As Fae says, it's relatively easy to run low- or zero-cost editathons, and we're not running out of volunteers who are happy to do it.
We might need to have a discussion, though, about how we're actually gathering data from the editathons that happen independently of the WMF or any thorgs. Do we gather that data? I assume it would be useful to gather! Richard Symonds Wikimedia UK 0207 065 0992 Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects). *Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.* On 19 March 2015 at 12:19, Fæ <[email protected]> wrote: > This thread puzzles me. When I was the Chair of a certain chapter, I > recall a strategy meeting where I was the only participant who did not > put "fund raising" as a 9/10 priority, I set it as merely 5/10. I > guess it is in this area of money and "branding" that world-views are > conflicting. > > When we first coined the word "editathon" the working model was that > they were open events run at *zero cost* (we had no staff and > insignificant funds). Later we started providing a free buffet, paying > expenses for "trained helpers" and some others, and a couple years > after that it started to become impossible to organize an editathon > without first having an employee agreeing it, being required to use > official feedback forms and committing to making event reports to help > with future funding. > > Basic facts: > * Unpaid volunteer editathon participants do not need travel costs, > they should be local people who can get on a local bus, and do not > need to travel hundreds of miles. > * Editathons work well when attendees can buy their own food from a > local cafe or expect a social event afterwards where they pay their > own costs. Frequently the hosting institution provides drinks and > sandwiches for free. > * Editathons work perfectly well without incurring employee costs > (this is why editathons work in countries where there are no Wikimedia > employees). Volunteers who know enough about Wikimedia projects to get > a geonotice approved and discuss the event in advance on relevant > wikiproject noticeboards or email lists do not need, nor even ask for, > funds. > * The world is stuffed with free venues and institutions looking to > support open knowledge. I had several organizations spontaneously > offer me top class venues in the UK, so long as I could get a handful > of keen editors to commit to coming. We are not even close to running > out of goodwill of this type. > > Fae > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
