Wikimedia Conference 2015/Programme team

The programme team for the Wikimedia Conference 2015 is a volunteer-led group soliciting input and selecting proposals for content and activities during the Wikimedia Conference 2015 event in Zürich, Switzerland.

Team mandate

The team is tasked with:

1. Getting input from Wikimedia affiliates, and the Wikimedia Foundation (including its Affiliations Committee), on what topics would most merit discussion or resolution at the rare (and expensive!) face-to-face opportunity this event offers.
2. Ranking or prioritizing the input, applying its best judgment, to select a small group of topics or questions to address
3. Coming up with suitable activities, session formats, and/or invited speakers to effectively address or discuss the chosen topics and questions

This is all much harder than it sounds. The main challenges are low participation, vague inputs, and lack of timely response from prospective speakers.

Still sounds like something you'd be interested in doing? Please volunteer below!

Process

The team is now assembled; it will hold a video conference to establish a process, divide work, and schedule additional calls.

The target should be a complete programme (subject to change) by mid-February at the latest, to allow affiliates time to discuss topics internally and to prepare their delegates to maximize effectiveness during the face-to-face meeting.

(details to be added following first team call.)

Kickoff meeting

First meeting Monday, December 1st, 2014

Tentative agenda:

• process planning for programme team
• preparation of a timeline
• division of labor
• scheduling next calls

Kickoff meeting summary

(captured by James Hare)

• Potential conference subjects: capacity-building, orientation for newcomers, chapters dialogue, strategy process, program monitoring, fundraising.
• Potential formats: workshops, two-way learning/exchange between small and large orgs, knowledge transfer, structured conversation based on brief talks, concrete questions, networking opportunities, icebreakers/orientation
• Goal for each session: Come up with actionable items

Given that there already was the board governance survey and the organizational effectiveness tool surveying is ongoing, it is unlikely additional surveying (by this committee) of chapters is going to yield useful information. This also isn’t the first Wikimedia Conference ever, and the needs of 2015 are likely to be very similar to the needs of 2014. It may be useful then to think in more operational terms.

• Given limited time and resources, what are our priorities? What programming will have the largest material benefit for our audience, who are largely Wikimedia board members, officers, and staff?
• What is our goal for each priority? How will we know if we’ve achieved that goal?

Second meeting

Tuesday, December 30th, 2014

Documentation

• 2014 Wikimedia Conference evaluation: "what went well" last time
• Research:Wikimedia Board Governance Survey/Results Movement board survey results - in particular pages 15/16 (what movement org boards spend their time on) and 23 (what they want to learn)

Team members

The team has self-assembled, for the lack of any other established process. Note: serving on the committee does not guarantee participation in the event.

Volunteers

• James Hare – Programme Chair (WM US-DC; attended Wikimedia Conference 2013 and served on the Program Team in 2014)
• Patrick Kenel (WMCH; attended the Wikimedia Conference 2012, 2013, 2014)
• Asaf Bartov (WMF; attended the Wikimedia Conference 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014)
• Claudia Garád (WMAT; attended Wikimedia Conference 2013, 2014)
• Ad Huikeshoven (WMNL; attended 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014)
• Tomasz Ganicz (WM PL, attended Wikimedia Conference 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014)
• Tanweer Morshed (WMBD; attended the Wikimedia Conference 2014)
• Chris Keating (The Land) (talk) ; attended 2013 and 2014, served on programme team 2014
• Hempal Shrestha (Wikimedians of Nepal; attended Wikimedia Conference 2014)
• Anna Torres (WMAR) (talk) 00:13, 11 November 2014 (UTC)
• Justin Duranboger (WM-BO User Group) (talk) 00:41, 11 November 2014 (UTC)
• Carlos Colina (WMIL, WMVE, AffCom; attended on 2012, 2013 and 2014)