ESEAP Conference 2024/Report/Ggandrea

Kopisanangan om Tabi Pibabasan, Greetings to all. As we all know, ESEAP Conference 2024 was held at Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, specifically at Le' Meridien Hotel on May 10 to 12, 2024. Attending the ESEAP Conference for the first time was an incredible milestone, marking my debut at an international conference since becoming an official Wikimedian in November 2022. I extend my deepest gratitude to Wikimedia Foundation and Wiki Kent Club for enabling my participation, even as a self-funded attendee.

This conference provided me with a wealth of new experiences, which I am eager to share with you. I hope you enjoy reading about my journey and the insights I gathered throughout the conference.

Roles

Interpreter for Ms-Dtp
Member of Wiki Kent Club

Things I learned at the Conference

As someone who still has a lot of things to learn about, this conference gave me a lot of new inputs that is very useful for my future endeavors as a Wikimedian. Not only did I manage to befriend other people form different countries, but I also learnt about their culture and how they use Wikimedia as a platform to expand their culture. Below are the lists of workshops that I attended during the conference:

Day 1

The Wikimedia Foundation's Annual Plan Conversation with ESEAP
Utilizing Let's Connect in The ESEAP Region
Wikisource Loves Manuscripts: A Partnership Perspective on Collaborative Efforts to Preserve Cultural Heritage

Day 2

Challenges in Building Multilingual Technology Platforms
Trust and Safety Product - The Road Ahead
Collaboration Between Wikimedia ESEAP and Sweden (as interpreter)
Optimizing the Role of Social Media as a Learning and Collaboration Platform
Burn out! - Experience of Taiwan GLAM Program
WikiDunong: An Eduwiki Initiative in the Philippines
Beyond Borders, Beyond Images
Creating a Wiki Club in a University & Encouragin Students' Engagement in Wikimedia Projects

Day 3

Imagining Community-led AI Governance in ESEAP
Automoderator: Make Fighting Vandalism More Easier for Admnistrators and Patrollers.
Crowdmapping More Fun with OpenStreetMap!

There are many more workshops that I was interested to learn about. However, due to overlapping schedules and my role as an interpreter, I had to choose one that caught my attention more.

Things the participant contributed or participated in since the conference

Uploading photos to Wikimedia Commons.
Became an interpreter for Ms-Dtp.
Writing reports regarding my experience during the conference
Shared my experience and journey through social media (WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram)
Joined the latest Wiki Kent Club project which was Wikikaamatan and will be joining for the upcoming project which is Wikitour.

Plans after the conference (from what was learned or contributed in the conference)

Participate in other programs not just by Wiki Kent Club but outside of the club too.
Try applying what I've learned during this conference in any wiki projects.
Be more active in Wiki projects.
Learn and contribute more to other Wiki projects such as Wikidata, Wikipedia etc.
Promote the Kadazandusun language as much as possible through Wikimedia.
Teach other people about Wikimedia.

Comments/suggestions about the conference

The conference was a fun experience for me. However, there are still some aspects that I feel need improvement. I'll list the suggestions below along with the reasoning.

Ice-breaking: As a self-funded participant, I didn't get much time to interact with the other participants, especially those from other countries. I suggest including an ice-breaking session so that participants have the opportunity to learn more about each other and build friendships. This would foster a more welcoming and friendly atmosphere throughout the conference.

Improved technical supports: During the beginning and some sessions, there were several technical glitches. For example, the mic was not functioning well and during most of my time as an interpreter, I couldn't hear properly due to poor audio quality. Ensuring reliable technical support and testing equipment in advance would minimize disruptions.

Interpreter's room: All of the interpreters were placed in the same room, making it difficult to focus on interpreting because we were all speaking at the same time. I suggest that every interpreter should have their own room to avoid any misinterpreting and to maintain focus.

Extend the conference's duration: Like I mentioned previously, there are many sessions that I was interested with. However, the sessions often overlapped, making it difficult to attend all the talks I was interested in. By prolonging the conference, I'm sure I would be able to attend the other sessions too.

More interactive sessions:: Some sessions has interactive elements to them but there are many sessions that were in lecture-style with limited audience interaction. Incorporating more interactive elements, such as group discussions or Q&A Sessions would make the experience more engaging.

Sincere Gratitude

Once again, I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to Wikimedia Foundation and Wiki Kent Club for allowing me to attend this event. I'll be looking forward for other events that I hope I can partcipate. Thank you, Pounsikou and Kotoluadan