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Submissions/How people can make a contribution without going near a wiki

From Wikimania 2014 • London, United Kingdom

After careful consideration, the Programme Committee has decided not to accept the below submission at this time. Thank you to the author(s) for participating in the Wikimania 2014 programme submission, we hope to still see you at Wikimania this August.

Submission no. 1046
Title of the submission
How people can make a contribution without going near a wiki
Type of submission (discussion, hot seat, panel, presentation, tutorial, workshop)
presentation / discussion
Author of the submission
User:Stevie Benton (WMUK)
E-mail address
stevie.benton@wikimedia.org.uk
Username
User:Stevie Benton (WMUK)
Country of origin
UK
Affiliation, if any (organisation, company etc.)
Wikimedia UK
Personal homepage or blog
www.wikimedia.org.uk (although not personal)
Abstract (at least 300 words to describe your proposal)

Within the Wikimedia movement we often view volunteer contributions through the narrow prism of direct contributions to the Wikimedia projects – editing, teaching others to edit, arranging editing events and so on. But what about those ways of volunteering that don't involve participating directly on Wikimedia projects, but that are about helping with activities that lead to better outcomes for the projects just the same?

In this presentation and discussion I will use the examples of Wikimedia UK's work as a member of the Free Knowledge Advocacy Group EU, and their work in supporting Wikimania, as a way that volunteers can help make a valuable contribution to the work of the movement without necessarily going near a wiki.

The FKAGEU is a loose affiliation of (mostly European) Wikimedia chapters is very much geared towards pushing for change to the European Directive on Copyright. Speaking with some people interested in Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects, I met someone who was very keen to help but wasn't really keen in being involved on wiki.

For some, working on a wiki can be challenging for many reasons, but this shouldn't put people off participating in the work of the movement. Stevie will demonstrate the value of volunteer engagement away from the wikis and show how valuable contributions can be made without being an editor.

Track
WikiCulture and Community
Length of session (if other than 30 minutes, specify how long)
30 minutes
Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?
Yes
Slides or further information (optional)
Special requests


Interested attendees

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  1. Ziko (talk) 14:35, 15 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
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