OTRS workshop

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OTRS Workshop - In a nutshell When: Saturday 7th-Sunday 8th January 2012 Where: Development House, Old Street, London - see Office for location details. Wireless internet provided Cost: Free to attend; travel sponsorship was available. Hashtag: #wmuk Wikimedia Commons category: Category:UK OTRS workshop 2012 Emergency telephone number: Office on +44 (0) 20 7065 0990, or Mike Peel on +44 (0) 7890 142394 Feedback from the day: here

Background

OTRS is a ticket request system which is used to handle most incoming e-mails regarding Wikimedia projects. Besides Foundation staff and chapter affiliated people there is a group of volunteers who take the responsibiliy of answering complaints, questions, permissions and lots of other subjects.

They work for different Wikimedia projects in different languages and most of them don't know each other. Exchange between agents across project borders is very rare. German volunteers have set up some workshops over the past years and continue to meet regularly. They organise their work and improve the quality of the answers in discussions and in sharing experiences and best practices. Lawyers and communication trainers support them to extend their knowledge and skills.

Participants

The list of participants is below (including a quick description of OTRS). There was a limit of 24 attendees at the event. We were offering travel sponsorship, and/or accommodation, to people who mentioned the requirement for that.

Confirmed

1. Mike Peel. I respond primarily to emails sent to Wikimedia UK. Off-peak transport from Manchester to London will cost £70 + £4.40 local costs in Manchester. Will need accommodation on Saturday eve.
2. lyzzy - general support, talks, bring along experiences from the german team. Confirmed both days.
3. Philippe Beaudette - happy to represent the Foundation, and to provide any assistance necessary organizationally or with trainings. Confirmed both days.
4. Shimgray - info-en; would be happy to give help/advice. Travel costs ~£25, plus accommodation. Confirmed both days.
5. James F. - mostly oversight requests, but also permissions etc. Confirmed both days.
6. Wikipedia:User:Filceolaire I am interested in becoming an OTRS volunteer (though last time I asked I was turned down for not being wiki enough). Confirmed both days.
7. Harry Mitchell - info-en and permissions; I'd be happy to come along and share my experiences and learn from others'. Confirmed both days.
8. Doug Weller - info-en, travel costs about £35 plus I'll need accomodation Saturday evening.
9. Mentifisto - been active for the last few months, mostly on info-en (with a preference for courtesy-type issues). Could help newbies etc. but this, of course, depends on what the arrangements are, which currently seem to still be in the process of discussion.
10. Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry - oversight, quality, legal, copyvio etc... I'm not so hot on other languages, or on permissions though. I'm happy to help newbies, but I'm not too good at public speaking.
11. User:Jon Davies (WMUK)
12. Leutha I can cover my own busfare
13. Tom Morris – given OTRS access on October 17 2011, been working on info-en-courtesy mostly, and some permissions. Can help newbies, and would like to discuss whether or not we can come up with ways to rapidly develop consensus for new standard responses on OTRS-wiki, as well as trying to gauge feedback using the wiki.
14. Ironholds
15. WereSpielChequers £17 for two days travelcards
16. Andrew Davidson - I have no experience of OTRS and so would be attending to learn more. I have worked for the Intellectual Property Office and so have experience of copyright and other IP issues in the UK. Expect to be there around lunchtime on Sat as the intro session after lunch seems to be the best start point for me.
17. Fæ
18. Marek69

