2014 Activity Plan/Merchandise and publications

Lead member of staff

Richard Nevell and Stevie Benton

Indicative budget amount

£5,000

Description and overall rationale

Through the promotion of our work by publishing guides to what we do, education work, GLAM projects, How to Edit, How to use Commons etc we offer online and in-the-hand material to enthuse newcomers and reinforce the learning we offer. Of course T-shirts, mugs and other merchandise work too to reward people, help them identify with our work, and help brand our workshops and conferences.

Some of the materials we create are based on existing resources, such as the contributing to Wikimedia Commons booklet produced by Sage Ross. Others, such as our GLAM booklet, will be created from scratch, with contributions from the community. They will be created and printed/shared online as demand arises for existing publications, or as need is demonstrated, such as the GLAM booklet.

Essentially, we use the materials to support outreach events, activities, and the Wikimedia UK volunteer community in general. The information booklets serve an aim of raising awareness of free knowledge and Wikimedia UK, eventually leading to more engagement of external parties with our projects.

To see our merchandise please visit Merchandise.

To learn more about our Annual Review, please see the Communications section of this annual plan.

For 2013 plan, see here.

Timelines - i.e. what happens quarter by quarter

• Merchandise available throughout the year. Special requests fulfilled provided enough notice is given.
• With new items being created, we may want to conduct another review of the merchandise similar to the one in Q2 of 2013 (File:WMUK Merchandise survey 2013.pdf).
• Increased activity around key events of the year - WikiConference in Q2, Wikimania 2014 in Q3.

Success criteria and Metrics - overall and quarter by quarter breakdown if relevant

Goals

There is increased awareness of the benefits of Open Content:

• Wikimedia publications are sent to content producing and curating organisations - this is a proxy target of reaching 20 GLAM and Education institutions

Operationally, we want to make sure that the following things take place:

• ‘How to edit Wikipedia’ booklets reach 1000 people/year (merch stock gdoc)
• All appropriate merchandise is offered to, and made available to, volunteers
• Publications are of good quality, with clear messages that support our mission
• The community is involved in the design and copywriting
• All materials are reviewed by end of 2014-15 to ensure they are still accurate, relevant and required (survey)

Risks

• Materials/stock not managed well. To remedy this the stock is managed by Richard Nevell.
• Materials not relevant to the needs of volunteers and requirements of events, not being used