Wikimedia Foundation/Communications/WikiCelebrate
The Wikimedia movement exists because of the contributions of countless volunteers and other Wikimedians from around the world, people from diverse backgrounds and life experiences contributing to the sum of human knowledge. The sheer magnitude of this global collaboration baffles most outside our movement. Many editors have long contributed independently without much acknowledgement, and some like it that way. For others, love and recognition from peers can go a long way to encourage and uplift. We are here to celebrate the exceptional people of Wikimedia, the pillars of our movement, the puzzle pieces of our ever-expanding universe of knowledge.
Celebrating Wikimedians
[edit]Barnstars are a beloved way of expressing gratitude for each other in the movement, but often without further public attention. We have no shortage of amazing contributors to celebrate and we are dedicating this space to them. WikiCelebrate is an easy, collaborative way to spotlight Wikimedians and their amazing work throughout the year. Each month we will celebrate a different Wikimedian and invite your help in further celebrating them! If you know them, share a great anecdote about your work with them. If there are others we should celebrate, please nominate them. In addition to your love and gratitude of course, the Celebrated Wikimedians will receive a limited edition barnstar, a small gift, and posts on Diff and social media.
Read about all the previous Celebrated Wikimedians!
We plan on presenting the Wikimedians of the Year in this space as well and will soon create an in memoriam page as we mark the passing of fellow Wikimedia friends and colleagues.
Mea Hanohano
[edit]The word 'wiki' is at the root of our nomenclature. That’s Hawaiian for quick. Honouring this quintessential term, we are calling this section hanohano for honour, distinction, and prestige, and adding mea to create mea hanohano, an honourable person. So, we are here to celebrate honourable Wikimedians of the highest distinction and prestige, Wikimedians of exceptional commitment and contribution.
This month we celebrate...
Mārtiņš
[edit]Mārtiņš Bruņenieks (user:Papuass) made his first contribution in 2005, just two years after his home project, Latvian Wikipedia was created. It was a simple maintenance edit - adding a missing closing tag in an image gallery. But the satisfaction of successfully fixing something in an online encyclopedia sparked his desire to edit more. A couple of months later, his first articles were created, primarily focused on student organizations and a popular sport in Latvia—ice hockey. Over the years, the number and thematic scope of his articles grew: he is now the author of more than 3,000 articles in Latvian Wikipedia across various topics. Readers can learn from him about a Croatian folk dance, a lake in Azerbaijani, a British throne succession, or Latvian female BMX racer, and many, many other topics.
From a single contribution made nearly 20 years ago to becoming one of the most respected Wikimedians in the CEE region, Mārtiņš has taken on many roles: administrator, article author, regional connector, campaign organizer, and translator. During this CEE Meeting, the regional community honored his contributions to the Wikimedia Movement through WikiCelebrate.