List of Wikimedia Conferences and Events

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This is an archived version of this page, as edited by Anthere (talk | contribs) at 10:44, 29 September 2005 (→‎Reports about previous events). It may differ significantly from the current version.
Visual guidelines
Events – VRT
Marketing
Leaflet – Cheatsheet
Exhibitions – Presentations
Translation (requests)

Other languages: German | French

One way of promoting the projects hosted by Wikimedia is to advertise them via stands at events. Running a stand, and offering information, or even the chance for visitors to edit the wikis, could open up the projects to a new audience.

If you know of a suitable event where a Wikimedia stand could be hosted, please add it to this page using the following template: 

# Venue: 
# Date: 
# Audience: 
# Potential helpers: 
# Planning page: 
# External link:

Possible events

Upcoming/planned/hoped-for MediaWiki & Wikimedia presentations & conferences at various events.

See also User:Jimbo Wales for Jimbo's travel schedule.

Users willing to help

Please add your name if you are interested in running a stand for Wikipedia or any of the sister projects, and the location on which you are willing to travel to do this.

  • Angela, UK/Berlin
  • +sj+, in New England, New York, DC, Houston (with enough notice).
  • Danny, in New York and New England (notice is a good thing).
  • user:zanimum, within the Toronto area
  • Elian, Germany and Europe

FAQ

What happens, if one is offered a stand at an event?
Firstly, you must take into consideration the costs of the exhibition booth, and the work time of those who will run the stand. You need to consider whether it will bring any value. In addition, you must think about the goal of the event and what you want the visit to achieve.
Is it enough to simply turn up?
No, it is not. You must be clear about your plans and about which equipment you will need, such as how many plug sockets and Internet connections are necessary, how many tables and chairs and other items you need. Computer equipment should be insured in advance.
What material will I need?
The minimum is business cards with the Web address on them so that people can remember the site when they get home. Even at the smallest events, you should have, at a minimum, posters and the projects' logos displayed at your stand. You should also consider printing promotional leaflets. On Promotion you can find a list of stuff others created for such events. See also Events/Checklist.
How do I behave at the event?
You must have people to remain at the stand and answer queries. You need to attract people to the stand. Some try this with freebies such as pens or other one "give aways", others with "Events". You need to actively address the people there. Sitting down with a laptop will not be enough! One of the most interesting ways of presenting the projects to visitors is to give them the possibility to edit pages and make changes since the project will be new to many.
Are there any other guides to running a stand?
See the Debian checklist for a booth.

Howto

  • Announce the event here on meta-wiki on this page and/or its local equivalent (currently German and French)
  • Gather people willing to help (Announcements on Mailinglists and Village pump, ask local people on the list of Wikipedians by region)
  • Set up a preparation page for the event (which can be turned into a report after the event)
  • Make sure the booth will be manned fulltime by at least two people by setting up a schedule in advance
  • Organize Promotion stuff and hardware equipment (see Events/Checklist)
  • Turn up at the event before it starts to set up the booth, decorate it nicely
  • Have fun and don't forget to eat and sleep!
  • When it's over, replace the planning page by a report and list it here on "Previous events"

Reports about previous events

Reports about current events

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