Wikimania 2022/Volunteer

In 2022, we will organize a primarily virtual Wikimania with decentralized in-person components if global circumstances allow. For that, we will provide flexible, timely resources so that communities can independently organize local meetups based on their possibilities and energy. We described below a bit more in detail what the Organizing Team does, and what roles we need to be filled.

Potential dates for Wikimania 2022, to be decided by the Core Organizing Team:

• August 10-14, 2022
• August 17-21, 2022

Apply to be part of the Core Organizing team for Wikimania 2022 or offer your support for other volunteer roles – short-term or long-term. We invite you to join us and help create our iconic event for the community, by the community.

Planning and organizing Wikimania is an amazing way to meet and collaborate with other Wikimedians from all over the world. This group will need people who are strong collaborators, communicators, and solution-oriented to be consistently involved through the conference. We will need a range of different skill-sets: from communication champions, fans of admins and logistics, to wiki wizards. If you have organized past events – in-person or online – or are interested in hosting international Wikimedia events in the future, we need you!

There will be different ways you can show your support and get involved in one of these roles:

1. A member of the Organizing Team
2. A member of one of supporting working groups (program, scholarships, or activities during the event...) - we encourage those that may not be able to join the COT to apply for these roles.
3. At a later stage, we will be asking for proposals for in-person events. This process will start once the COT has been formed. You can already start thinking about organizing an in-person Wikimania. More information to come.

The time commitment we are looking for is on average 5 to 7 hours a week but this will increase in the run up to the event. You would also need to engage in asynchronous communication, prepare for meetings, review documents and follow up on any specific tasks.

Tell me more about the COT?

The Core Organizing Team (COT) will be a small group responsible for the organization of the event, ranging from 6 to 15 volunteers supported by the Wikimania Steering Committee and a team of staff from the Wikimedia Foundation. As noted above, additional volunteers to help with other aspects of the conference are also very welcome.

The Core Organizing Team: The Basics

To organize Wikimania 2022, we need help from community members around the world to form an international Core Organizing Team (COT) to lead: Programming: reviewing session submissions, selecting sessions, building program tracks, communicating with speakers. Scholarships: reviewing and approving scholarship applications, ensuring funds make it to scholarship recipients, answering questions related to use of scholarships, overseeing impact of scholarships. Social events and entertainment program: establishing the entertainment section of the conference program and (co)organizing social activities with communities Communication, including outreach and social media: creating and publishing communications content about Wikimania. On-wiki content management: designing and updating the content on the Wikimania wiki Safety support during the event: covering Trust and Safety protocol, moderating chats and notetaking, triaging support requests

We are inviting nominations for the Core Organizing Team of Wikimania 2022 – nominate yourself or other community members.

Roles and responsibilities

To be part of the Core Organizing Team for Wikimania you need to be able to commit to approx 5 hours of weekly participation and preparation from February to August, 2022.

What are the responsibilities of organizing members?

Help determine the best structure to support the chosen model for Wikimania 2022 Help with the scholarship program Designing, implementing, and reviewing (applications for) the scholarship program to support participation at Wikimania 2022 Help identifying virtual event platforms and tools Design social program activities during Wikimania Updating and managing the Wikimania wiki Keep our international community up to date and involved with outreach and conversations Support communication – including event communications, program submissions, and program acceptance

What are the responsibilities of programming members?

Create and manage the call for program contributions Manage programming Establish programming framework Coordinate and execute community submission/acceptance process Assist with programming logistics

What does the commitment look like?

Starting in February, through September, 60-90 mins active weekly participation (possibly more or less in some weeks depending on tasks). Times and dates will be chosen by Core Organizing Team members, and will be inclusive of all timezones.

What are the benefits for volunteering my time?

For those that volunteer, it is a great opportunity to chance to give to wider community, build a better Wikimania, expand your skill set and learn what it take to host a potential future Wikimania in your country/region The Foundation will be offering stipends to cover the cost of COT members’ time coordinating Wikimania, covering things such as occasional childcare, food for meetings and reasonable associated costs. The process for paying out stipends, as well as the exact amount, are currently being discussed. Active core team members will receive a full scholarship (travel, lodging, registration fees) to attend another major in person Wikimedia event.

Want to help organize Wikimania in other ways?

If you’re interested in supporting Wikimania but can’t commit to the Core Organizing Team, we still want to hear from you! There will be additional calls for volunteers in other roles, both leading up to and during the event. These include helping with communications, program, trust and safety, and more. If you are interested in such roles, please be on the lookout for our volunteer signup. If you have ideas or questions, please add them to the talk page.

