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23 April 2014

Special report
2014 Wikimedia Conference—what is the impact?

Op-ed
Five things a Wikipedian in residence can do

News and notes
Wikimedian passes away

WikiProject_report
To the altar—Catholicism

Wikimania
Winning bid announced for 2015

Traffic report
Reflecting in Gethsemane

Featured content
There was I, waiting at the church

2014-04-23

2014 Wikimedia Conference—what is the impact?

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By Tony1

The annual Wikimedia Conference wound up last Sunday, 13 April—a four-day meeting costing several hundred thousand dollars, hosted in Berlin by Wikimedia Germany and attended by more than 100 Wikimedians. They included some 80 chapter volunteers and staff (eight from WMUK alone), one from the new thematic organisation, Amical Wikimedia, 11 from user groups (including the new Wikimedia Nepal and Brazil Community group), six WMF trustees, 14 WMF staff, nine members of the FDC and AffCom, and nine others.

Grantmaking and funding

The notes for the first of four sessions devoted to grantmaking and funding—Demystifying the FDC—suggest that some of the session was taken up by basic structural and procedural explanations that would have been more efficiently conveyed by proper communication between affiliates and the WMF's grantmaking resources, with better textual infrastructure in a number of languages. The summary states that the Funds Dissemination Committee process is becoming more familiar to applicants, but that there are still problems regarding both community input to the proposals and language barriers (perhaps the FDC remains a mystery to some). There were understandable queries as to why the WMF has submitted a proposal to the current FDC round, given that the submission is for comment only, not a funding bid (comments still open).

A second session on the grantmaking process invited and received feedback on the FDC in advance, and sorted it into three categories—"stop", "start", and "keep"; but it is not easy to make sense of many of the proposals that appear in the documentation. The summary statement "there was no further (broad) discussion" suggests that this session functioned rather as a clearing house of disparate ideas, without shaping them into a set of cohesive (or even competing) strategies for reform. At a third session on grant programs offered by chapters, Polish and Swiss participants explained a few of their own experiences. Asaf Bartov, head of WMF grants and global south partnerships, pointed out that although applicants for such funding don't like filling out forms and writing reports, these are the only ways to achieve transparency, sustainability, and to learn lessons; in other words, "Hard questions need to be part of the decision making process".

At Diversifying fundraising models and sources, South African, Indonesian, and Estonian speakers discussed the pros and cons of external funding, including the administrative burdens and potential for influence by third parties. Kaarel Vaidla from Estonia observed that "government is good for core-funding but they like to play political football with you"; but just how this might be translated into general advice or protocols for WMF affiliate organisations was unclear.

Strategy processes

The page on Strategy processes in Wikimedia organisations is marked "actually, difficult to summarize". No fewer than 13 questions were posed, some of them of such enormous sweep as to defy corralling ("How do we collaborate across chapters, etc?"; "How do you make use of external consultants?"—no answers or responses were recorded). This suggests the need for narrower thematic targeting if discussion is to get anywhere. It is difficult to extract useful lessons from much of the official documentation of the meeting ("WMF aims get parted in strategic objects."; "Lessons: impact methods is highlighted; need for tools; challenges.").

Chapters dialogue and "re-imagining" the movement

Three sessions were devoted to this project, but despite the good-faith efforts of Wikimedia Germany staff to forge more meaningful communication and collaboration among chapters, the chapter itself expressed doubt as to future directions, and whether it "has the mandate" to find or implement possible solutions in such a project. Again, a model of opening with a very big picture ("six big questions") yielded only vague wish-lists, hunches, and prognostications of the medium- and long-term outlooks for the movement ("People will be nicer, much more depth of trust, more consensus about approaches"; "more innovative", "more chapters", "edit wars, but no real wars"). The method of having participants gather around tables to discuss a topic, and after a time for people to circle to next table and see what people there have found out—could well have introduced some Wikimedians to each other, but beyond this seems to have achieved little but sticker-boards of vague, undigested fragments.

The subsequent Re-imagine Wikimedia movement session was a brave attempt to bring together these disparate fragments, again with the different-tables technique. The documented summary began: "Actually, hard to summarize", and finished with exasperated good humour. As WMF trustee Phoebe Ayers said: "It's a little easier often to imagine what a very good Wikipedia would look like. It's a little harder to imagine what a very good [Wikimedia] will look like, but that's what we need to do."

More focused themes

A series of sessions with more targeted purposes appeared to be on a better footing, although there was often a sense of deja vu, given that previous international meetings of the movement have treated the same or similar issues. Some of these sessions also showed just how much the movement needs to agree on and publish detailed textual infrastructure of professionally reviewed advice, coupled with a culture of seeking and offering guidance by phone and email. But as often as not, these presentations and discussions revealed widespread disparities in attitudes and outcomes without forming any basis for permanent, cohesive online help for affiliates. The write-up of Hiring staff does point to the barest beginnings of this kind of approach, egregiously inadequate as it still is, although the few interesting fact-morsels were swamped by "big questions", no answers, and truisms.

