Re: [Wikimedia-l] Movement Strategy Rapid Grants

[Kaarel Vaidla]

Dear Asaf and Mardetanha,

Thank you for prompting this discussion around the potential impact of data
packages to participation!

   - This is a measure that we have put in place based on the feedback from
   the community members as well as prior experiences in the strategy process.
   - Many of the discussions for the movement strategy happen on the calls,
   because it facilitates alignment / shared understanding and is an easier
   pathway into the conversation for people who have not been extensively
   involved - instead of being confronted with a wall of text, people can
   listen in, build their understanding and contribute where they see fit.
   - Video is not necessary for a good flow of the conversation, but a good
   sound connection is really important, because otherwise it will be hard to
   follow the conversation and some key points in the discussion might be cut
   out due to unstable connection.
  - Participants are in this case losing out on important context that
  would facilitate their understanding of the process and would find it
  difficult to contribute to the conversation.
  - Organizers are having a hard time capturing the points from
  participants and do not follow-up to clarify the points, because bad
  connection has already created some frustration in the communication.
  - This is a lived experience from some of the calls in Africa and
  also South Asia - people are already there and have taken the time to
  participate in the discussion, yet they are not enabled to do so.
   - The skepticism regarding longer term engagement is well justified, yet
   that is not the main purpose of this support. It is rather hearing from a
   diverse range of voices to inform the conversations, so we can take better
   informed and more contextualized steps moving forward. At the same time we
   have seen how participation at local or regional events have supported
   people to later join the discussions of the more global nature. Even though
   the absolute percentage of such cases is small, it is significant in terms
   of involving a wider range of people and perspectives in the global
   conversations.
   - For these reasons we find it useful to provide data support and see
   that it has value in informing the conversations. We are also monitoring
   the effect in terms of numbers of participants as well as recurring
   participation and continued engagement.

Thank you so much for this conversation and have a great end of your week!
Kaarel


On Thu, Nov 12, 2020 at 1:39 PM Asaf Bartov  wrote:

> Oh, I should have clarified: I am well aware of the fact data is much more
> expensive in many parts of the world!
>
> What I am skeptical about is giving out data packages to people who
> *haven't* been involved in discussion and governance so far, with the
> expectation that removing the cost barrier would make them contribute to
> discussions and governance.
>
> People like you, with an extensive track record of service and
> participation in the movement, are clearly valuable to support. (And the US
> prohibition on supporting work in Iran is very unfortunate.)
>
>A.
>
> Asaf Bartov (he/him/his)
>
> Senior Program Officer, Emerging Wikimedia Communities
>
> 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!
> https://donate.wikimedia.org
>
>
> On Thu, Nov 12, 2020 at 1:33 PM Mardetanha 
> wrote:
>
>> Dear Asaf, I or my user group are not recipients of such a grant but a
>> reliable internet connection could be costly especially if you need a
>> reliable connection for video/voice discussion, in the case of Iran, Mobile
>> operators offer much much much reliable connection than normal ISPs, the
>> speed is up to 20 times more and ping and jitters are far less, me
>> personally when I have an online meeting, I move to mobile broadband, so I
>> see the logic of such money could increase the participation or at least
>> meaningful participation.
>>
>>
>> Mardetanha
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Nov 12, 2020 at 2:52 PM Asaf Bartov 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Do we have good examples of where providing money for a data package
>>> resulted in substantive contributions by that person *to discussions* (as
>>> distinct from mainspace edits/uploads)?
>>>
>>> I admit I am skeptical.  But I'm eager to have my mind changed, if there
>>> are some successes anyone can point to.
>>>
>>>A.
>>>
>>> Asaf Bartov (he/him/his)
>>>
>>> Senior Program Officer, Emerging Wikimedia Communities
>>>
>>> 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!
>>> https://donate.wikimedia.org
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Nov 12, 2020 at 11:22 AM Kaarel Vaidla 
>>> wrote:
>>>
 Hi everyone,

 @Stella - Thank you for reaching out and

[Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Wikimeet India 2021

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