Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Wikipedia to be free on mobiles in Africa, Middle East (SciDev.net)

[Hisham]

Hi Srikanth 

Comments inline.

On Apr 12, 2012, at 11:38 AM, Srikanth Lakshmanan wrote:

> On Thu, Apr 12, 2012 at 04:22, Barry Newstead  wrote:
> It would also be cool if we celebrate what people actual "do" and debate the 
> efficacy based on the results (since all of our work is experimental in 
> nature and unproven at this time)
> 
> Since we are talking something related to outreach, let me remind the talk[1] 
> is still open and am unaware about the analysis on outreach / metrics, since 
> they haven't been figured out in the discussion.

We are working on trying to analyse the editing trends of newbies who have 
attended sessions.  It's in this context, we've been in touch with nearly 20 
community members across the country to gather the usernames of newbies who 
have recently attended outreach sessions.  We wanted a couple of months of data 
to be available so that we could run an analysis of editing trends using some 
tools that are being developed. I can also imagine the need to finetune 
elements of the analysis once we see the first round of output.

> 
> A quick comment on the style of getting community input. While I appreciate 
> IP for trying hard to get sound feedback from community which is good and 
> very important, but sometimes I feel tired by just looking at things they ask 
> for. Just look at the questions here[1][2], community is NOT a group of 
> survey takers who have loads of free time(This has been mentioned somewhere 
> in meta for research as well IIRC). It is quite obvious that they were 
> unanswered(may remain so) because it will turn off most people.

IP is - and will continue to be for the foreseable future - in experimentation 
mode.  We would love to have the answers to everything - be we won't.  The 
questions I mention were meant to elicit suggestions, generate debate and 
indicate IP's thinking and the challenges we are working on.  

To share with you how these evolve, a question like "Can we introduce 
story-telling as a effective means of sharing the work that is done by 
community members such that we are able to cross-pollinate ideas?" has already 
evolved into a story like 
http://blog.wikimedia.in/2012/04/04/realizing-the-dreams-of-communities-3-years-6-users-1000-articles-counting-the-source-of-gujarati-wikisource/
 and I know that there is another story from another community on another 
project that will be out rather soon.  A pilot design for story telling has 
also been put up here 
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Storytelling

Similarly, "How do we build a toolkit for media/PR/social media such that 
community members are able to rapidly deploy to support specific initiatives 
such as Wikiprojects or to celebrate community or project milestones?" is being 
discussed with interested Odia community based on the following initial draft 
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Social_Media

Something like. "How do we support a community initiative like Wikipatrika in a 
manner that it remains entirely owned by the individual community members - but 
we are still able to help them?  How do we do this without taking away credit 
and also without building dependence?" is governing the way that we are doing 
the support work for Wikipatrika.  It's being done with nearly 15 community 
members across communities.  A pilot design for this has been put up here 
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Wikipatrika

> Lastly, when we ask for something to be worked upon[3], there is a difference 
> between seeking input and getting the work done. If only I had the time and 
> skill to do what I suggested, I would have proposed an RfC myself, why would 
> I even ask IP to work on it.

With regard post [3], I mentioned at the bottom of that post the kind of 
sensitives that we work within - and we will continue to be exceedingly aware 
of them.  Over the past few days, Shiju has been working on a particularly 
sensitive community matter but he is doing it in the manner that is most 
appropriate for it - quietly and 1-on-1.  

hisham


> [1] 
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:India_Program/Outreach_Programs#10_Questions
> [2] 
> http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2012-March/007734.html
> [3] 
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Basic_Community_Building



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Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Wikipedia to be free on mobiles in Africa, Middle East (SciDev.net)

[Srikanth Lakshmanan]

On Thu, Apr 12, 2012 at 04:22, Barry Newstead wrote:

> It would also be cool if we celebrate what people actual "do" and debate
> the efficacy based on the results (since all of our work is experimental in
> nature and unproven at this time)


Since we are talking something related to outreach, let me remind the
talk[1] is still open and am unaware about the analysis on outreach /
metrics, since they haven't been figured out in the discussion.

A quick comment on the style of getting community input. While I appreciate
IP for trying hard to get sound feedback from community which is good and
very important, but sometimes I feel tired by just looking at things they
ask for. Just look at the questions here[1][2], community is NOT a group of
survey takers who have loads of free time(This has been mentioned somewhere
in meta for research as well IIRC). It is quite obvious that they were
unanswered(may remain so) because it will turn off most people. Lastly,
when we ask for something to be worked upon[3], there is a difference
between seeking input and getting the work done. If only I had the time and
skill to do what I suggested, I would have proposed an RfC myself, why
would I even ask IP to work on it.