Conflict of interest, run by Asaf Bartov and the WMF legal team's Stephen LaPorte, might have been a soul-searching sequence of morally challenging and borderline ethical scenarios—putting participants in awkward psychological spaces in a dynamic learning experience, laced with anecdotes real or confabulated. This would always be hard to convey in the documentation, which nevertheless shows signs of a well-thought-out approach. Like this session, Programmatic evaluation could have benefited from online streaming and edited uploading to YouTube—one participant told the Signpost that "simple streaming is now quite cheap and easy: Android phone + Internet + Ustream app". But if the take-home message for those who attended Programmatic evaluation is contained within the write-ups on Meta, it's hard to know the extent to which attendees left with tools sharpened for application to their next project, as opposed to merely a new theoretical perspective.

Among the more strategically technical topics was Lessons learned in huge projects: Wikidata, presented by Wikimedia Germany's Lydia Pintscher and Abraham Taherivand. Their message was to take your time in finding the right employees for your software team; diversity is a huge advantage in a software team; and work with them in single, integrated office.

Meet the Board of Trustees

The meeting touched on the following points: The process of developing future strategy won't start before the new executive director is announced, expected by the end of May; the whole community, explicitly the affiliates as well, will be included in this developmental process. On the technology side, Wikidata and Etherpad integration will be the next steps, according to Sam Klein, possibly with more emphasis on local development teams. Alice is unsure about the difficult role of the chapter/affiliate-selected board seats: they don't necessarily represent the affiliates, and she would like to have a space for sharing and developing policy ideas and resolutions.

In retrospect

There is no doubt that a Wikimedia conference presents huge challenges for whoever is organising it. The final session, Future of the Wikimedia Conference, roundly thanked the Wikimedia Germany organisers and volunteers who had made the event possible. It was generally agreed that the program was much better than before, and that accommodating all attendees in one hotel was a good idea (the organisation even included an efficient and well-designed online feedback form for participants). Asaf Bartov announced: "This year's program teams did a really good job, pushing, asking for the input." But on a critical note, Bartov is documented as telling participants:

“

What we can do better is preparation. Not only speakers (they were better prepared than the last year's), but also the attendees. They should know more than only the title and have an idea on what to achieve. ... I think this conference is meant to be a working conference instead of a community gathering. To achieve that you need topics, on which people should work on to have a worky work group conference. Historically, some WMCONs basically discussed non-problems. The key for the conference is to find the right topics and problems.

”

Vladimir Medeyko, from Wikimedia Russia, was one of the conference participants. He told the Signpost that "technically this year the conference was the best-organized, [although] it is perhaps true that each year the Wikimedia Conferences generate less benefits than earlier", citing the sheer complexity of the movement as a problem for these events. "Of course it generates some understanding, some ideas, some new ways to go." Reflecting his specific technical orientation, the strongest event for him was Software development as a new opportunity for chapters.

Perhaps the challenges ahead for such conferences lie in working out how to prompt meaningful, cohesive discussion that goes beyond mere airing of questions and points, and in developing clear ways in which the results can be drawn together into strategies and recommendations. Oddly, despite the large array of topics, three of the WMF's key priorities—the global south, the startlingly persistent gender disparity, and editor retention in the WMF projects—were not mentioned.

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2014-04-23

Five things a Wikipedian in residence can do

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By Pete Forsyth

Hey you—yeah you, the Wikipedian! Do you want to help a museum, a library, a university, or other organization explore ways to engage with Wikipedia? Great—you should offer your expertise as a Wikipedian in residence!

The Wikipedian in residence concept was proposed by Geoff Burling in 2006. Liam Wyatt was the first to make it happen when, in 2010, he persuaded the British Museum to bring him on, to help their curators get to know Wikipedia and its volunteer community, and explore opportunities. Individual outreach to organizations remains a great way to earn a Residency, but these days, you will also find job postings all over the world from organizations that are already on board with the idea.

If you find yourself in such a role, you will have opportunities to help your host organization share knowledge in new and exciting ways; and to help Wikipedia readers and editors around the world benefit directly from the expertise and institutional knowledge your host possesses.

Your role is that of a connector and a facilitator; you should aim to empower those around you (both the staff of your host organization, and Wikipedia volunteers who share the organization's interests). (If you find your host is approaching it as a paid editing program, you should proceed with caution; you might want to point them at this Signpost article: Foundation-supported Wikipedian in residence faces scrutiny.)

So what can you do to get off to a good start? Here are a few ideas. (Past and present Wikipedians in Residence, please add your own ideas and lessons in the comments!)

1. Chat it up on Wikipedia!

Wikipedia's talk pages can be drama machines—or they can be ghostly silent. But ideally, they can be incredible forums for processing complex information, and determining the best way to clearly and neutrally guide a reader's learning process.

What makes discussions on Wikipedia work well? Facilitation! Just getting the conversation going, and reiterating important questions, can go a long way. Commit to working openly, in whatever way best fits your project, from the start. Use article talk pages, relevant WikiProjects, and other forums to help Wikipedians understand what you're doing, and how to support your work. Be sure to create a "project page" on Wikipedia covering the goals and activities of your residency, like the one from the Children's Museum of Indianapolis residency.

2. Talk to your boss about copyright. Early and often.

Whether you love or hate discussing the ins and outs of copyright and licensing, these topics are hugely important to your host organization, and to their ability to contribute meaningfully to the Wikimedia vision. You shouldn't bore all your colleagues with all the details. But you should seek out decision-makers, and make sure they have a good grasp of how free licenses work, and how various kinds of works enter the public domain. Doing so will help them guide their organization toward "playing well" with Wikipedia and the free culture movement for many years to come.

