Talk:Preparation Budget/Grant 2016 S1

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We’re writing to share details about Wikipedia’s 15th birthday. Here’s the short summary:

As people on this list know, Wikipedia’s 15th birthday is quickly approaching (January 15, 2016 -- 114 days!). Many of you have expressed interest in celebrating this together following the successful celebration of Wikipedia’s 10th birthday in 2011.

As a result, the WMF Communications team has begun planning how we can work together. I want to share an update on what’s been done so far, and what we want to achieve over the next few months.

What’s been done so far

Listening

Over the past few months the WMF Communications team has spoken with community members, affiliates, and Foundation staff to understand how and what people want to celebrate on this special Wikipedia Day. Some of the notes from these conversations can be found here. These conversations have informed some ideas for themes around celebrating Wikipedia’s 15th birthday.

A wiki to coordinate

Many thanks to Pharos at Wikimedia NYC for starting the Wikipedia 15 meta page. Based on what worked for the 10th anniversary we’ve added an initial framework for coordination around events. The meta page has places for resources such as:

  • A space to organize and plan events and meetups locally to celebrate the 15th
  • A place to share your birthday photos, videos, stories, Wikipedia content, and other media
  • Tips for reaching out to local media (coming soon!)


Many of the sections on the meta page are blank for now, so that we can work together to add more information to the page leading up to the birthday celebration in January. At the WMF, we will also start adding additional information in these sections over the next few weeks. We’re eager to hear your thoughts and look forward to collaborating.

Plans for the next few months

In addition to community celebrations and research, we’re also thinking about how to share our story online, with readers and other Wikimedia supporters, and with the press. We are still working on the specifics for what comes next, but in general, we are planning to develop the following:

Online and social campaign

The 15th birthday is an opportunity to celebrate the people all around the world who’ve made Wikipedia what it is today. To do this, we’re thinking about a campaign to encourage people to share stories, images, videos, Wikipedia content, and other media to showcase what Wikipedia means to each of us. This planning is just beginning - we will share more for your input and feedback next month.

Sharing with the world

Once people share their stories, images, videos, and other content from the community, we want to share it with the world. The Foundation can host this content on the Wikimedia blog, and it can be shared by WMF and affiliate social media channels. The WMF is also planning a special anniversary version of the Annual Report, as a space that will share our movement story for this year, with a focus on the 15th birthday. We’re in the process of planning this, but we’re looking forward to sharing updates on this soon.

Global press outreach

We have heard from you it is important that English Wikipedia doesn’t get all the birthday attention. One way to help language communities and affiliates share their story is for local affiliates and communities to spread the news that Wikipedia is turning 15 in their own countries, ahead of the WMF. To do this, communities may need help in getting their 15th birthday celebrations covered by the press. Both the WMF Communications team and Wikimedia affiliates involved in communications can share media tips, talking points, and other resources to make the 15th a truly global celebration. We will add these resources on the Meta page in the next 1-2 months for your review and feedback.

We are looking forward to working with you on this! If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.* We’re happy to talk to you about the bigger ideas, or what you and your community or affiliate may have planned.

Thanks again for everything you do,

-- The WMF Communications team


  • The team working on this at the WMF includes:
  • Katherine Maher (kmaher@wikimedia.org) (overall coordination)
  • Juliet Barbara (jbarbara@wikimedia.org) (social sharing/press)
  • Heather Walls (hwalls@wikimedia.org) (design/concept)
  • Joe Sutherland (jsutherland@wikimedia.org) (community/coordination)
  • Sam Lien (slien@wikimedia.org) (press/coordination)

With more support from volunteers and our friends at Minassian Media


-- Katherine Maher Chief Communications Officer Wikimedia Foundation