Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Conference Fund/Central Asian WikiCon 2025

Feedback on your proposal

Dear @Darafsh:,

Thank you very much for submitting your proposal for the “Central Asian WikiCon 2025.” I’m delighted to see this initiative to bring together the diverse communities from the Central Asian region, strengthen regional collaboration, and foster a sense of belonging to a “regional community.”

Overall, the proposal is substantial, and I appreciate the effort you’ve put into preparing it. After reviewing your proposal and discussing it internally with colleagues at the Wikimedia Foundation, I’d like to raise a few points for further consideration.

This appears to be the first international event of this type and size hosted by the Uzbek community. Could you provide more information about the experience you and your core organizing team have in organizing events in general? Additionally, what kind of support, if any, would you need from the Wikimedia Foundation to help organize this event?

Your proposed objectives and event activities are well-suited for a conference of this nature. I would highly recommend working with Wikimedia Foundation teams on program design and facilitation to ensure the event’s success and relevance to your target audience. Established workshop formats for training community members and sharing knowledge could be particularly helpful here. Additionally, in my experience, it may be beneficial to provide training for community members who are presenting at an event, especially if they have not done so before.

One key challenge I foresee is ensuring a plan for maintaining participants’ excitement and transitioning that energy into ongoing involvement with Wikimedia projects. Without a clear follow-up strategy, there is a risk that the enthusiasm generated by the event might not lead to sustained engagement with the movement.

Regarding the budget, I would appreciate further clarification on certain details, as not everything is fully explained.

• First, I recommend using our template for conference budgets (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rR-ptnhSdS_Q0gwcBGhllEOuor03ShgRSOF1vmJP0Gk/edit?gid=0#gid=0) and preparing your budget in your local currency, the Uzbekistani Som (UZS), as the grant will be transferred in your local currency.
• Please also specify where you expect scholarship holders to travel from (countries). For example, who are the “5 participants from locations outside CA” for whom you’ve budgeted $500 per flight? I assume this amount may not be sufficient for travel from outside Central Asia to Tashkent. Additionally, I’d like to confirm that you will be handling the travel arrangements for participants. Will you manage this on your own, or will you use a travel agency? If you opt for a travel agency, please include any associated fees in the budget.
• Your proposal mentions a one-day conference, but your budget accounts for three nights. Please review and adjust this accordingly.
• Could you also explain the rationale behind the “Streaming and Video Recording” budget item? How do you plan to use or share the recorded videos afterward? Often, additional technical support is needed to ensure good audio quality—might this be something you need to budget for as well?
• Lastly, I noticed that the budget does not include a stable internet connection at the venue. Be sure to confirm that this is included in your agreement with the venue, or specifically budget for it if needed.

These are relatively minor details, but they are essential for fully understanding the overall budget of your proposal.

Once again, I’m very pleased to see this proposal! I kindly ask that you provide more details and further develop your proposal as suggested, and then resubmit it via Fluxx (the proposal is now open for editing). The deadline for submission is September 30, after which the proposal will be reviewed by the volunteer Conference Fund Committee, with a final decision expected by mid- to late October.

Best regards, --Cornelius Kibelka (WMF) (talk to me) 17:32, 17 September 2024 (UTC)