Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Conference Fund/EduWiki Conference 2025 in Colombia

Feedback on your proposal

Dear @Monica Bonilla (WMCO), Liannadavis, Joalpe, and Bukky658:,

Thank you very much for submitting your proposal for the “EduWiki Conference 2025.” I’m delighted to see the conference focused on building global Wikipedia & Education infrastructure and rebuilding momentum toward a “Hub.”

Overall, the proposal is very thorough, and I appreciate the effort you’ve put into preparing it. I’ve consulted with my colleague Ben Vershbow and incorporated his feedback into this response.

First of all, I want to commend the model you’ve chosen for organizing this thematic global event by repeating the successful structure from 2023: the Wikipedia & Education User Group serving as the “programmatic lead” and selecting an experienced affiliate, in this case Wikimedia Colombia, to handle the logistics. However, I’d like to highlight the volunteer-only structure of the Education Group and recommend careful planning around what capacities the group currently has and where gaps might arise. Since the Wikimedia Foundation no longer has an “Education team” like in 2023, staff support for the program side may not be as readily available as it was for the Belgrade conference.

Program-wise, Ben and I are glad to see that the proposed event is positioned as a “platform for strategic deliberations and implementing a hub pilot for Wikimedia and Education.” This seems to be the most critical focus for the network at this time. The suggested activities, based on the results of the engagement survey, align well with this direction.

The proposal mentions online workshops and meetings in the lead-up to the conference. We both agree that this is absolutely essential: a) to prepare participants in advance and establish common ground for the in-person discussions, and b) because in-person attendees will only represent a small fraction of the broader stakeholder group. It’s important to offer multiple ways for participation. It would be great if you could develop a “pre-event engagement plan” around this. WMF staff would be available to offer advice on this.

We recognize that most Wikimedia conferences face the challenge of either deepening connections and knowledge within the Wikimedia community or bringing in new participants. It’s difficult for a single event to achieve both. However, while the conference is (rightfully) a global gathering, it’s worth considering how regional perspectives could be incorporated into the program.

On the topic of regional perspectives, we recommend that when discussing Hub structures for Education, leadership (EDs, Boards) from regional and other affiliates are ideally present or at least engaged in these conversations. Since we’ve already discussed the logistics and budget with you, there’s nothing further to add on that front. The budget looks good to go.

Once again, thank you for submitting such a strong proposal! We’d appreciate it if you could provide more details on the points mentioned above and resubmit your proposal with these adjustments on 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. A final decision is expected by mid-to-late October.

Best regards, --Cornelius Kibelka (WMF) (talk to me) Cornelius Kibelka (WMF) (talk to me) 01:54, 19 September 2024 (UTC)