Wikimedia Conference/2015–2017 Report/Conclusions
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2: From a one-shot event to a multi-year event |
3: A constant forum for conversations |
Conclusions | Further information |
Conclusions
4 Key Learnings
"We are a global movement, a multicultural movement and a diverse movement. Therefore, many different issues need to be addressed through our events and we should consider how more specialized conferences and events can help us achieve that."
ED of Wikimedia Sverige
Moving away from being a one-stop shop
These years gave us the opportunity to thoroughly understand the Wikimedia Conference as an event, its audience and their needs and wishes. We came to the conclusion that despite the current success of the conference, the concept of the Wikimedia Conference has its limits. We think that we need to move away from a “one-stop shop” conference and move towards a landscape of more focused, specialized conferences tailored to the needs of the Wikimedia movement.
“In the Wikimedia Conference all of us are equal. It doesn‘t matter if you are a huge affiliate or a small one, not like Wikimania, each is represented by the same size of delegation. This allows for an intimate meeting opportunity to discuss, share and decide together. ”
Chair of Wikimedia Israel
Focus on strategy and governance
In the future, we envision the Wikimedia Conference to be one focused annual event for strategic and governance conversations, as well as decision making among affiliates, the WMF and its committees: a conference that carries the conversations from the movement strategy process further into the future, and is iteratively developed along with the implementation and adaptation of the movement strategy.
“It is vital that we not only work on the major issues that we feel deeply about in the movement as a whole, but also discuss local matters, as people working around similar topics. Strong communities built around a region, a language or a theme are very important. They form a great basis, the critical mass for creating projects and developing ideas. And those communities are built on smaller meetups.”
staff member of Wikimedia Polska
Strengthening the profile and infrastructure of events, regionally and globally
At the same time, we would like to see an increased number of smaller, more focused Movement events and meetings for shared learning and peer-to-peer exchange among affiliates, the WMF and its committees, as well as community leaders, designed according to their regional and thematic contexts. Regional learning events in the local languages and contexts will likely lead to greater impact. We consider in-person, in-language training to be more effective and engaging while a global event can be better used to strategically discuss results and objectives for these trainings, and to decide upon improvements of the general approach.
At the same time, we think that at Wikimania the wheel is, to a certain extent, invented again every year, and sessions in the program do not build upon what happened the previous year. A new approach for designing our truly global community conference is necessary. We think that, generally, an efficient global conference support for logistics as well as program design is needed for all Wikimedia events.
“The Wikimedia conference has been an international space which allows to think strategic actions in the movement having in consideration the different challenges that we as Wikimedia activists are facing in very different contexts in the world.“
Chair of Wikimedia Mexico
Being a truly global movement means being connected
This proposed new landscape of conferences – a sharpened profile for the Wikimedia Conference, regional and thematic conferences, as well as for Wikimania – could offer the Movement more and better ways to interact and collaborate with each other. However, we think that structures like the Wikimedia Conference cannot solve problems, they can only support solutions. To be able to build strong and diverse communities as well as breaking down existing barriers, we need to actually live and act up to this: We do not only need boots on the ground in every country of the world, but we need collaboration and strong connections between all these entities.