OTRS workshop

If you are interested in participating in an OTRS workshop in the UK, along the lines of the workshop at Wikimania 2011, then please add your signature below, along with what you would be able to bring / do at the workshop. New volunteers to help with OTRS would be most welcome!

Volunteers and participants

Please add your Wikimedia username, a summary of your experience responding to queries sent to Wikimedia's OTRS, and what you could offer in terms of presenting at the workshop, e.g. organising sessions, giving talks, helping newbies, or by sharing issues that could, or have been, either perceived or encountered by new contributors. If you would require financial sponsorship in order to attend such a workshop in the UK, which will most likely take place in London, then please provide a rough estimate (in the appropriate currency) as to how much sponsorship your attendance would need. Note that this estimate should focus on the applicable travel costs, since local costs of a multi-day workshop will be automatically taken into account via our draft expense policy.

1. Mike Peel. I respond primarily to emails sent to Wikimedia UK. I can offer general support to an OTRS workshop; can represent the chapter POV towards OTRS responses (particularly in terms of the 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 can provide administrative and logistical support for such an event. As a WMUK board member, I can also represent the workshop to (and ask for funding from) the Wikimedia UK board.
2. James F. - mostly oversight requests, but also permissions etc.
3. lyzzy - general support, talks, bring along experiences from the german team
4. 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.
5. HJ Mitchell - info-en and permissions; I'd be happy to come along and share my experiences and learn from others'.
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).
7. Fæ - I can be periodically found answering copyright, complaints, upload requests and chapter matters on OTRS. Happy to help with an intro or to discuss possible improvements.
8. Martin Poulter - have logged in and deleted spam - would welcome an opportunity to upskill
9. Philippe Beaudette - happy to represent the Foundation, and to provide any assistance necessary organizationally or with trainings.
10. Deryck Chan, interested in becoming an OTRS volunteer. Currently en.wp sysop, zh-yue.wp sysop, campus ambassador.

Potential talks and sessions

(Please add a title and brief summary of what you could talk about/lead a session on)

• 'Us vs. Them' - the importance of differentiating between speaking on behalf of the community, and speaking on behalf of a particular Wikimedia organisation, when responding to an enquiry sent to Wikimedia. Mike Peel 23:35, 28 October 2011 (UTC)

Comments

Location

Would a meeting room somewhere in London be optimal, or would somewhere else be best? Beyond space, caffeine (or other refreshments) and wireless internet access, what else would the workshop need? How long should the meeting last? Mike Peel 19:09, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

I'd imagine that London would the least-bad location. In terms of venue, not sure - perhaps somewhere like ULU? Or the place the WMUK Board rented for a day next to King's Cross?

Jdforrester 21:27, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

• The new Old Street meeting rooms will be ideal and free. There is room for up to 12 (could host a max of 24), it has a casual sitting area next to the rooms, wifi access and is rarely booked at weekends. Should be available by late November. Would need a bit of coordination to let people in/out. --Fæ 11:42, 28 October 2011 (UTC)

This sounds ideal - although I expect that 12 would be too few for this event, I doubt that we would exceed 24. If we could pin down a date for an event on this topic in late November-December-January sooner rather than later, then that would be fantastic. Caveat that this event will depend on robust wifi access to OTRS. I would be happy to provide access coordination throughout the event. Mike Peel 23:38, 28 October 2011 (UTC)

I don't belong to any chapters because of my location, but I'm a Brit and I've already demonstrated my enthusiasm by meeting members of the UK chapter while I was in the UK in August. I would be happy to take part in any discussions over a Skype video linkup. All you need at the meeting is a laptop with a camera on the table, and a broad WiFi connection. Kudpung 03:46, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

Meeting aims

Could include:

• Improving OTRS responses, by sharing experiences and horror stories, and documenting best practices and improving standard ticket responses
• Inducting new OTRS agents, and figuring out ways to encourage more to assist
• Optimising workflows to minimize work and ensure speedy response to tickets (including those sent to chapters and foundation?)

What else? Mike Peel 21:27, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

• • Provide for feature requests, which I can carry to OTRS or the Foundation's developers. Philippe (WMF) 23:48, 28 October 2011 (UTC)
    • Thanks Philippe - that sounds really useful. Note that WMUK may also be able to provide development support for adding/improving features for OTRS if it is clearly indicated that such development is needed. Thanks. Mike Peel 00:02, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

Duration

I would suggest that a two-day event would be most optimal here, since that would provide enough time to discuss all of the relevant issues, and that it should occupy a weekend (Saturday and Sunday) since this event would only involve volunteer Wikimedians rather than anyone providing such support on a paid basis by an external organisation (unless there are speakers from external organisations that we should invite to this event?) Mike Peel 00:10, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

I tend to agree, especially if some of the attendees are new to OTRS (or don't have access at all)—we could spend one day familiarising everyone with OTRS, swapping anecdotes, and discussing OTRS in general, and the other on actually responding to tickets (plus it gives us time to go out for drinks without worrying about getting home on Saturday night; always a plus when beer can be worked into these things!). HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts?