and a workshop for STI College students on July 26. There were two talks in the morning. The first talk was about the effects of social media that was delivered by Professor Raoul Glen Tomanhon of STI College. Jojit Ballesteros, WMPH founding member, presented the second talk, which was about contributing to Wikipedia and its sister projects. In the afternoon, a Wikipedia editing workshop was given by Jojit to STI College students. They were able to create an account and tried to edit articles in Wikipedia. (See photos of the event)

August

Wikimania London 2014

The tenth edition of Wikimania, the annual international Wikimedia conference, was held at the Barbican Centre in London, the United Kingdom. Four members of Wikimedia Philippines attended the conference: Chairman Eugene Villar was the recipient of a Wikimedia Foundation scholarship, while Secretary JP Antes and newly-elected trustee Marco San Andres attended as official representatives of the chapter. In addition, CHMP Project Lead Joel Aldor was invited by the Wikimedia Foundation to attend the conference, in recognition of the chapter's efforts in implementing the project.

Wikimedia Board Governance Training - London

JP Antes participated in the Board Governance Training Workshop held last August 7, 2014 in London, United Kingdom. Sponsored by the Wikimedia UK, the workshop is part of the Wikimania London 2014 Fringe that gives the board members of chapters and thematic organizations the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to fulfill their duties and responsibilities. It is particularly focused on the needs of organizations which are making the challenging transition between being an entirely volunteer executive and an organization with staff and budget. It had also drawn experiences within the movement and best practices from outside the movement. The Board Governance Training Workshop is divided into two sessions. The first session focused on board governance and characteristics of an effective Board; the second session covered the role of the Board in defining strategy and measuring organization's work. (See Wikimedia Board Governance Training report)

Tap and Learn Training Roadshow – Urdaneta

In time for the launch of Wikipedia Zero in the Philippines, Smart Communications partnered with Wikimedia Philippines, , for their Tap and Learn Training Roadshow outreach for public school teachers. Forty teachers selected by the Department of Education from the Ilocos Region gathered on August 19 at Urdaneta National High School in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan to learn how to use tablets as teaching tools. (See report & images)

Press releases: Smart Communications, Manila Bulletin, GMA News, Philippine Daily Inquirer

Lingayen, Pangasinan Edit-a-thon

In August 25, the Pangasinan Wikimedia Community, a duly recognized WMPH community and headed by Vanj Padilla, organized a whole day edit-a-thon at the Pangasinan Capitol in Lingayen Pangasinan. It was attended by around 25 participants who were mostly new to Wikipedia editing. Jojit Ballesteros served as the resource speaker for the pre-edit-a-thon lecture while other WMPH members, Bel Ballesteros and Butch Bustria, assisted in answering questions from the participants during the actual edit-a-thon. At the end of the event, Butch also presented Wikivoyage and some of the possible articles to improve. WMPH President Juan Bautista Alegre was also there to show his support for this initiative by the community. Through this edit-a-thon, the participants contributed over 63,000 characters or equivalent to approximately 42+ pages of printed text that were added in the Pangasinan Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. (See Photos and Report).

September

Santa Ana Wiki Expedition

On the 13th of September 2014, the first ever WikiExpedition (a special set of documentation activities under the [Cultural Heritage Mapping Project]) was held at Santa Ana, Manila in the Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish (also known as the Santa Ana Church) with assistance from the Santa Ana Heritage Tourism Association (SAHTA), the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, OpenStreetMap Philippines, and Smart Communications, Inc.

Tap and Learn Training Roadshow – Legazpi

The second leg of the Tap and Lean Training Roadshow traveled to the Bicol Region, this time at Bicol University in Legazpi City, Albay on September 13. Despite a flight delay and power outage at the venue due to a typhoon, Wikimedia Philippines facilitators Roel Balingit and Emman Ramirez proceeded to introduce the teachers to Wikipedia and how collaboration takes place. (See report & images)

WMPH founding member, Jojit Ballesteros delivers his talk about FOSS, Free Culture and Wikipedia during the Software Freedom Day celebration at the Olivarez College-Tagaytay.