3. It's your party. Make some introductions!

Your Residency will be over before you know it! You should build lasting and sustainable ties to Wikipedia, that last long after your stay is gone. One of the best things you can do is to help your organization—its curators, librarians, or staff—meet other Wikipedians, and learn how to interact in their strange environment. In-person events like an edit-a-thon or a Backstage Pass will probably be well received by your host. You should get your colleagues online to interact with Wikipedians, too; do something like the GLAMout, or at least guide your colleagues through a WikiProject's talk pages, or encourage them to subscribe to a relevant email list. Ideally, you should use all of these tools, and actively reach out to Wikipedians (both locally and internationally) to join you.

4. Whoa there! Don't do it all yourself!

If you're an active Wikipedian, you've probably learned to be bold, and just add material to Wikipedia according to your understanding of what is appropriate. You might do lots of stuff without needing to discuss it, because you have developed an good sense for the consensus around you.

As a Wikipedian in residence, sometimes, you will want to resist that impulse. If you're adding a basic fact to an article, maybe that creates an opportunity to show a colleague how to format a reference. Or, maybe you've spent the last three months persuading your boss to release a collection of photos under a free license. Congratulations! But before you stay up all night uploading them yourself, consider the benefits of showing a few colleagues how to properly use the Wikimedia Commons upload wizard.

5. Be extra clear about your role

If you're doing the kind of stuff discussed above, this part will come naturally: you will be clearly expressing who you work for, and how you're approaching your work, as you add material to Wikipedia. But regardless, you should give the conflict of interest guideline some thought. Make sure that readers and editors who care about your topic, and would want to know about your involvement, have a reasonable chance of learning about it.

Your user page should clearly explain your Residency, and how you are approaching it. If you're working actively on specific articles, see #1 above: leave plenty of notes on relevant talk pages. And seek private feedback from Wikipedians you trust—an independent perspective can help a lot. You also might look at the Statement of Ethics I published for my consulting business, Wiki Strategies.

Remember that your host organization and future Wikipedians in Residence will follow your lead. Set a high standard that will provide a great example for future reference. And when you talk with colleagues about Wikipedia, be sure to cover this topic; help them create good user pages, leave good edit summaries, and use talk pages appropriately.

In conclusion...

You have an opportunity to bridge gaps, using multiple forms of communication. Have fun with it!

Whether your Residency is three weeks or three years, your last day will arrive before you know it! As it approaches, you may start to realize that you are the most informed person on the planet about the intersection between your host organization and Wikipedia. Well done!

You should make sure your knowledge lives beyond your residency. Did you learn something useful from the kind of activities discussed above? Great!

Consider capturing those lessons in a "how to engage with Wikipedia" document for your host organization. Your colleagues will want to refer to it when their memories start to fade: Wait, how do I make a wikilink? What are the different licensing choices, again? Don't kill yourself though, or reinvent the wheel. Documentation is no guarantee of learning, and you don't want to write a 500 page tome that gathers dust on your boss's bookshelf. A few short, easy-to-follow guidelines will serve your host well.

And maybe most importantly, tell your fellow Wikipedians how it went, and what opportunities are still in play with your host! Write a blog post (or three!) Send an email to the cultural partners email list (closed subscription, but by the time you've completed a residency, you'll surely be on it.) Give a talk at a conference like Wiki Conference USA. Tell us what worked, and what didn't—we're all eager to learn from your experience!

Pete Forsyth is the principal of Wiki Strategies, where he has advised organizations small and large in Wikipedia engagement, including design and recruitment for Wikipedian in residence programs. A slightly expanded version of this op-ed ran on his blog on 14 April 2014.

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2014-04-23

Wikimedian passes away

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By The ed17

Cynthia Ashley-Nelson, who edited as "Cindamuse" on the Wikimedia projects, passed away in her sleep at the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin on 11 April.

Cynthia's death was first relayed to the movement by the Affiliations Committee, on which she served as vice-chair for one day before her death. Originally an English Wikipedian, having registered an account on the site in 2007, she wrote two good articles on the site, including one on her distant relative Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 10th Earl of Shaftesbury and the 2010 book on the first US president, Washington: A Life, and made about 33,500 edits. She was nominated for administrator by Pedro in December 2013 and passed with 97 votes in support.

In the Wikimedia movement, Cynthia was appointed to the Affiliations Committee, which advises the Wikimedia Foundation on the approval of new affiliates, at the beginning of 2014. She participated with Wikipedia's Volunteer Response Team, which uses an open-source ticket request system (OTRS) to respond to email inquiries, and co-moderated the Wikimedia movement's gender gap mailing list.

In real life, Cynthia lived in the United States. Born in California, she worked in Washington as the founder and executive director of Catalyst Resource Network, whose Facebook page describes it as an organization that fights one of the remaining areas of slavery: sex trafficking and exploitation. "We're basically a modern day Underground Railroad."

Tributes to Cynthia came in from around the movement. The outgoing and incoming chairs of the Affiliations Committee wrote in a joint statement that "In the short time since January that Cindy has been with us in the Affiliations Committee, we have come to value her thoughts, passion and refreshing ideas. She was working very enthusiastically with us, and we are all saddened that we won’t have the chance to learn from all of her ideas, insights and experiences. The months we shared proved her to be a very valuable and engaged member of the committee".