What kind of qualifications or experience are we looking for?

• For organizing members: event organization experience of virtual, in-person or hybrid events; previous organizers of events such as regional events, thematic events, meetups or Wikimanias
• For programming members: experience with the programming of international community events; experience as previous program chairs, program committee members
• Mediawiki coding experience, template, bots, page design
• Past or future Wikimania organizers are welcome
• Collaborative approach as a principle
• In good standing with the community and the Foundation
• Members from anywhere in the world are welcome; the working language of the committee will be English

Send your application to the WMSC to wikimania@wikimedia.org Short-listed candidates will be invited to a 30-minute chat with previous COT, members of the Steering Committee and Wikimedia Foundation Staff during the week of January 13, 2022 Apply by January 9, 2022; members will be announced by January 21, 2022

NOTES on the application:

Please indicate if you'd like to be on the core team, or in a different role. There are two questions about time commitments: if you are on the core team if you can commit 60-90 minutes per week, increasing to 4-5 hours closer to the event. If you'd like to be in a different volunteer role, please let us know how much time you can commit.

Application Questions

1. Wiki username (please make sure your email is active so that we cam contact you directly)
2. What region are you located in? (Africa (East, South or West Africa), America (North, Central or South America), Asia (East, Southeast or South Asia), Europe, Middle East and North Africa)
3. Do you have any previous event planning experience? (In-person or online? Local, regional, or international? A Wiki Loves campaign? An edit-a-thon? Another photography competition or campaign?)
4. What was your role? (I helped out a bit, I was one of the coordinators, I was the lead organizer for an event of up to 100 people, I have organized 100+ person events in the past)
5. Have you ever organized a virtual event? Can you give examples?
6. Have you been to Wikimania before?
7. Are you a past Wikimania organizer?
8. In 100 words or less, let us know why you are interested in volunteering as a Wikimania 2022 organizer?
9. Is there an aspect of conference planning you are especially interested in? (examples: communication tasks, on-wiki tasks, social media support, event logistics support, buddy to first time event participant etc)
10. What is your availability like? (A few hours a week? A few hours a month only? Available from January to August? Available closer to the event only?)

Send your application to the Wikimania Steering Committee at wikimania@wikimedia.org or post your answers below

Wikimania 2022 Core Organizing Team Survey Privacy Statement

This statement describes how and when Wikimedia collects, uses, and shares the information we receive from survey participants.

Purpose of Survey We appreciate your feedback! This survey will gather applications from individuals interested in joining the Wikimania 2022 Core Organizing Team, so that selections can be made.

What Information We Collect This survey collects the responses you provide to the questions asked. If you choose to answer on Meta-Wiki, then your response will be connected with your username and any other associated information. If you choose to answer by email, then your response will be connected with your email address and any other associated information.

Information Sharing and Disclosure The results of this survey will be shared publicly in the following manner. Responses on Meta-Wiki will be public for the purpose of open analysis and transparency. Responses through email will not be published. Usernames of all those selected for the Core Organizing Team will be published in the announcement of the team and future Wikimania 2022 organizing materials.

Raw data will only be shared with the Wikimedia staff, contractors, and volunteers who need to process this information and are subject to non-disclosure obligations, with the exception of the circumstances described below.

We may disclose any collected information when required by law, when we have your permission, when needed to protect our rights, privacy, safety, users, or the general public, and when necessary to enforce our Terms of Use or any other Wikimedia policy.

Licensing of Survey Responses By posting a response on Meta-Wiki, you agree to the licensing in the Terms of Use: https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_Use/en#7._Licensing_of_Content.

Important Information Wikimedia Foundation is a global organization committed to promoting free and open knowledge. In submitting your response, you understand that the information transferred to Wikimedia Foundation will be collected, transferred, stored, processed, disclosed and otherwise used in the U.S. as described in this Privacy Statement. You also understand that the information may be transferred by us from the U.S. to other countries, which may have different or less stringent data protection laws than your country, in order to carry out the aforementioned purposes and objectives.

Wikimedia understands the importance of user privacy. For this reason, we work to protect our users from the unauthorized disclosure or use of information we maintain.

The results of this survey may be retained indefinitely, both the raw responses and the aggregated data. See our data retention guidelines for more information.

If you have questions about this survey, or wish to change, access, or delete the information you provided in the survey, please contact wikimania@wikimedia.org

Thanks again for your feedback!

The Wikimedia Foundation

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