Software Freedom Day at Olivarez College-Tagaytay

The Wikimedia Philippines supported the Software Freedom Day at Olivarez College-Tagaytay in Cavite last September 27. There were series of talks in the morning and breakout sessions in the afternoon by various resource speakers from different organizations including Mozilla Philippines and Computer Professionals’ Union. WMPH founding member, Jojit Ballesteros, gave a presentation on Free and Open Source Software as well as about Free Culture and Wikipedia. (See photos of the event)

October

Interview on DWIZ's Mag-Internet Tayo

WMPH Chairman Eugene Villar was interviewed by the radio show Mag-Internet Tayo (roughly translated as "Let's use the Internet"), broadcast on DWIZ. During the broadcast, the show talked about Wikipedia, the history of Wikipedia in the Philippines, how to edit Wikipedia, the issue of Wikipedia's reliability, and other potential problems facing both Wikipedians and the project as a whole. (Listen to the UStream recording)

Wikimedia Foundation visit

Two staff members of the Wikimedia Foundation, Carolynne Schloeder (Director for Mobile Partnerships) and Anna Koval (Asia-Pacific Manager of the Wikimedia Education Program), visited the Philippines for three days from October 22-25, 2014. In addition to checking on the results of the partnership between the Wikimedia Foundation (and, by extension, Wikimedia Philippines) and Smart Communications, they also observed projects and initiatives that Wikimedia Philippines has been involved in, both independently and in partnership with Smart.

Tap and Learn Training Roadshow – Balanga, Bataan

A Smart Tap & Learn training session was held at Balanga Elementary School in Balanga City, Bataan on October 24, 2014, coinciding with the Wikimedia Foundation staff visit. Project facilitator Roel Balingit was also joined by other members of Wikimedia Philippines: Josh Lim, Joel Aldor and JP Antes. Anna Koval opened the Wikipedia session by connecting with the teachers, by identifying herself as one of them, at the same time provided a glimpse of the work the Wikimedia Foundation does for its Education program. Josh Lim gave a background how the local chapter started before project facilitator Roel Balingit proceeded with the presentation. The teachers were also shown how to navigate using the Wikipedia app (for Android), how to change the default settings to browse in another Wikipedia language, as well as to read articles in other languages. The teachers were also provided with Wikipedia branded baller-type flash drives containing Wikipedia brochures. (See report & images)

Second Manila Wikipedia Edit-a-thon

The second Manila Wikipedia edit-a-thon was held at Sadoce at the Smart Tower along Ayala Avenue on October 25, 2014, with around 25 participants. Unlike the first edit-a-thon, no introductory presentation to Wikipedia was given, and instead attendees were given copies of the Wikimedia Foundation-produced manuals "Editing Wikipedia" and "Illustrating Wikipedia", coupled with hands-on training for new editors. In addition, a number of veteran Wikipedia editors were also in attendance, mostly improving content in the English and Tagalog Wikipedias. The edit-a-thon also resulted in the potential development of a Philippines-specific version of the Wikipedia Education Program.

Wikimedia Philippines awarded early attendees with baller band USB flash drives, and three participants: Hannachiever07, Masahiro Naoi and Ryomaandres, received Wikipedia-branded umbrellas for contributing the most content to Wikipedia during the edit-a-thon. Closing the edit-a-thon was a presentation on Wikipedia and history delivered by professor and TV show host Xiao Chua, as well as closing remarks by visiting Wikimedia Foundation staff members Carolynne Schloeder and Anna Koval. Afterward, the remaining participants proceeded to Shakey's Pizza along Valero Street in Makati for an informal dinner.

November

Software Freedom Day at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines

Last November 8, another Software Freedom Day was celebrated in a university campus that was organized by Computer Professionals’ Union. The whole day event was held at the Mabini Campus of Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa, Manila. In one of plenary sessions, WMPH founding member Jojit Ballesteros delivered a talk about Free and Open Source Software and Free Culture. In the afternoon, during the breakout session, Jojit gave a presentation on how to contribute to Wikipedia and its sister projects. (See photos of the event)

Tap and Learn Training Roadshow – Cebu City

Tap and Learn Training Roadshow – Surigao City

Tap and Learn Training Roadshow – General Santos City

Wikimedia Mini-forum at the University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College