Foundation board member María Sefidari wrote in the Wikimedia blog: "We would send each other long emails about movement roles and how to move forward with the movement. And as it usually happens, conversations turned from the more formal to the informal, eventually including little snippets of our every day lives, the good things that happened to us and the not so good. When we met for the first time face to face several days ago, we gave each other a big hug. ... I think our last interaction was about getting together at some moment during the conference to just hang out and talk. She had a great smile."

Tributes are being left on her English Wikipedia talk page.

In brief

Wiki Education Foundation: The nascent Wiki Education Foundation has announced a US$1.39 million grant from the Stanton Foundation. Frequent readers of the Signpost will recognize Stanton from the recent paid editing controversy (see Signpost coverage 1, 2) and its historically large donations to the Wikimedia Foundation, including $1.2 million in 2010 for the Public Policy Initiative and $3.6 million in 2011 for the VisualEditor. The funds will be spent on improving Wiki Ed and "underdeveloped content areas on Wikipedia".
Adrianne: Adrianne Wadewitz, an editor of the English Wikipedia who passed away on 8 April, was the subject of a New York Times obituary by Noam Cohen that appeared on page A18 of the Sunday paper. Cohen's article sparked several others, including the Desert Sun, Yahoo! Shine, Jezebel, and Buzzfeed. A Wikipedia article about her was created, though it is now the subject of a deletion discussion.
Irish history tweeted and edited: It's been one thousand years since the Battle of Clontarf. "Was this defining moment in Irish history the occasion when Brian Boru himself drove the Vikings out of Ireland much as Saint Patrick had driven the snakes out a few hundred years earlier? Or was it a Game of Thrones style slaughter with two alliances of Irish and Vikings killing each other in sight of the walls of Dublin, leaving Dublin an independent Viking city state for a generation after?", asks Jonathan Cardy of Wikimedia UK. The Science Gallery at the Naughton Institute in Dublin, Ireland—in concert with 1014 retold and John Cummings—hosted an editathon on 19 April that was focused on the battle, bringing historians, Wikipedians, and citizens together to work on the battle and related topics. It was covered by the Silicon Republic and Buzzfeed in an article titled in part "The Real 'Game of Thrones'".
WMF Board of Trustees
- Minutes released: The minutes from the 31 January/1 February Board of Trustees meeting have been published. Of note are the careful avoidance of any appearance of conflict of interest in the approval of a new host for the Wikimedia Blog, as Stuart West serves as that host's (Automattic's) chief financial officer, and the approval of a new trademark policy.
- Board meeting this week: The board's next meeting will be held on 24 and 25 April. Its agenda has been posted on the Wikimedia-l mailing list. Included on the second day is a discussion and presumable vote on the proposed paid contributions amendment to the Wikimedia project's terms of use, which the Signpost extensively covered with both reporting and multiple opinions. Pete Forsyth, the author of one of the opinions, updated his thoughts on the proposal on 21 April: "I still think it would be a mistake; not a huge, sky-is-falling mistake, but one that (in addition to having some positive effects) will add confusion to an already complex area, rather than helping us move toward a resolution."
Wikimedia Shop: The Foundation's shop has been redesigned "to make it more visually appealing and user friendly" following below-expected revenues. 2014 calendars featuring the winner of Wiki Loves Monuments are now available.

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2014-04-23

To the altar—Catholicism

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By Mabeenot

Previous Reports

Religion

If you'd like to see your active project in a future WikiProject Report, leave a message at the Signpost's WikiProject Desk.

This week, we visited WikiProject Catholicism. Started in November 2005. The project has grown to include 75 pieces of Featured material and 118 Good Articles. WikiProject Catholicism is a child project of WikiProject Christianity (see our 2009 interview in the sidebar to the right) and oversees the Canon Law Task Force. We interviewed the multi-talented Johnbod.

What motivated you to join WikiProject Catholicism? Do you also participate in any of the broader WikiProjects covering Christianity, religion, or religious observances?: Johnbod: I mainly write on art history, with a strong leaning to Western medieval art, which most of what has survived is religious (though it wasn't always so). I found I was getting involved, somewhat reluctantly, into some mainly religious articles. But WikiProject Visual art remains very much my "base" project.

Have you contributed to any of the project's featured or good articles, featured topics, or featured images? What are the most difficult challenges editors face when improving Catholic content to featured status?: Johnbod: I was involved (mainly talk page & improving the images) in the long and unltimately unsuccessful saga of getting Roman Catholic Church through FA. Certainly that attracted some "Black Legend" editors who would never approve of an article that wasn't almost entirely critical, as well as others with more reasonable issues, from both Catholic and non-Catholic angles. I never look at the article now — it ended much shorter and worse than it started off (actually on a quick revisit it seems better than when I last saw it, with a much less busy talk page). I see only one of my art FAs has a WProj:Christianity tag. I don't tag Christian religious art for the Christian wikiprojects myself.

Are some periods in the history of the Catholic Church better covered than others? Is coverage of churches, important figures, and historical events in some parts of the world better than others? What can be done to correct imbalances in Wikipedia's coverage of Catholicism?: Johnbod: I'm sure. There is an awful lot of century-old EB and Catholic Encyclopedia stuff still around, especially in biographies. More editors, especially ones who will use high-quality sources!

