Better planning processes were advised by people involved, as well as participants, including:
Timely budgeting of the event, including relevant sponsorship applications, as well as WMF grant;
Start the work of the program team earlier to create more space for discussions and decision-making;
Be more inclusive in organizing the event (i.e. make more use of the availability of wide regional collaboration).
Remarks related to program of the event:
In general, the program was too intense and spread out over too many hours to be effective;
Some sessions would have needed a better introduction and explanation;
Lack of GLAM-related sessions was noted;
There are too many presentations about what has been done - such meeting could use more time to concentrate on next steps in each track to take this regional collaboration further.
Some suggestions related to technical solutions:
Internet provided in the venue was insufficient to meet expectations of participants - when organizing event in remote location a better internet connection has to be guaranteed;
Online video streaming was suggested, as participation on the event is expensive and possible for only some organization or community representatives - online video streaming helps to reach wider audiences.
Some suggestions related to informal part of the event:
More time for informal discussions should be provided as to capitalize on the physical presence of people from the region;
Informal events should be announced earlier and there should be more room for them in the schedule;
Cultural presentation of Estonian songs and dances was well appreciated and it has been suggested that such cultural exchange could be done in bigger scale;
Also organization of sports activities was suggested.
Some remarks related to logistics and stay:
Retreat in a remote location proved to be exhausting because of travel time;
Lodging and food felt a bit too cheap.
Comments about scholarships:
Decision about scholarships to be made as early as possible to make planning easier;
Recipients of scholarships should be better supported with various information;
Suggestion to increase the number of participants from bigger and more experienced communities (e.g. Poland, Ukraine, Serbia)
Lessons learned with a wider impact in programmatic or administrative work in the region
Continued interest in the event and increasing participation numbers (in 2015 60 participants from 31 communities);
More than 50% of participants being highly active on the meeting (i.e. speakers, table hosts, facilitators);
Notes from all the sessions available on etherpad for further learnings, a total of 42 presentation slides available for further consultation;
Meeting was useful for participants (57,5% strongly agree, 37,5% agree), new information was received (of all the people who answered the questionnaire state that they have received new information in following fields: 41% project management, 33% chapter efficiency, 72,2% community building);
Meeting generated follow-up activities and increased participation in regional projects: 57,5% of people who answered to the follow-up survey stated that the conference helped them join or start an initiative;
The fifth edition of the meeting will be organized in 2016 in Armenia.
Upgrade of Wikimedia CEE Spring competition with better collaboration between communities was made possible via discussions held on the meeting;
European Science Photo Competition had a notable participation rate in CEE communities due to discussions held on the meeting;
Wiki Loves Earth continues to enjoy its popularity in CEE region partly due to discussions held on the meeting;
100Wikidays continues to be popular in the region and several new commitments were made during the meeting;
WikiDojo which was introduced on CEE Meeting 2014 in Kyiv and implemented on the CEE Meeting 2015 has become a thing in the movement;
Although CEE collaborative still lacks a clear collaborative education and GLAM project, some important discussions related to this were held on the meeting. As a result, some smaller regional events have been organized (e.g. Ethnography of the Carpathians) and regional support for some local projects has been provided (e.g. Bulgarian State Archives Challenge).
Feedback and lessons learned which influenced CEE 2016
Better plan the event, start the grantmaking process earlier in April 2016 including as many local community members as possible;
Try to involve more communities to the meeting, thus making available wider regional collaboration;
Start the call for program committee in mid-May as well as start collecting the community needs in April;
Better plan the informal part of the event informing the community beforehand;
Have better Internet connection during the event and make possible the online streaming so reaching a wider audience;
Choose presentations which are not too long, thus ineffective. Due to preliminary discussion the program committee will mainly choose presentations which can be helpful for the community's needs rather than those which are just sharing experience and can bring nothing new to the community;
Request programme committee to better plan the introductions and explanations of the sessions. If possible, include more GLAM related submissions and sessions;
Food and accommodation both in the venue and the hotel will be better than it was last year. Breakfasts and suppers are planned to be in the hotel whereas lunch and coffee breaks in the venue (UWC Dilijan College);
Scholarship recipients will be better supported by information on the meeting and travel.