Through the efforts of the coordinator of the Sinirangan Bisaya Wikimedia Community, Michael Ong, a meeting last November 21 was set between WMPH and the University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College (UPVTC). The meeting aimed to present Wikimedia and its projects to UPVTC and to explore future collaborations. Aside from Michael, WMPH was represented by its President, Juan Bautista Alegre, together with other WMPH members, Jojit Ballesteros and Bel Ballesteros. On the side of UPVTC, it was attended by some students and faculty members led by Prof. Joycie Alegre (no relation to WMPH President, Juan Bautista Alegre) and UPVTC Dean Dr. Anita Cular. Dr. Victor Sugbo, a renowned literary artist, who is also a faculty member of UPVTC, attended the meeting. Bel served as the resource speaker for the Wikimedia presentation while the rest from WMPH assisted in answering questions from the audience. The setting was informal and the audience asked questions during the course of the presentation. (See photos and report)

Calbayog City Edit-a-thon

On November 22, a day after WMPH met with UPVTC faculty and students, a whole day edit-a-thon was conducted at the Calbayog Convention Center in Calbayog City, Samar. The event that was attended by 27 participants was part of the 11^th Maharlika Sunrise Festival, a gathering of artists all over the Philippines. Before the edit-a-thon began, Michael Ong presented the Waray Wikipedia and it was followed by Jojit Ballesteros who gave a lecture about the basics of Wikipedia editing. During the edit-a-thon, the participants were grouped into fives and the group with the most number of characters contributed won prizes. Nemesio "Totoy" Baldesco, a renowned poet, won a special prize for helping all the groups of participants on their works through the correct usage of Waray words and grammar. This edit-a-thon had produced more than 24,600 characters or equivalent to around 16 pages of printed text in various Wikimedia projects including the Waray Wikipedia where most of the contributions went. A few hours after the edit-a-thon, Johnny who is also a jazz musician performed at Nijaga Park. The performance was part of the Maharlika Sunrise Festival. His first performance was a jamming session with local musicians and then he sang “The Rain Song,” a song by Absolute Zero, one of his associated acts. (See photos and report)

WMPH meeting with Global Voices

WMPH had a teleconference with Global Voices, a non-profit organization that has an international network of bloggers, translators and citizen journalists. WMPH President Juan Bautista Alegre, Michael Ong and Jojit Ballesteros contacted Eddie Avila of Global Voices who was in Bolivia. They called Eddie at Calbayog City on November 23, a day after the Calbayog Edit-a-thon. The discussions centered on the Philippine-based languages versions of Wikipedia and the 2015 Global Voices Media Summit where Eddie encouraged WMPH to send a representative. (See photos and report)

1st Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at Mario Feir's Filipiniana Library

On the 23d of November 2014, an editathon occurred at the 11th floor of One McKinley Place, 3rd Avenue, BGC, Taguig City. Approximately 8 people were in attendance, with two members of the Board (Chairman Villar and Trustee Lim) included in that list. The purpose of the edit-a-thon was to give volunteers of the Cultural Heritage Mapping Project an opportunity to visit one of the most unique filipiniana libraries (containing several thousand different titles, many of which cannot be found in university or national libraries) in the country, also doubling as a resource area by which they could add to their contributions to the project.

Sariaya WikiExpedition

On the 29th of November 2014, the second ever WikiExpedition (a series of documentation activities under the [Cultural Heritage Mapping Project]) was held at Sariaya, Quezon in Saint Francis Church (specifically in the parish's Multipurpose Hall) in cooperation with the Sariaya Heritage Council (SHC), the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, OpenStreetMap Philippines and Smart Communications, Inc.

December

2nd Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at Mario Feir's Filipiniana Library

On the 13th of December 2014, another editathon was held again at the 11th floor of One McKinley Place, 3rd Avenue, BGC, Taguig City. Approximately 10 or 11 people were in attendance, with two members of the Board (Marco San Andres and Josh Lim) included in that list. The purpose of the edit-a-thon was to give other volunteers of the Cultural Heritage Mapping Project the same opportunity of visiting a unique filipiniana libraries like the previous attendees.

Bikol Community visit

On December 21, WMPH President Juan Bautista Alegre and WMPH founding member Jojit Ballesteros visited the Bikol Community, a recognized Philippine Wikimedia Community, at their base of operations in Naga City, Camarines Sur. The meeting which was held during the break time of the 4th Saringsing Writers’ Workshop at the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture was well attended by most of the members of the community. During the meeting, the community discussed their envisioned plans and proposed projects. Some of the highlights of the meeting include the declaration of Juan Bautista Alegre and Joel Encinas as honorary members of the Bikol Community, conducting a quarterly thematic edit-a-thon and creating a new Wikipedia editing brochure. (See photos and report)