How frequently does the WikiProject deal with contentious and controversial material added to articles about Catholicism? What can be done to prevent undue weight being given to controversy? Likewise, are there ever instances where project members become over-protective of articles or stumble at keeping a neutral point of view? How does the project wrestle with these weighty issues?: Johnbod: Less often than one might think. Generally the big arguments are at pan-Christian articles. Lots of our more obscure articles on Catholic subjects are written from an overly Catholic perspective, but who else looks at them? It's the same for all religions (I also write on Asian art, so sometimes see articles on Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religions).

How difficult has it been to locate photography, artwork, and audio files to illustrate articles about Catholicism? Does the project collaborate with any projects covering art or music? What can the average Wikipedian do to improve Wikipedia's collection of images and sounds related to Catholicism?: Johnbod: Generally the legacy of Catholic art is superbly represented on Commons because museums have so much of it, which is very important for my articles. As an art-into-Catholicism editor I used to work very productively with one editor who was more Catholicism-into-art, now sadly left, and there have been others. I think the same is true of musical editors, but I don't edit in that area.

Does WikiProject Catholicism interact with the projects for any other Christian denominations or with any other religions? What can be done to improve Wikipedia's coverage of religion and irreligion in general?: Johnbod: I think so, generally fairly well. It tends to be at the individual article level. More editors!

What are the most urgent needs of WikiProject Catholicism? How can a new contributor help today?: Johnbod: More editors! We are not very good at pointing them at things that can be usefully done, imo. Nor are most WikiProjects. Requested articles is a terrible trap, imo.

Until next time, check out our previous reports in the archive.

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2014-04-23

Winning bid announced for 2015

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By Tony1 and The ed17

After just over a month of deliberation, the Wikimania jury has selected Wikimedia Mexico's bid to host Wikimania 2015 in Mexico City, with a proposed date of 15–19 July. This choice, pending WMF staff review, will be only the second annual Wikimedia movement conference to be held in the Spanish-speaking world in Wikimania's 11-year history, after the Buenos Aires Wikimania in 2009. Mexico City's exotic mixture of modern and colonial elements and its dynamic economy are likely to provide an exciting backdrop to the event. Indeed, Mexico City is the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world, with 22 million people in its greater metropolitan area. An unusual feature of the city is its altitude, at 2,200 meters, or more than 7,000 feet—a challenge for some athletes at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the city.

Mexico City beat two other proposals—Cape Town, South Africa; and Monastir, Tunisia—after bids from Bali, Indonesia; and Dar es Salaam and Arusha, both in Tanzania, and Esino Lario in Italy's Lake Como region were either withdrawn, disqualified, or otherwise ruled out. One jury member, the UK chapter's Richard Symonds, wrote on the Wikimedia mailing list that "the reason we disqualified Bali and Dar es Salaam was that those two bids were not really complete enough to score". There have been calls for the details of scoring to be made public.

Speakers are likely to include prominent experts in the fields of Wikimedia values, free culture, and the future in the Spanish-speaking context. The strengths of the bid are listed as conference facilities, public transport (although "Mexico City has daily transit troubles and numerous protests at their main streets"), and internet connectivity, with relatively cheap international flights, especially to North America, uncomplicated visa arrangements, and a low cost of living. Although just over two years old, the chapter says it has established relationships with government, the cultural sector, companies, and NGOs, a high media profile, and experience in the organisation and development of international events. Much is made of the location as a tourist destination, with a "huge variety of international restaurants, gourmet and regional food", and a large range of "luxury brands and stores".

However, Mexico City has its drawbacks, such as a lack of available large-scale accommodation (against the significant advantage of the single hotel for all participants at the recent Berlin conference; see related Signpost coverage). It will not be possible to walk to the venue—about $10,000 has had to be allocated to shuttle buses to and from the venue and accommodation. The chapter wrote that there is a chance of "sudden fee changes", "slow response of institutions and procedures", and higher prices in the summer peak season.

What about safety? The WMF's Steven Walling wrote on the Wikimedia-l mailing list that "Mexico tends to have a reputation for violent crime. Sources do seem to suggest Mexico City proper may be better, but it would be comforting to hear how we've assessed the bid regarding the safety issue, and how we're going to be prepared in case the worst (robberies, kidnappings) do happen." Safety is "not a small concern", according the Foundations's Philippe Beaudette, who assures Wikimedians that the WMF team is working on it.

The total income for the Mexican bid is listed as nearly US$450k, which includes a WMF grant of $300k, sponsorships of $100k, registration fees of $40k from 1500 projected attendees (the largest previous Wikimania was in 2012 with 1400 attendees), and other grants and revenue of $9k. The expenses are listed as some $344k. Costs will include $25k for CCTV, streaming, and recording, in addition to $28k for Wi-Fi, electricals, and audio. Audio for the main stage alone will be an additional $18k, and AV display equipment for three rooms another $10k, with $2k for electricians.

There is an unexplained $34k for library and garden furniture; and for participants, knick-knacks like pens, stickers, notebooks, t-shirts, backpacks will set us back $60k, not including stationery for sessions ($3k) and printing for participants' program kits and sundries ($8k). Ivan Martínez, the president of Wikimedia Mexico, told us that while the conference's venue will be donated free of charge, "we have to rent furniture and other equipment to hold proper sessions for this amount of people." As for the $60k, "This is a high estimate and will be dependent on how much sponsorship we can raise. We have already discussed going over this item and others in the budget in more detail with the WMF conference staff. They thought it was high as well."

