2013 Activity Plan/Ideas

Please give us your ideas to add to the 2013 Activity Plan. These should be ideas which are create impact, rather than being internal matters like governance or fundraising. Please think about the resource implication. E.g. "Hold Editathons at 50 museums" is a great idea, what would we need to make it happen in terms of money, volunteer time, or staff time? And don't be afraid to think big.

Sample idea

What? - what would we do, and why is it a good idea?

What would we need? - how much money, volunteer time, or staff time would it take to make this happen?

Please sign your ideas so we can follow up and give credit! (Don't worry, you're not committing yourself to anything).

Sound recordings of musical instruments

What? - currently there is a real shortage of sound clips in our articles on musical instruments. If you want to know what a {{w:violin}} sounds like, there is one openly-licensed file of some basic sounds, but nothing about its advanced technique, and nothing about a {{w:Historically_informed_performance}} of older music. For older instruments (e.g. the {{w:viol}} ) there is nothing at all.

What would we need? For modern instruments, we'd need musicians (professional or semi-professional) and recording equipment or studio time. To get audio reflecting the history of music, we would need a relationship with people like these. It is probably unlikely that a good archive of these sounds already exists, or that all the various specialist skills (not just performance, but studio time) would be donated free.

Submitted by The Land (talk)

Wikipedia in Schools

What? - Slightly amazed this isn't in the budget already. In this author's humble opinion, there should be wikipedia editing lessons as part of every school's curriculum for every subject.

What would we need? - A good start would be free educational materials; suggestions for lesson plans etc. Then a dedicated group evangelising to institutions and government. See also http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education_strategy#Staffing_and_management

Submitted by EdSaperia

Re-releasing the 2008/9 'Wikipedia for Schools' DVD with more content

What? - Several years ago, the WMF, WMUK and "SOS Children" released a DVD called Wikipedia for Schools, which is available here. We should re-release this in a larger, more up-to-date version.

What would we need? - An awful lot of volunteers, and a core staff (possibly at SOS Children) who have experience in managing/overseeing this sort of project. We already have links with education charities who work in some of the poorest areas worldwide.

Submitted by Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry

Mapping the canal network

What? - Britain's canal network is currently undergoing a renaissance, with new canals being opened at a faster rate than ever before. UK canals are quite unlike any others anywhere else in the world - they are small, narrow, shallow and packed with history. They also have an abnormally large amount of listed buildings linked with them, whether they be directly linked with the canal, or simply nearby (eg an old warehouse, or river weir). The Kennet and Avon canal is peppered with untouched fortifications from World War Two, and the entire length of the Wey Navigation is a National Trust property.

Get to the point... - We could put a volunteer or two on a specially fitted-out (and Wikipedia-liveried?) live-aboard boat for the summer, and have them map the canal network - taking photos of every building, every lock, and even taking video footage of sections of the trip from a roof-mounted camera. A GPS system would trace the entire route for Open Street Map. British Waterways may also be interested, as we'd essentially be doing a mini-survey of the network, including all the structures, for them. We could fit the inside of the barge with a small supply of educational materials and a marquis for stopping the 'wiki-barge' in towns along the way.

What would we need? - A narrowboat, to hire, for the summer - needs to be quite small. Two volunteers, technically minded, at least one of whom knows about narrowboats. GPS equipment (possibly able to loan from OSM or British Waterways?). A 3G internet connection (wouldn't work everywhere, but would work when near a village/town). A camera (and possibly a video-camera). Lots of hard drive space. Expenses for the volunteers aboard. Brochures/booklets.

Submitted by Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry

Training events for volunteers

What? - WMUK currently puts on a lot of training events for newcomers, but fewer for established Wikipedians. These would be events marketed at established Wikipedians who want to expand their skill set. We should, in the author's humble(ish) opinion, have a combination of large events like the OTRS workshop, at which Wikipedians spend a weekend or several days sharing experiences and those with less experience of the subject matter can come along to learn, and smaller, skill-swap type events. This would hopefully result in personal development for the attendees, both on Wikipedia and as WMUK volunteers. Also helpful might be training in public speaking, alongside a continuation of the trainer training programme.

What would we need? - A few hundred quid per event for travel costs, possibly venue hire if other Development House tenants get sick of us occupying their basement, and hotels for multi-day events. Possibly consider flying in attendees from abroad where a good case can be made, which would add significantly to the cost.

Submitted by Harry Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts?

Community meetups

What? - Establishing meetups in parts of the country that currently lack them. In the author's personal experience, coming to a meetup can leave an editor feeling much more positive about their participation in Wikimedia projects, can act as a mechanism for recruitment of new editors or retention of inexperienced ones, and the meetup can form the bedrock for a volunteer community actively doing exciting things in its area. This is already proving to be the case in Liverpool and Coventry, both relatively newly established communities. Somebody will no doubt point out that meetups are not strictly chapter activities, but that doesn't mean the chapter can't support them.

What would we need? - Travel costs for volunteers not based in the area of the meetup (importing somebody to kickstart things and then hand over when a community is established is probably our best way of starting something in areas where we are not currently active, such as the north east, and has worked thus far in Liverpool); possibly venue hire; maybe some sandwhiches or something if we end up in a non-pub venue.