[1]
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:India_Program/Outreach_Programs#10_Questions
[2]
http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2012-March/007734.html
[3]
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Basic_Community_Building

-- 
Regards
Srikanth.L
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Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Odia Wikipedia Outreach Programs in Odisha (Mar-Apr)

[Hisham]

Congratulations, Odia Wikimedians, for an extraordinarily productive weekend.  

You all should all be really proud of:

a) The sheer level of activity over 3 days: 3 outreach sessions and 1 meet-up 
is awe-inspiring!  
b) The fact that even relatively new folks in the community are standing up and 
taking initiatives, such as MKar conducting (what I think) is his first 
outreach session!  MKar, loved reading your mail about how you explained to 
folks that only the most interested need remain in the outreach session after 
the initial introductory bit 
(http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2012-April/007897.html). 
  It came from the heart, and it was a delight to read!
c) Looking at all aspects of the various activities - from planning out the 
venues to getting a beautiful Odia version of the prezi presentation for your 
outreach sessions 
(http://prezi.com/ljk3w0m44w6x/copy-of-introduction-to-wikipedia/)  to talking 
in detail about the next steps
d) Showing wonderful initiative like approaching work colleagues for an 
outreach session at work.  We should try that in other places too.
e) Working collaboratively as a community on all the various activities - which 
you have done so magnificently across this weekend!  You are a warm, friendly 
community - and that comes from each of you as individuals!
f) Having a constructive meetup which was focussed on specific issues and from 
emerged clear plans and way forward!  I am sure this will encourage more 
meetups and more attendance in these meetups!
g) The press coverage that has been shared on this link is great, but I also 
have been seeing the social media that you are using (facebook, etc.) which is 
also going to be very useful for a language that has a decent level of activity 
on the Internet.
h) The medical outreach will give you great benefits for you Medicine Project.  
I know there are exams for the students right now, but let's approach them 
after that and see how they can join your community and projects.
i) You've put in huge physical effort and time - and I know some guys have 
travelled for hours to get to the various places!

All the very best for everything going forward.  Also, as always, please reach 
out if you need any help from India Program.  Do reach out to Subha or Shiju 
for anything.

Warmest Regards,

hisham

On Apr 9, 2012, at 2:30 PM, Mrutyunjaya Kar wrote:

> Hi all
> 
> Apologies for the delayed report.
> 
> 
> Odia Wikimedia Community had a very eventful, exciting and constructive
> weekend last week!  i want to share with you a report of 3 (yes THREE!)
> outreach sessions and the community meet up held between March 30 and April
> 1. Odia Wikipedia Editing Workshop - Anugul - March 30
> *Summary*
> An "Editing Odia Wikipedia" workshop was conducted on 30th March at the
> National Institute of Computer Education, Nalconagar, Anugul. It was
> attended by 14 newbies. Odia WikipedianMrutyunjay
> Kar conducted
> the workshop by introducing Odia Wikipedia to the newbies. (In fact,
> Mrutyunjay single-handedly organized the session and most of the audience
> were his work colleagues who he had told about Odia Wikipedia.)  He talked
> briefly about Wikipedia, five pillars and policies. Then there was a
> demonstration session on how to edit Odia Wikipedia. One of the attendees
> was called up to create his own account and then Mrutyunjaya demonstrated
> basics of editing by interacting with the audience.  Once we had shown
> everyone this, we invited those who were interested to stay for a more
> detailed and hands-on editing to stay, and told everyone else they were
> free to leave.  A few of the audience left the lab, and the remaining 9
> created their user accounts. 4 of the new wikipedians have made small but
> significant edits.
> *Challenges & Solutions*
> 
> 
>   - An issue that was faced was that newbies initially had problems typing
>   in Odia.  We requested the newbies to check the *Typing
> Help* page
>   to understand the key combination. Mrutyunjaya explained how they can
>   improve by gradual exercise, using the "Show Preview" option and that
>   making corrections is allowed on Wikipedia.
> 
> 
> *Next Steps*
> 
>   - Mrutyunjaya will personally interact with the new editors, either
>   1-on-1 or in groups to give them more support on editing and to address
>   doubts
>   - Mrutyunjaya could conduct more physical meetups in Anugul where help
>   more newbies with editing
> 
> *Lessons*
> 
> 
>   - Mrutyunjaya's initiative to reach out to his colleagues and friends to
>   introduce them to Odia Wikipedia and to encourage them to learn about
>   editing by attending the session is really interesting because it increases
>   the chances of like-minded folks attending outreach sessions.
>   - When we do outreach sessions, it will be nice to share a small note
>   about the session (with some useful links) beforeha

Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Wikipedia to be free on mobiles in Africa, Middle East (SciDev.net)

[Barry Newstead]

Hi all,

On mobile: We are working on this. Deals take time to consummate and are
confidential until they are finalized with partners, but there is work
going on in India and we hope to have some good stuff soon.

@Ashwin: At one level I agree, but another way to think about this is as
follows...It is useful to differentiate between things an editor "can" do
and what an editor "actually chooses to do".  There may be thing that an
editor can do, but chooses not to do that is still worth doing and India
Programs can fill that gap.  On Outreach, India Programs is a) helping to
cross-pollinate learning across the community and take more of an
analytical approach to assessing Outreach than had been done before Nitika
started to really focus on this; and b) bring added capacity to help us all
reach more groups (look at the volume of outreach that has happened since
Nitika started pushing on this theme - not pure coincidence).[1]

@Srikanth: I don't think we should be ready to say there is no need for
group X to focus on activity area Y, since group Z exists. Existence does
not equate with "satisfying all of the needs in India". India Programs will
stop supporting outreach the moment the chapter or local communities feel
they are fully able to met all of the demand for learning about the
Wikimedia projects from groups across India.  Even today, the India Program
team seeks ways to support community members or the chapter to do the
outreach and does outreach sessions when a) they are asked to provide
support; or b) where there aren't community members ready to take the lead.

General point: IMO the debates which crop up regularly on this list over
"who should do what" is tangential to the goals we all share of
strengthening our community and realizing our mission in India. The
capacity represented by Existing Community + Chapter + India Programs is
nowhere near the need required to reach the full potential of the movement
in India, so what is there to fight over?  The more appropriate question
IMO to ask is: "How best to work together in a way that we utilize the
differing capabilities to maximum effective, given we're a long way from
reaching a point where we are "finished with our mission"? It would also be
cool if we celebrate what people actual "do" and debate the efficacy based
on the results (since all of our work is experimental in nature and
unproven at this time) rather than debate "who" should do the work.

My 2 paise. ;)

[1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Outreach_Programs

Kind regards,
Barry

On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 11:09 PM, Srikanth Ramakrishnan <
parakara.gh...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I agree wholeheartedly with Ashwin. India Programs need not focus on
> Outreach as long as the Chapter is there. In India, we see mobile
> operators giving free Facebook and Twitter access but not to Wiki.
>
> --
> Regards,
> Srikanth Ramakrishnan.
>
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-- 
Barry Newstead
Chief Global Development Officer
Wikimedia Foundation

Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in
the sum of all knowledge.  Help us make it a reality!

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
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[Wikimediaindia-l] Fwd: [Mediawiki-i18n] IRC office hours with the Localisation team 2012-04-18 16:30 UTC

[Srikanth Lakshmanan]

Forwarding for the benefit of those who are not in mediawiki-i18n list.

Topics that will be discussed.
Language support; internationalisation of MediaWiki, language support
teams, User Interaction and User Interface design for language tools

See you there!

-- 
Regards
Srikanth.L

-- Forwarded message --
From: Siebrand Mazeland (WMF) 
Date: Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 18:35
Subject: [Mediawiki-i18n] IRC office hours with the Localisation team
2012-04-18 16:30 UTC
To: Wikimedia Foundation , MediaWiki
internationalisation 


Hi everyone,

I just wanted to give advance notice about IRC office hours with the
Localization team [1] at the Wikimedia Foundation.

Date: 2012-04-18 (every third Wednesday of the month from now on)
Time: 16.30 UTC
Venue: #wikimedia-office

As usual, more logistical info and time conversion links are available
on Meta.[2] For a taste of what the localization team has been up to,
I highly recommend the blog posts we are have written since out last
office hours in February.[3]

Thanks, and we'll talk to you later next week!

--
Siebrand Mazeland
Product Manager Localisation
Wikimedia Foundation

1. https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Localisation_team
2. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRC_office_hours
3.
http://blog.wikimedia.org/c/technology/features/internationalization-and-localization/

Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate

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