Wikimedia Mexico has no paid staff, so project management and "expenditures of volunteers" will come to $17k, with the matter of employing regular chapter volunteers on projects a delicate one. "Waitress service" may rankle a bit with those who are keen to see the Wikimedia movement embrace the genders on equal terms.

While Wikimedia Mexico's proposed budget was higher than those of the South African and Tunisian bids, Martinez explained that "When preparing the budget, we were not trying to match or be competitive with the Cape Town bid. The Foundation gave direction that the budget should be close to $300,000, and that is what our team was aiming for. There are some items like promotional materials and video that are higher, but these items are also dependent on our obtaining sponsorships to cover part of the expense."

Specific budget items will evolve over the next few months.

In related news, Garfield Byrd, the Foundation's chief of finance and administration, has advised the Signpost that the financial report from last year's Wikimania has been received. The report, which was due within three months after the August event, has been the subject of a succession of queries from both the Foundation and the Signpost, and a final deadline of 15 April to avoid external auditing. Byrd says: "Once we have agreement on the report with Wikimedia Hong Kong, we would expect the Wikimedia Hong Kong will post it on Meta where comments and feedback can be posted".

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2014-04-23

Reflecting in Gethsemane

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By Serendipodous

If I were the kind of person who made snap judgments based on flimsy evidence, I'd say our readership is in a funk. Compare this week's Easter queries to last year's; they're down by 50%. Also, compare this week's "Purple Wedding" on Game of Thrones, which saw the death by poisoning of that loathsome sprog Joffrey Baratheon, to last year's "Red Wedding", down by ≈40%. It's a recurring trend; the Golden Globes, the Oscars and several other annual events are noticeably lower in the rankings from last year. Are people just not able to summon the necessary enthusiasm? Although the barrage of worrisome news appears to have faded from the list this week, perhaps its cumulative weariness has had an impact. The high position for the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, a topic of interest mainly to British readers and so not usually likely to reach the top 25, shows that our readers are in a mood of sombre reflection. Certainly our readers seem drawn to the darker elements of the Easter holiday this year, if the order is any indication.

For the full top 25 list, see WP:TOP25. See this section for an explanation for any exclusions.

For the week of 13 to 19 April, the ten most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most viewed pages, were:

Rank	Article	Views	Notes
1	Game of Thrones	775,534	Well, it took a week, but Game of Thrones is back on top. Could it have something to do with a certain homicidal brat getting his long overdue comeuppance?
2	Good Friday	607,170	It's Easter week this week, and it seems people were more drawn to its dark side this year, the day that commemorates ("celebrates" isn't really the word) the torture and crucifixion (Passion) of Jesus Christ, as opposed to Easter Sunday (below) which celebrates his resurrection.
3	Hillsborough disaster	551,667	The worst football disaster in British history, in which human crush led to the death of 96 spectators and the injury of nearly 800 more, got some often vociferous attention during the week of its 25th anniversary on 15 April, with some questioning whether the steps taken to prevent its recurrence have inflicted more harm than intended.
4	Easter	549,027	It's hard to remember these days, under the onslaught of bunnies, chocolate eggs and marshmallow peeps, that Easter, not Christmas, is the most sacred date of the Christian calendar. Doubtless a lot of people learned that this week, along with some fairly eye-raising information about the events it actually celebrates.
5	Bubba Watson	496,963	One of the few professional southpaw golfers, Watson won his second Masters Tournament this week.
6	Game of Thrones (season 4)	477,676	As usual, people will be using this page to look up air dates.
7	Heartbleed	444,564	Despite its virus-y name, this isn't a virus; it is a security bug in the "heartbeat" (basically a repeated "Is All Well?" signal) in the OpenSSL program, which is widely used to provide security for internet sites. It is estimated to have affected 17 percent of all sites using the program, which spooked Netizens en masse this week as they rushed to change their potentially compromised passwords.
8	List of Game of Thrones episodes	433,201	Most likely air dates again.
9	Göbekli Tepe	423,487	Southeastern Turkey is home to some of the earliest known urban settlements in the world; so old we don't have names for the people who built them. The Göbekli Tepe site features ritualistic structures that may be as much as 12,000 years old, as pointed out in a thread on Reddit this week.
10	Amazon.com	419,848	This article has been veering wildly (and suspiciously) around the view graph for several weeks, but at least now its presence on the list has a reason: Amazon Fire TV, announced this week, is a digital streaming device to watch online content on an HDTV. How it distinguishes itself from the three or four other such devices currently on the market is a matter of some dispute.

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2014-04-23

There was I, waiting at the church

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By Pine, Adam Cuerden and PresN

This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 6 April 2014 through 19 April 2014. Anything in quotation marks is taken from the respective articles and lists; see their page histories for attribution.

Featured articles

Fourteen featured articles were promoted this fortnight.

Calabi-Yau space is 6-dimensional, so this 2-dimensional projection is a very rough approximation. When used as extra dimensions in string theory, an attempt to unify all physics, some Calabi-Yau manifolds that are very different geometrically are exactly equivalent. This strange insight is known as Mirror symmetry, and is the subject of a new featured article.

The Sega Genesis, also called the Sega Mega Drive, is the subject of a new featured topic.

Zimbabwe women's national field hockey team at the 1980 Summer Olympics (nominated by Cliftonian) "The 1980 Zimbabwe women's national field hockey team won the gold medal in women's field hockey at that year's Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR. The squad of 16 women, all from Zimbabwe's white minority, was assembled less than a month before the Olympics began to help fill the gaps the American-led Olympic boycott created in the women's hockey competition. Zimbabwe's subsequent victory in the round-robin tournament with three wins and two draws was regarded as a huge upset, particularly considering the team's lack of preparation and experience; it has been called an "irresistible fairy story". Won at a time of great political transition in Zimbabwe, the gold medal was the country's first Olympic medal of any colour."
Louisiana Purchase Exposition dollar (nominated by Wehwalt) "The Louisiana Purchase Exposition dollar was a commemorative coin issue in gold dated 1903. Struck in two varieties, the coins were designed by United States Bureau of the Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber. The pieces were issued to commemorate the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in 1904 in St. Louis; one variety depicted former president Thomas Jefferson, and the other, the recently assassinated president William McKinley. Although not the first American commemorative coins, they were the first in gold."
Misterioso (Thelonious Monk album) (nominated by Dan56) "Misterioso is a live album by American jazz ensemble the Thelonious Monk Quartet, released in 1958 by Riverside Records. Pianist and composer Thelonious Monk had overcome an extended period of career difficulties by the time of his 1957 residency at the Five Spot Café in New York City. He returned to the venue the following year for a second residency and recorded Misterioso on August 7, 1958, leading a quartet that featured drummer Roy Haynes, bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik, and tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin."
Elwyn Roy King (nominated by Ian Rose) "Elwyn Roy King, DSO, DFC (13 May 1894 – 28 November 1941) was a fighter ace in the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) during World War I. He achieved twenty-six victories in aerial combat, making him the fourth highest-scoring Australian pilot of the war, and second only to Harry Cobby in the AFC. A civil pilot and engineer between the wars, he served in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) from 1939 until his death."
Finn M. W. Caspersen (nominated by ColonelHenry) "Finn Michael Westby Caspersen, Sr. (27 October 1941 – 7 September 2009) was an American financier and philanthropist. A graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law School, he followed his father, Olaus Caspersen, a Norwegian immigrant to the United States, as chairman and chief executive of Beneficial Corporation, one of the largest consumer finance companies in the United States. After an $8.6 billion acquisition of Beneficial by Household International in 1998, Caspersen ran Knickerbocker Management, a private financial firm overseeing the assets of trusts and foundations."
Mirror symmetry (string theory) (nominated by Polytope24) "In mathematics and theoretical physics, mirror symmetry is a relationship between geometric objects called Calabi–Yau manifolds. It can happen that two Calabi–Yau manifolds look very different geometrically but are nevertheless equivalent if they are employed as extra dimensions of string theory. In this case, the manifolds are called mirror manifolds." "Today mirror symmetry is a major research topic in pure mathematics, and mathematicians are working to develop a mathematical understanding of the relationship based on physicists' intuition. Mirror symmetry is also a fundamental tool for doing calculations in string theory, and it has been used to understand aspects of quantum field theory, the formalism that physicists use to describe elementary particles. Major approaches to mirror symmetry include the homological mirror symmetry program of Maxim Kontsevich and the SYZ conjecture of Andrew Strominger, Shing-Tung Yau, and Eric Zaslow."
Geology Hall (nominated by ColonelHenry and Tomwsulcer) "Geology Hall, formerly Geological Hall, is a building located in the historic Queens Campus section of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey's College Avenue Campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey. As part of the Queen's Campus, Geology Hall was included on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. When Rutgers was selected as New Jersey's only land grant college in 1864, the college began to expand its curriculum to include instruction in science and agriculture. Rutgers president William Henry Campbell raised funds to construct a building to accommodate this expansion, and Geology Hall, designed by architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, was built in 1872."
Fulvous Whistling Duck (nominated by Jimfbleak) "The Fulvous Whistling Duck or Fulvous Tree Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) is a whistling duck that breeds across the world's tropical regions in much of Central and South America, the West Indies, the southern US, sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent. It has mainly reddish brown plumage, long legs and a long grey bill, and shows a distinctive white band across its black tail in flight. Like other members of its ancient lineage, it has a whistling call which is given in flight or on the ground. The preferred habitat is shallow lakes, paddy fields or other wetlands with plentiful vegetation."
Menacer (nominated by Czar) "The Menacer is a light gun peripheral released by Sega in 1992 for its Sega Genesis and Sega CD video game consoles. It was created in response to Nintendo's Super Scope and as Sega's successor to the Master System Light Phaser. The Menacer is remembered as a critical and commercial flop. Critics found the six-game pack subpar and repetitive, and criticized the peripheral's lack of games."
Cutthroat trout (nominated by Mike Cline) "The cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) is a fish species of the salmonidae family native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean, Rocky Mountains and Great Basin in North America. As a member of the genus Oncorhynchus, it is one of the Pacific trout, a group that includes the widely distributed rainbow trout. Cutthroat trout are popular gamefish, especially among anglers who enjoy fly fishing. The common name "cutthroat" refers to the distinctive red coloration on the underside of the lower jaw. The specific name clarki was given to honor explorer William Clark, coleader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition."
Pokémon Channel (nominated by Tezero) "Pokémon Channel is a 2003 video game in the Pokémon series for the GameCube, developed by Ambrella and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. The game's central premise is to watch television with a Pikachu so as to help Professor Oak refine and promote his TV network. It contains elements of adventure, digital pet, and simulation genres. It received mixed reviews, which generally criticized its low level of interactivity and repetitive sound effects."
Mucho Macho Man (nominated by Montanabw) "Mucho Macho Man (foaled June 15, 2008) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse notable as the winner of the 2013 Breeders' Cup Classic. He was foaled in Florida and named after the Village People song "Macho Man". His breeders were Carole and John Rio of Florida, who owned his dam. His foalhood nickname was "Lazarus" because he appeared lifeless at birth, but spontaneously revived. He grew to be a very large horse, standing over 17 hands (68 inches, 173 cm) high. Throughout most of his racing career, Mucho Macho Man has been owned primarily by Dean and Patti Reeves of Reeves Thoroughbred Racing of Suwanee, Georgia. They purchased a majority interest in him after his first race in 2010, and in 2012 became his sole owners. In February 2014, anticipating Mucho Macho Man's future career as a breeding stallion, Frank Stronach purchased an undisclosed share in the horse on behalf of his Adena Springs Farms, owner of Mucho Macho Man's sire, Macho Uno."
Cyclone Joy (nominated by Hurricanehink) "Severe Tropical Cyclone Joy in late 1990 produced the third highest floods on record in Rockhampton, Queensland, a town in northeastern Australia." "While drifting offshore northeastern Australia, the cyclone produced wind gusts as high as 124 km/h (77 mph) in Cairns, strong enough to cause power outages. In Mackay, a tornado spawned by Joy damaged 40 homes, while torrential rainfall just south of the city peaked at over 2 m (6.6 ft). Most storm-associated damage was wrought by severe flooding, which persisted for weeks in hardest-hit locations. Rains significantly increased water levels on 10 rivers, among them the Fitzroy River, which discharged about 18 trillion freshwater litres (4.9 trillion gallons) into Keppel Bay over 25 days. In turn, the Great Barrier Reef suffered biological damage from coral bleaching and decreased salinity. The Fitzroy River rose to a 9.30 m (30.5 ft) peak at Rockhampton, forcing thousands to evacuate homes; some stranded individuals could only obtain food by helicopter. Elsewhere in Australia, storm moisture alleviated drought conditions and diminished fires near Sydney. Overall, Joy killed six people and caused A$300 million in damage ($234 million USD). Afterwards, the Queensland government issued a disaster declaration for about 30% of the state, and the name Joy was retired from the list of tropical cyclone names."
Arthur Gould (rugby union) (nominated by Shudde and FruitMonkey) "Arthur Joseph "Monkey" Gould (10 October 1864 – 2 January 1919) was a Welsh international rugby union centre and fullback who was most associated as a club player with Newport Rugby Football Club. He won 27 caps for Wales, 18 as captain, and critics consider him the first superstar of Welsh rugby. A talented all-round player and champion sprinter, Gould could side-step and kick expertly with either foot. He never ceased practising in order to develop his fitness and skills, and on his death was described as 'the most accomplished player of his generation'."

