Wikimania Esino Lario Survey Results

This is the report page for the 2016 Wikimania evaluation survey from the event in Esino Lario. The survey was carried out by WMF Learning and Evaluation team. Conferences and hackathons had been identified as key programs to develop evaluation insight. This third survey offers more information and data on the process and outcomes of the conference. It is intended as a means for participants to share what they got out of the conference and a platform to collect information on how we might improve future conferences and their evaluation. We hope that the lessons learned through the years help inform the creation of future issues of Wikimania. Share, comment and discuss!

Methodology

Online survey via Qualtrics (Preview of questions)
Data collection:
- June 20th – July 21st, 2016
- Conference participants: 1368 attendees

Survey Respondents: 401 completed survey

Demographics

68% of survey respondents were between the ages of 25 and 44
62% identified as men
47% of respondents have been involved in the Wikimedia movement for between 6 and 12 years
40% indicated it was their first Wikimania

Overall rating

88% of respondents said the conference was «excellent» or «good».

Expand data tables

What is your rating of the conference overall?	N	%
Excellent	183	49.5%
Good	139	37.6%
Average	41	11.1%
Poor	5	1.4%
Very Poor	2	0.5%
Total	370

Excellent + Good	94.22%
Average	4.89%
Poor + Very Poor	0.89%

Conference Outcomes

Learning

95% agree that the conference helped them to gain knowledge from others.
90% agree that the conference helped them to share my knowledge with others.
88% agree that the conference helped to motivate me to contribute to Wikimedia and its' projects.
91% agree that the conference helped them to gain a better understanding of others' viewpoints.
87% agree that the conference helped them to strengthen my friendships with online colleagues.
74% agree that the conference helped them connect to resources.
68% agree that the conference helped them to join or start a project

Networking

Nearly all respondents (88%) reported that they plan on pursuing at least one new project or collaboration in the next six months that will involve people that they met at Wikimania 2016.

Expand data table

Number of new projects or collaborations you are planning on pursuing in the next six months that will involve people you met at this Wikimania	N	%
None	37	10.2%
1 to 3	228	63.2%
4 to 6	71	19.7%
11 to 14	1	0.3%
15 to 17	2	0.6%
18+	4	1.1%

Conference Design and Content Feedback

94% said that the conference gave me the opportunity to exchange ideas with others on Wikimedian issues.
94% said that the conference was aligned in the spirit and values of the Wikimedia movement .
88% said that the conference was suitable for my background and experience.
87% said that the conference provided useful information.
76% said that the conference contributed to reaching a shared understanding of the future of open knowledge.

Expand data table

For the following, please rate to what extent you agree or disagree.The conference...	N	Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree	% Agree or Stronly Agree
... was suitable for my background and experience.	378	3	7	35	193	140	88%
... provided useful information.	380	2	9	39	195	135	87%
... contributed to reaching a shared understanding of the future of open knowledge.	382	2	19	69	172	120	76%
... gave me the opportunity to exchange ideas with others on Wikimedian issues.	382	4	3	17	94	264	94%
... was aligned in the spirit and values of the Wikimedia movement.	382	2	1	19	127	233	94%

Liked bests and Next Times

The four aspects of the conference that respondents were the most satisfied with:
Registration at Piazza Italia	89%
Conference catering	82%
Conference venue	80%
Getting help from Wikimania team for logistical problems	76%

The four aspects of the conference that respondents were the least satisfied with:
Selection of topics	67%
Conference Wifi	64%
Accommodations	63%
Evening events	43%

Expand data table

Satisfaction with different aspects of conference venue and logistics	% Agree or Strongly Agree
62%
80%
82%
76%
69%
71%
67%
72%
64%
71%
43%

Favorite Sessions

The top three favorite sessions were: ""Meetups"", The Coolest Projects of Wikimedia Chapters- Be Inspired, and Privacy- A Limit to "The Sum of all Knowledge"? .

Expand data table

Session	Count
Meetups	28
The Coolest Projects of Wikimedia Chapters- Be Inspired - Darya Kantor and Deror Lin	24
Privacy- A Limit to "The Sum of all Knowledge"? - Lukas Mezger	22
The Future of Wikimania	20
Wikipedia Depicting Mohammed: Different Approaches in Different Environments	18
Hackathon	18
SVG Illustration Workshop - Shyamal, Cmglee	16
Community Health II: Tackling Harassment	16
Content Gender Gap an International Movement - Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight	14
Dynamic SVG for Wikimedia Projects: Exploring Applications, Techniques and best practices for interactive and animated vector graphics - Gordon Lee	14
Wikipedia Addiction and its Comorbidities- What Role does Mental Health play in a community that wants to create an encyclopedia? - Kritzolina	13
Legal War Stories: A Review of Key Legal Issues Facing the Wikimedia Movement - Jacob Rogers and Michelle Paulson	13

Comparison to Wikimania 2015 sessions showed mixed results. One-hundred and thirty-one respondents indicated that they attended Wikimania 2015 in Mexico City. Of these 131 respondents, the majority (35%) indicated that the overall quality of the content of this year’s sessions were about the same compared to last year. Twenty-four percent indicated that they were better and 27% indicated that they were worse.

Respondents who attended Wikimania 2015 reported a variety of outcomes from last year's conference

Hackathon

Participation

Hackathon attendee's self-reported experience with developing was mixed. Most, (26%) indicated they have intermediate level of experience, followed by advanced level of experience (23%), and beginning level of experience (15%).

Expand data table

How would you describe your experience as a developer?	N	%
No experience	15	12%
Novice	15	12%
Beginner	19	15%
Intermediate	33	26%
Advanced	29	23%
Expert	15	12%
Total who responded to the Hackathon survey	111

Satisfaction

80% of the respondents said the hackathon was a positive or very positive experience. About 17% said the experience was neither positive or negative, 3% reported that experience was negative.

Expand data table

How would you describe your overall experience at the Hackathon?	N	%
Very Positive	32	27%
Positive	64	53%
Neither Negative nor Positive	20	17%
Negative	4	3%
Very Negative	0	0%

Direct products

The most commonly reported tasks that were accomplished at the hackathon included discussing future work (16%), fixing bugs (14%), and adding features to an existing tool (11%).

What different tasks did you accomplish during your hackathon time? (Select all that apply)	N	%
Discussed future work (RFC, specifications, etc.)	63	16%
Fixed bugs	56	14%
Added features to an existing tool	43	11%
Wrote code for a new tool or project	28	7%
Worked on or contributed to a new project from the Community Wishlist	23	6%
Other (e.g., created a tutorial, helped others)	22	6%
Answered research questions	18	5%
Created templates	19	5%
Ran statistical analyses	18	5%
Presented in Hackathon Showcase	18	5%
Completed a demoable project	14	4%
Pulled research data	17	4%
Deployed updates to live sites	10	3%
Ran a session in a breakout room	12	3%
Made updates to deployment tooling	6	2%
Added citations	6	2%
Packaged software	3	1%