Hi Tito, Thank you for your email. I hope I can clarify some of your questions.
* What is the accepted conference scale? - *The recent updates to the Conference Grants program page were to clarify and provide more information on the kind of events we are welcoming in general - and not specifically referring to the new guidance or tools related to the Covid-19 Risk Assessment work. In general - we do accept national, global, large or small scale events, as long as they meet the eligibility criteria. Specifically for events during the pandemic- we will publish the full guidance and tools in September <https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2020-August/095404.html> and they will address events of all sizes. * Is this globally applicable for all countries and all regions? *- The guidance will include a host of assessment criteria that will allow community members to evaluate the specific characteristics of their proposed event/activity, including location. * Round 2 timeline *-For this round we allowed submitting proposals for events starting from January to allow communities that are already eager to convene, to do it earlier than usual, probably for smaller scale events that need less planning. That does not change anything for larger scale events and the funding round timeline remained the same, other than the fact we postponed it in 3 weeks. *The Meta page *- the first notice is a general one we published across all grants programs to inform on the changes we applied In late March <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/COVID-19_Update_on_Wikimedia_conference_grants>. The second one was to inform that we lifted restrictions we had last year regarding eligible events (that is why the 2019 reference. It's actually not a mistake). But I just removed it so it would be less confusing. Thank you for your attention! We are looking forward to sharing the new updates later this month and I'm sure those will answer most of the questions remaining. Best, Chen On Sun, Aug 30, 2020 at 1:00 PM Tito Dutta <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello, > I begin with my greetings. I hope this email finds everyone reading this > email safe and healthy. > I have some questions and observations. I have spent quite some time > trying to understand the changes and newly (re)opened-up avenues. However, > I feel there is a lack of information, and inconsistency. I'd be sincerely > grateful for your kind attention. > > a(i). Conference scale: What is the accepted conference scale? Is it > national-conference, global conference, small regional conference? The > example conferences mentioned at the grant page are mostly large-scale and > gives the impression > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Conference/EventCategories#Thematic_Events > The conference/event date of round 2 is between January and June 2021 (we > are just four months away from January). > a(ii) What are the guidelines related to the maximum number of participants > in such a conference? > > b. Effective region: Is this effective globally? There are several > countries where COVID-19 is in very serious and damaging condition, and yet > to reach its highest damaging time/peak. My question is, is this globally > applicable for all countries and all regions? > > c. The last date of application for round 2 conferences is 28 September. As > far as I know, a large-scale (or any) conference requires a lot of > brainstorming, community consultation etc. This time other than these steps > to be completed in less than a month, one needs to attempt her/his best to > foresee the future (country's > COVID-condition/national-health/restrictions/status of transports etc in > Jan–June). > > d) There are some inconsistencies in the grants page: > i) Opening paragraph (Template:Conference banner > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Conference_banner&oldid=20395803 > ) mentions: "Now, we are extending these cancellations. We are suspending > the application process for all in-person Wikimedia conferences until > further notice. When the WHO declares that the pandemic is over, and it is > once again safe to gather in-person, we will commit to offering support for > smaller community events through a rapid grants process." then right after > a couple of sections all restrictions are lifted. > ii) There are a few minor typos which I'll ignore such as 1) "The new > deadline for submissions will be 7 September 2020", however it is 28 > September 2020, 2) Please note that starting September 9, 2019 all recent > temporary restrictions for Conference & Events grants have been lifted, and > all grant proposals will be welcomed and considered. (it is September 9. > 2020, not 2019) etc. > > > User:Titodutta > (Volunteer editor, Wikipedia) > > শনি, ২৯ আগস্ট, ২০২০ তারিখে ২:০৭ AM টায় এ Chen Almog <[email protected]> > লিখেছেন: > > > Hello everyone! > > > > Following our last update > > < > https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2020-August/095404.html > > > > > regarding in-person gatherings, we wanted to share another update on the > > new dates for the upcoming Conference Grants program funding round. > > > > > > As we want to allow more time for potential grantees to review and > utilize > > the forthcoming September release of guidance for in-person gatherings, > we > > have extended the upcoming deadline for new Conference Grants proposals > > until September 28, 2020. Please see all the specific dates on the > > conference grants meta page > > < > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Conference#Event_categories_and_dates > > >. > > We will be accepting applications in September for events occurring > between > > January - June 2021. > > > > For this round we will also include Growth events > > < > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Conference/EventCategories#Growth_Events > > > > > and innovative ideas that will welcome more contributors to our movements > > and projects; and on gatherings that will support the implementation of > the > > Wikimedia 2030 strategy recommendations. > > > > We also wanted to take the opportunity to officially welcome the new > member > > of our team, Rachel Farrand > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Rfarrand_%28WMF%29>, who probably > > many of you already know from managing our past Technical Events > Ecosystem > > and who has been working at the Wikimedia Foundation on community events > > since 2011. She is now a Senior Program Officer and will be joining me in > > managing our Conference grants program.Rachel will be overseeing our > > Thematic > > < > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Conference/EventCategories#Thematic_Events > > >and > > Growth > > < > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Conference/EventCategories#Growth_Events > > >events, > > and I will continue focusing on our Regional > > < > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Conference/EventCategories#Regional_Events > > >events. > > We will also continue to support other projects related to Community > > Events. > > > > > > If you have any questions as for the upcoming funding round, potential > > proposals or need feedback on draft proposals - please reach out to us at > > [email protected] . > > > > > > All the best, > > > > Chen > > > > -- > > > > Chen Almog (she/her) > > > > Senior Program Officer, Conference Grants > > > > Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > > New messages to: [email protected] > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > -- Chen Almog (she/her) Senior Program Officer, Conference Grants Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
