2019 talk:Program design

Few questions

I have a few questions, because I am not sure I understand well the program design:

1. so Spaces will have some general topic. The example blocks in the section Examples, stays for spaces topic?
2. on one site you are writing that you dont want a traditional model of the conference - it means lot of presentations, but youd like to active participants. But again before Examples section I can read there will be presentations and lighting talks. How to understand it than?

Juandev (talk) 00:11, 4 March 2019 (UTC)

Dear Juandev,

1) Synonyms for "Spaces" (in the way the word is used here) is "symposium", or "mini-conference". Each "space" is a room (or perhaps a couple of rooms) which will be dedicated to presentations/workshops/discussions on a specific topic area. For example, we might have three "spaces" running simultaneously on the morning of the second day: one for GLAM, one for Mobile, and one for Legal/Advocacy. Each one will have its own program of activities, discussing/training/teaching the attendees about how Wikimedia projects work in that topic area - and how that work relates to the Sustainable Development Goals. For example, at 9am there might be an invited speaker in the GLAM-space talking about how cultural organisations have been using wikidata to connect their collections to each other and increase their reach (related to the SGD goal 4 - of education). Simultaneously in in the Mobile-space there might be a discussion-groupwork on what wikimedia should do about providing access to developing countries now that Wikipedia-Zero has closed (relating to the SDG goal 17 - about institutional partnerships). And, in the third Space - about legal advocacy - there might be a workshops about the future of Freedom of Panorama lobbying (relating to SGD 11 - cities and communities). Make sense?

2) The intention is that there will primarily be more active sessions - workshops, discussion groups, 'unconference' periods... but this will not replace ALL presentations. Each of the leaders of each of the "spaces" will be making a call for proposals, in which they describe what kind of submissions they would like to receive. Some of them might request zero presentations and only workshops, some of them might request a lot of 'lightning talks'. Also, and parallel, I hope to also schedule at least one session of "lightning talks" which will not have any restriction on the topic.

Does this answer your questions? Wittylama (talk) 09:25, 4 March 2019 (UTC)

Yes, thank you verymuch! Juandev (talk) 19:09, 4 March 2019 (UTC)

Please let TIMELINE to be translated asap

Hello, very excited to support you on translation. When do you put the "Timeline" available for translation? I am afraid people would miss the chance to know when they would prepare their presentation, as in Japan, it's the busiest time on the academic calendar: thesis/graduation ! Good luck anyway with the design, I know it's an overwhelming task as the basis of everything to follow. :) Cheers,--Omotecho (talk) 18:23, 4 March 2019 (UTC)

Dear Omotecho,

Than you for taking such a quick and strong interest in the new Wikimania program design. It does certainly feel a bit overwhelming at the moment! With regards to your question: As you know, all Wikimania participation occurs in English, and demonstrating English language ability is one of the minimum critieria for a scholarship. I think, therefore, that if we translated the Timeline section of the program design page, that this would give an incorrect impression to people: That they can submit proposals to be a leader of a "Space" for Wikimania (or a presentation within one of the Spaces) in a language other than English. If they require that the timeline be translated into Japanese in order to understand it [or another language, but Japanese is the example you used], what degree of participation do you expect they would be able to achieve during the conference itself?

For Wikimania Cape Town we specifically encouraged submissions written in English but for presentations which would be given in other languages that might have a relevant audience in South Africa (Arabic, French, Swahili and Afrikaans were examples we suggested). Unfortunately however, no one took this opportunity. Equally, in some previous Wikimanias there was a specific track that was simultaneously translated into the local language (Spanish in Mexico City, French in Montreal...) but this service will not be provided into Swedish this year. So... my thinking is that IF we provide information about how to participate in person in Wikimania in languages other than English, that this will be a disservice to people who are not comfortable in English - they will get the impression that they do not need to understand English in order to participate - and this would be incorrect. Wittylama (talk) 09:21, 5 March 2019 (UTC)

Hello, @Wittylama:, thank you for your prompt reply, and yes, I agree with your intention to control any miss perception nor confusion among participants / presenters. In fact, I was thinking about supporting those who would visit your Conference without applying to WMF scholarships with my original inquiry: background, some Japanese academic sectors force their employees to file permission visiting overseas as they believe they are buying your time even during your holidays (!), I have witnessed as an admin staff. Bureaucracy doesn't understand it leads to their advantage if the attendee publishes in journals what they shared at Stockholm.
If Cape Town had not seen people applying for interpretation/translation, there are many who understand language support at meetings are costly, or such service offered at Cape Town is what I did not realize of translating the announcements (good to know Wikimanias are very cost conscious and supported compact expenditure.) Anyway, wishing you good luck preparing a conference, and administration is such a precious task I fully thank for. Arigatow gozaimas. Cheers, --Omotecho (talk) 12:38, 5 March 2019 (UTC)

Dear User:Pamputt, I see you have added translation tags to this page Diff. Please note this discussion in this section regarding the potential for giving an incorrect impression to potential attendees of the conference if they are given the impression that English is optional for participation. Wittylama (talk) 08:55, 7 March 2019 (UTC)

Dear Wittylama, thank you for the ping to this discussion. What I would say on this topic is the Wikimania policy on languages has to be consistent. If only the English language is used, so what is the purpose of translating this website? If only the English language is used, it should be written clearly here and everywhere it is needed in order there is no doubt for readers and attendees. Saying that, I think that the Wikimania conferences should be translated in the main language of the hosting country (here in Swedish) even if the cost is quite high. This would allow to involve more people in this kind of conferences. Pamputt (talk) 09:09, 7 March 2019 (UTC)

Pamputt - thanks for the quick reply. For some pages - especially pages that relate to how people can participate remotely - translation is appropriate/applicable. But for sections relating to physical attendance/participation for an English-language event - then I think it is unfair on the volunteer translation community to say 'please translate this page' when it will not be used. For example - and this is my personal opinion only - I have conflicting feelings about the usefulness of translation the Scholarships page, because one of the minimum eligibility criteria is "provide evidence of English language abilities".

