Grants:Project/Rapid/SuperHamster/Wikipedia Asian Month 2018: Preparation/Report

Report accepted

This report for a Rapid Grant approved in FY 2018-19 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Rapid/SuperHamster/Wikipedia Asian Month 2018: Preparation.
You may still comment on this report on its discussion page, or visit the discussion page to read the discussion about this report.
You are welcome to Email rapidgrants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

This is the grant report for the preparation of Wikipedia Asian Month 2018, consisting of goals and expenses related to preparing for the November event. Expenses for and after the event are covered by the Wikipedia Asian Month 2018 rapid grant.

While this grant was made in my name, it represents efforts that go far beyond me that I would like to acknowledge - Wikipedia Asian Month is made possible by several international organizers, participating affiliates and their supporters, the dozens of editors that organize the event on their local language editions of Wikipedia, and the thousands of participants.

Goals

Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?

Broadly speaking, we were successful at preparing for Wikipedia Asian Month 2018. We were able to have a presence at Wikimania 2018 as well as other regional conferences, were able to on-board a record number of language versions of Wikipedia and local language organizers, and had the involvement and support of a record number of affiliates (for postcard distribution, promotion, etc.).

We met most, but not all, of the goals defined in this grant (as elaborated on below). We also did not utilize the majority of our grant funds - partly due to being able to save some costs, partly because we we lacked time for some of the line items, and partly because some tasks were simply not delegated out.

Overall, we were very successful at preparing for Wikipedia Asian Month 2018 as we continue to grow - and recognize opportunities to make our preparations even more successful next time.

Outcome

Please report on your original project targets.

Target outcome	Achieved outcome	Explanation
Onboard more than 10 team members on the international organizing team.		Our main international organizing team remained roughly the same size, as we lost and gained some members.
Outreach to 65 Wikimedia Projects include Wikipedia, Wikisource and Wikivoyage		Through our outreach at conferences, mass-messages, mailing lists, and re-engaging past organizers, we outreached to over 65 language editions of Wikipedia. Ultimately we had 64 language editions of Wikipedia sign up to participate (compared to the ~50 from 2017).
Outreach to 300 community members, offline event organizers, and general participants		Achieved through outreach at conferences, mass-messages on various language editions of Wikipedia, and re-engaging past organizers.
Outreach to at least 10 Wikimedia Affiliates for co-operation		26 affiliates involved or supporting (9 of which are involved in the postcards process)
Promote Wikipedia Asian Month at Wikimania 2018, WikiConference North America 2018, and various other regional meetings and activities		We successfully promoted at multiple conferences, especially at Wikimania 2018, where we had a table throughout the conference to hand out pins, informational flyers, and sign-up sheets for interested volunteers.
Draft a universal guide of the Wikipedia Asian Month and its sister projects, translate into at least 5 languages		Unfortunately we weren't able to find the time to coordinate the creation and translation of a universal guide to 5 languages.

Learning

Projects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:

What worked well?
- Despite not maximizing our grant and accomplishing everything we wanted to, we were able to meet the majority of our goals, adequately prepare for, and host Wikipedia Asian Month 2018. We maintained the majority of our previous international organizing team and were able to onboard 64 language versions of Wikipedia to participate in Wikipedia Asian Month 2018 (compared to the ~50 in 2017).
- We were able to prepare with little spend, and save greatly on some costs.
What did not work so well?
- As evident from our budget spend below, our grant was not heavily utilized in our preparations.
  - Some of the line items we were able to save on. For example, we were able to take advantage of some great StickerMule promotions to save $151 on our sticker and pin printing costs. We were also able to use free printing services to print the flyers for our conferences.
  - Some of the line items, we simply were not able to dedicate the proper time and resources to pursuing, such as the universal guide and translation. Many of the main organizers of WAM had other Wikimedia and external dedications during the busy autumn season (such as preparing for Wikimania and regional conferences; running their respective affiliates, of which all our international organizers are involved in; school and work; etc.).
  - Some of the line items, we simply did not delegate properly (such as following through with the t-shirt ordering and logistics).
What would you do differently next time?
- For 2019, I think there are several main points to tackle to have an even more successful preparation:
  - On-board more international organizers early.
  - Delegate responsibilities early to ensure all tasks are followed through.
  - Set up some key items early to help facilitate delegation, discussions, etc., namely infrastructure and branding.

Finances

Grant funds spent

Please describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on.

Item	Budgeted	Spent	Notes
T-shirts for organizers and outreach coordinators	$350	$0
Stickers & Pins	$200	$147	Underspend was possible by being able to take advantage of StickerMule sales
Conference outreach material	$200	$0	Materials were printed for Wikimania at no cost
Social media advertisements	$50	$50	$30 in Facebook ads resulting in 16,383 impressions and $8,570 post engagements ($.004 per engagement);
Translations of universal guide	$250	$0	Translations depended on volunteers
Infrastructure	$100	$0
Bank transfer fees	$40	$0	No bank transfers were necessary
Unforseen	$120	$0
Total	$1,310	$197

Remaining funds

Do you have any remaining grant funds?

We have $1,113 unspent, which went went towards the Wikipedia Asian Month 2018 grant.

The funds remaining from this grant in the amount of US$1113 were deducted from another grant payment for Grants:Project/Rapid/SuperHamster/Wikipedia Asian Month 2018.