Grants talk:Conference/Wikimedia Serbia/EduWiki Conference 2023

WMF review and feedback

Hi dungodung,Bojan Cvetanović and the Wikipedia & Education User Group team,

Thank you for your work on the grant request. You have submitted a very well articulated proposal, with clear vision and it seems like you've done a really good job with identifying the risks, gaps and framework for an inclusive conference that considered many important partners and acknowledging their roles in the Wikimedia Educational ecosystem.

I reviewed your proposal, and have some follow up questions and comments to share.

Community input:

• Thank you so much for creating and sharing the community survey report - much appreciated. Great to see the gender balance in responses.

  Thanks! --FiliP ██ 12:27, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

• Community input table - you have identified a lot of topics. Too much for one conference in my opinion. You'll might need to better prioritize the topics.

  We were also surprised by the many topics that were raised in the community survey. The edu wiki community is vibrant, and we will definitely need to select a number of topics for the conference. The community input table, which was produced based on the community survey, should not be understood as everything we expect to cover in the conference. The survey had two main goals: to gauge interest and to showcase the variety of topics that could conceivably be covered in the conference. Now, the main topics we will address will be handled by the program committee, that will of course be informed by the survey results, but will have to work hard to establish a cohesive and concise frame for our conference. --FiliP ██ 12:27, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

Participation:

• As I definitely think that inviting teachers, educators and non-wikimedian allies is extremely important to achieve the desired outcomes, I want to also flag that inviting non-wiki partners should be designed and facilitated. Meaning, they might need specific tracked dedicated to them with different skills building and discussions, other translation needs and welcoming plan.

  Good suggestions, thanks. We’ll keep it in mind when designing the program. --FiliP ██ 12:27, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

• I recommend you set up clear set of diversity criteria for the scholarship committee.

  This makes sense, and we will definitely do that. --FiliP ██ 12:27, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

• Will you be welcoming local community? I see you allocated 10 slots for domestic travel but I want to encourage you to considering 'using' the conference as a platform for local awareness and potential partnerships. It's a really good opportunity to better connect with ministry and educational institutes in the country and to bring new contributors, even if just for part of the event.

  Yes, the event was also planned as a catalyst for local development (even though the Serbian education program is quite developed as is) – that’s why we included several local scholarships – we anticipate that many local participants will be able to cover their expenses, and we didn’t want to finance more of them, so as not to distract from the international aspect of the conference, which is still the main goal. --FiliP ██ 12:27, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

Program:

• Thank you very much for focusing more on in depth learning sessions and capacity building (through the 'how to' framework. I do think it's an essential part of a successful conference.Another framing that can also be useful is to talk about the things that 'didn't' work.

  Absolutely! Our user group’s chair, LiAnna Davis, presented on this very topic at Wikimania 2014’s education track (slides on Commons). Acknowledging what doesn’t work is critical for learning. We will consider proposing this frame in our proposal submission template. --FiliP ██ 12:27, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

• What is the 'remote presence' you mentioned? Do you have an online component to the event?

  We plan to stream all sessions where that is possible, and perhaps include some remote participants in the program, but we don’t plan on making this a hybrid event in the full sense of that word – we believe the greatest value is to be had from in-person interactions. --FiliP ██ 12:27, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

• I really like the collaboration with Wikimedia Serbia. The chapter definitely have good experience as community organizers, and in general - in-wiki collaborations are such good initiatives! I was wondering if you have any specific roles and responsibilities allocation between the Education UG and the Serbian chapter.

  The delineation is quite clear – Wikimedia Serbia is tasked with all logistics and on-site efforts, while the user group needs to take care of the program, scholarships, and the overall interwiki aspect. --FiliP ██ 12:27, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

• I'm glad to hear about your close work with the Foundation's Education team. As this is a Thematic event, some of the team members will likely be joining us for some of the planing/thinking meetings. I know they are all very excited and keen to work together on this conference.

  Yes, we do expect some of the Education team members to actively participate in the conference. --FiliP ██ 12:27, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

Budget

• I'm not sure I understand the catering breakdown costs. why only 120 for dinner and lunch? you have a total of 70 attendees.

  The conference will have 120 participants, of which 70 are scholarship recipients. Lunch and dinner at the hotel are covered for all participants. --FiliP ██ 12:27, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

• I don't have other reservations as for the budget. I think you build a very balanced proposal that also take into consideration your capacity and resources and I think it's wise. I also want to flag the in-kind donations - which are great!

  Thank you! --FiliP ██ 12:27, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

Thank you again for this well presented proposal. When you're able, please respond to the questions above and revise the proposal if needed. These revisions will be due by October 2nd, 2022, after which the Conference Grant Committee will begin formal review of the proposal.

Thank you, CAlmog (WMF) (talk) 10:44, 24 September 2022 (UTC)

Conference proposal approved

Hi EduWiki Conference 2023 team,

Thank you for your work on the funding request and responding to our comments.

On behalf of the Conference Fund committee, I’m happy to tell you that we've reviewed the final proposal for EduWiki 2023 and will be happy to support the event in the amount of 84,500 EUR.

In the coming weeks, I will contact you to set up our first meeting. This will be followed by a regular monthly meeting.

Looking forward to working together! CAlmog (WMF) (talk) 18:03, 7 November 2022 (UTC)