As for translation of the conference into the local language of the host location - as I mentioned in my comments to Omotecho above - some past Wikimanias have provided simultaneous interpretation services to the audience in one or two of the rooms (e.g. Spanish translation was done during Wikimania keynotes + one track in both Mexico City and Buenos Aires). This is a valuable and important service for allowing the local community to participate in the global event (and also to help the international attendees participate in sessions presented by local leaders). Unfortinately, it does not help anyone online (live, or recorded). Providing an official translation service for video (or a subtitling service) is not something that Wikimania organisers have ever had the capacity to do, although it has been done in an ad-hoc manner by individual volunteers for their local communities back home on some occasions (notably User:Frhdkazan who was doing interpretation for the Russian community online during Wikimania's livestreamed sessions from Wikimania Cape Town). This year, Wikimedia-Sweden is not intending to provide interpretation services in Swedish language, on the basis that the level of English comprehension in the society is so high that there would be minimal increase in event accessibility. Wittylama (talk) 10:01, 7 March 2019 (UTC)

Wittylama asked for my opinion on Twitter, so here it is.

The problem of Wikimania's being essentially English-only has been raised at least since 2010 if not earlier. This is a problem, because our motto talks about "every single human being", and most human beings don't know English, and Wikimania is our most important event. I'd love to see an event where many people who don't know English can participate. I don't know exactly how will it happen, but it's important for me to keep mentioning this principle, even if it seems idealistic and radical.

More on the practical side, I don't think that it's problematic to allow people to translate various parts of the site. Wikimania sites has been translatable for years, even though the event mostly takes place in English. This can be a step, even if a small one, to making the event more multilingual.

Wittylama's concern that people may think that they don't have to know English to participate is valid, but it can be addressed by writing this requirement explicitly and prominently. --Amir E. Aharoni (talk) 13:44, 14 March 2019 (UTC)

"Environmental Sustainability" space

Hi, I'm thinking about submitting an "Environmental Sustainability" space – because (1) the SDGs 6, 7, and 12–15 relate to environmental sustainability, and (2) I have been involved in the Wikimedia Sustainability Initiative for quite a while now. Any ideas, comments, or possible team members welcome. --Gnom (talk) 16:16, 6 March 2019 (UTC)

Here are some ideas (please add yours!):

• Wikimedia’s carbon footprint
• Wikipedia as a global knowledge resource on climate change and disaster response
• possible GLAM-like partnerships with environmental research institutions and NGOs
• environmental information (live and historical) on Wikidata
• biodiversity information on Wikipedia/Wikidata/Wikispecies

--Gnom (talk) 09:17, 7 March 2019 (UTC)

Hi Gnom, I'm interrested ! I feel that the first is maybe more something that would requite a job at the WMF, it still worth thinking about it but the next ones are more something that could and should be more actionable by the community. Wikimedia project curate knowledge, how can we better curate knowledge about environment (emphasis on the better because we already have a lot of knowledge about environment, but very few way to follow and maintain these). Cheers, VIGNERON (talk) 13:07, 8 March 2019 (UTC)

• I would like for this Wikimania to be the first Wikimania to offer vegan food options to everyone who wants them. I could present on behalf of meta:Wiki loves Vegan in the environmental sustainability space. I wish to advocate that the sustainability initiative adopt the position that all Wikimedia events make vegan options available. Past events have offered vegan options to attendees who do extraordinary extra work to access them. To the extent that this space is an appropriate venue for this discussion, I would like to join. Blue Rasberry (talk) 13:48, 20 March 2019 (UTC)

"Towards a sustainable Wikipedia" space

Hi, I'm thinking about drafting (not submitting myself!) a "Towards a sustainable Wikipedia" space – because after all, Wikipedia is what this conference is about in the first place. Any ideas, comments, or possibile chairs/team members welcome. --Gnom (talk) 16:18, 6 March 2019 (UTC)

Here are some ideas (please add yours!):

• keeping an ever-growing Wikipedia up to date with Wikidata
• fighting vandalism at scale with technology
• a community in decline? the example of the German-language Wikipedia
• fail fest: what were the worst ideas for attracting and retaining new authors, and why?
• articles for creation and pending changes: protecting the projects or creating a closed shop?

--Gnom (talk) 09:25, 7 March 2019 (UTC)

Sustainable Development Goals picture

For the Russian version, I uploaded this image. But I don't understand how to replace the image in the translation tool.--Soul Train (talk) 01:41, 18 April 2019 (UTC)

Call for submissions: deadline?

Hello, I'm wondering: Is the deadline for submissions May 15 (as written here) or June 1st (as written here)? -- Thanks for clarifying, Johanna Strodt (WMDE) (talk) 09:06, 6 May 2019 (UTC)

@Wittylama: Can you clarify this? Eric Luth (WMSE) (talk) 12:21, 6 May 2019 (UTC)

fixed! Wittylama (talk) 14:16, 7 May 2019 (UTC)