Apologies

1. ErrantX (Tom) - info-en(f) sorta-newbie :) would be good to chat about OTRS in-person. Due to "mounting costs" in attending other Wiki-events (meetups, hackathon etc.) I'd probably only make it with financial support - around £60-100 travel costs (I can likely kip at friends). (sorry, am stuck in a mudy field with 30 kids that weekend) --ErrantX 13:31, 30 December 2011 (UTC)
2. Martin Poulter Can't fit this into my work schedule, sadly
3. Deryck Chan, interested in becoming an OTRS volunteer. Currently en.wp sysop, zh-yue.wp sysop, campus ambassador. Cannot attend entire event; will try to come for Saturday afternoon and dinner. Deryck Chan 13:51, 6 January 2012 (UTC) Don't think I can make it anymore, sorry! Deryck Chan 17:24, 6 January 2012 (UTC)
4. Panyd
5. Skomorokh, erstwhile OTRS volunteer
6. Rodhullandemu, recently becoming expert on Commons re copyrights and permissions, with a solid background in customer service, having consulted on such for a major mobile telecomms provider. But can only make it if I'm not in the middle of moving to somewhere more conducive to being able to work properly. [

Agenda

• Saturday 7 January
  • 10:00-10.15: Welcome and orientation (Jon Davies, Mike Peel)
  • 10.15-10.30: Discussion about agenda and plans
  • 10.30-11.00: Lyzzy - Inter Project Tickets - examples and best practices for working with tickets in foreign languages or related to foreign projects
  • 11.00-12.00: Philippe (WMF) - Presenting on the Foundation's research into OTRS agent satisfaction from early this year. - 30 mins to present, whatever required discussion time.
  • 12.00-13.00: Open discusssion
  • 13:00-14:00: Lunch (provided)
  • 14:00-17:00: Breakout sessions, responding to tickets. Including introduction to OTRS by HJ Mitchell
  • 17:00-19:00: Informal discussion in a nearby pub
  • 19:00-21:00: Evening meal in a nearby restaurant (paid for by WMUK)
• Sunday 8 January
  • 10:00-12:00: Presentations and discussions
  • 10.15-10.45: Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry - Difficult Customers - How to deal with customers who are complaining or demanding, whether their complaints are legitimate or not.
  • 10.45-11.15: Good afternoon - how to enjoy telephone tickets.
  • 12:00-13:00: Open discussion
  • 13:00-14:00: Lunch (provided)
  • 14:00-16:45: Breakout sessions, responding to tickets
  • 16:45-17:00: Wrap-up and close

Presentations and discussions

Below are suggestions from the attendees for presentations during the event. People were asked to make them so that they are of interest to all attendees, and should last longer than 5 minutes (shorter talks were listed under "lightning talks" below).

• Mike Peel - Chapters and OTRS - what problems do chapters face when using OTRS to respond to enquiries (to include problems with using the word "we", legal/libel issues that may result from the phrasing or format of OTRS responses that are sent on behalf of the various Wikimedia organisations, and issues with confidentiality) - 15 mins for presentation, 15 mins for discussion
• Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry - Difficult Customers - How to deal with customers who are complaining or demanding, whether their complaints are legitimate or not.
• Panyd - Good afternoon - how to enjoy telephone tickets.
• Lyzzy - Inter Project Tickets - examples and best practices for working with tickets in foreign languages or related to foreign projects
• Philippe (WMF) - Presenting on the Foundation's research into OTRS agent satisfaction from early this year. - 30 mins to present, whatever required discussion time.

Requests:

• A presentation and/or discussion about the induction process would be very useful.
• A (documented) discussion session on ways to improve OTRS would be good.

Breakout sessions

These were set up in case there were discussion topics that a subset of the attendees were be interested in. These sessions would take place in the same room as the main meeting.

• Introduction and induction to OTRS for new people (unclear who could lead on this)
• Slightly advance introduction (for those with a little experience/knowledge of OTRS wanting to learn more). I could lead this and/or the session above if necessary (though there are better and more experienced OTRS agents attending than I, so I'd be happy for somebody else to lead them). HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 20:25, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Lightning talks

Very short talks could have been listed here. They could also be added to the schedule during the event.

Metadata

(Emits hCalendar microformat)

• OTRS Workshop
• Wikimedia UK, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT - 51.45149, -2.59802
• 20120107T1000+00:00-20120108T1700+01:00