Lodewijk, It pleases me to say that you are missing a zero in that number in the lead paragraph! (congratulations again to everybody for this spectacular result in the first week!!!) Jane
2011/9/6 Lodewijk Gelauff <[email protected]> > Hi all, > > Please find below the European press release as we're sending it our. A > huge thanks to Moka Pantages at the Wikimedia Foundation for helping on > drafting this - hopefully it will help WLM getting picked up by news outlets > :) > Please distribute as you feel fit in your relevant countries. > > Best, > > Lodewijk > * > * > *== PRESS RELEASE ==* > * > * > *Wikimedians team up to make European Cultural Heritage Accessible to the > World * > *Volunteers from 16 European Countries Have Uploaded 15,000 Images and > Counting* > > Amsterdam, September 6, 2011--- Wikimedians from 16 European countries > announced the first-ever Pan-European Wiki Loves Monuments contest, a > photography contest, running throughout the month of September, focused on > capturing and sharing images of important monuments and buildings in Europe. > Since its September 1st launch, more than 1000 images have been uploaded > from a few of the most active countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands, > Poland and Spain. > > Europe has hundreds of thousands of historically and culturally significant > monuments and buildings, most of which still have no freely-available images > on the Internet. These important structures are often damaged or destroyed > overtime, endangering the opportunity for people all over the world to > access and learn about them. Although some prominent cultural artifacts are > protected and documented by various international organizations and > agencies, a majority of them are not. Wikipedia is one of the only > freely-accessible shared places on the Internet offering a digital home to > these artifacts, however, most of the culturally significant buildings and > monuments in Europe are missing. This contest aims to make sure that they > are represented in the form of images so that everyone, European or not, has > access to Europe's cultural heritage. > > “Wikimeda’s ultimate goal is to make all information freely available to > everyone in the world, and images of Europe’s important cultural structures > are needed to complete this mission. All over Europe, important monuments > are tucked away from the rest of the world--they haven't been documented or > shared on a website like Wikipedia," said Lodewijk Gelauff, one of the lead > organizers of the European contest. "There are hundreds of thousands of > monuments that people walk past every day and they have no idea these > structures are culturally significant and should be shared." > > The contest is inspired by the successful 2010 pilot contest conducted in > the Netherlands, which resulted in 12,500 freely-licensed images of > monuments and buildings now freely-available to be used on Wikipedia and by > anybody in the world. Wiki Loves Monuments runs throughout the entire month > of September and is organized in independent national contests. Winning > images from regional contests will then be submitted to the pan-European > Jury. Participating partner countries include: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, > Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, > Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. > > The contest is supported by international organizations including the > Council of Europe, the European Commission, Europeana and Europa Nostra. The > month of September was selected as it coincides with European Heritage Days > organized throughout Europe. Prizes, including a full scholarship to > Wikimania in Washington, DC, will be awarded to winners medio December. More > information about the contest and how to enter can be found at: > www.wikilovesmonuments.eu > > “Europe's cultural artifacts have universal significance. And it’s not > just about the documentation of these artifacts, it's about making sure > they’re accessible to people no matter who you are or where you live in the > world,” says Gelauff. > > Press Contacts: > Lodewijk Gelauff, European co-ordinator Wiki Loves Monuments, +31 (0)6 49 > 74 82 81 (Netherlands) - [email protected] > Press contacts and press releases per country: > http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2011/Press > > About Wikimedia > Wikimedia is the movement behind Wikipedia, supporting the same goals on > realizing a world where all knowledge is freely available for every human > being. This is possible through the US-based Wikimedia Foundation and a > network of national associations which co-operate closely with the > volunteers on the Wikimedia projects, such as Wikipedia. > > About Wikipedia > Wikipedia and the other projects operated by the Wikimedia Foundation > receive more than 390 million unique visitors per month, making them the 5th > most popular web property world-wide (July 2011). Available in more than 270 > languages, Wikipedia contains more than 18 million articles contributed by > hundreds of thousands of people all over the world. > > > === Q & A === > *How are Wikimedia and the European Partners working together on this?* > Wiki Loves Monuments is lucky to be supported by a wide contingent of > European organizations - including the Council of Europe, the European > Commission, Europeana and Europa Nostra. > > These organizations support Wikimedia through their extensive networks with > their national partner organizations and through their communications. Some > partners such as Europeana provide besides that also direct support by > making awards available. > > *When will you announce the regional winners* > The regional winners will be announced by their national organizations by > the end of October or the beginning of November. They will submit their > nominations for the European jury by October 31. > > *When will you announce the final winners* > The European jury will deliberate in November about the nominees by the > national juries and decide which photo will win the fully funded trip to > Wikimania in Washington DC in 2012. The winners will be announced at the > DISH conference in Rotterdam on 6-9 December. > > *How can I track the images being submitted?* > All eligible images submitted are available through Wikimedia Commons: > http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Images_from_Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2011 > You can always see the last few submissions on the main page of > www.wikilovesmonuments.eu . > > > > _______________________________________________ > Wiki Loves Monuments mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikilovesmonuments > http://www.wikilovesmonuments.eu >
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