Featured lists

Four featured lists were promoted this fortnight.

List of plantations in West Virginia (nominated by Caponer) "Former plantations that operated within the present-day boundaries of the U.S. state of West Virginia were located in the counties of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians and in the Kanawha and Ohio River valley regions. Beginning in the mid-to-late 18th century, members of the Washington family and other prominent Virginia families began to build elegant Georgian mansions on their plantations in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians region of present-day West Virginia. Plantations initially developed in the counties lying within the Northern Neck Proprietary of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron within the Shenandoah Valley and South Branch Potomac River valleys. They carried over the practice of slavery from the plantations of the Piedmont and Tidewater regions of Virginia, where plantations had become the foundation of society and industry. Following the French and Indian War, settlement and agricultural development continued unabated in the Shenandoah and South Branch Potomac valleys. Early instances of western Virginia plantations with grand homes include the John Ariss-designed Harewood (1774) for George Washington's brother Samuel Washington and Happy Retreat (1780) built by Washington's younger brother Charles Washington, both of which are located near Charles Town in present-day Jefferson County. In Hampshire County, Nicholas Casey constructed a Georgian mansion (1774) at his Wappocomo plantation, one of the first plantation houses of its kind in the South Branch Potomac River valley."
85th Academy Awards (nominated by Birdienest81) "The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron and directed by Don Mischer. Actor Seth MacFarlane hosted the show for the first time. The ceremony was the first in the Academy's 85-year history to adopt the phrase "The Oscars" as the ceremony's official name during the broadcast and marketing."
Premier League Golden Boot (nominated by Bloom6132) "The Premier League Golden Boot is an annual association football award presented to the leading goalscorer in the Premier League. For sponsorship purposes, from 1994 to 2001 it was called the Carling Golden Boot and from 2001 to 2004, the Barclaycard Golden Boot; as of 2013, it is referred to as the Barclays Golden Boot. In addition to the trophy, winners of the Golden Boot are usually given £1,000 for every goal they scored throughout the season to donate to a charity of their choice, although Robin van Persie – the most recent recipient of the award – was given £30,000 after scoring 26 goals in the 2012–13 season."
1st Magritte Awards (nominated by Earthh) In this, the Belgian equivalent of the Academy Awards, Mr. Nobody, a story of a life going down different paths based on the decisions made, was the big winner, with six awards out of seven nominations.

Featured pictures

Seven featured pictures were promoted this week.

Lynx and Telescopium Herschilii and Canis Major, Lepus, Columba Noachi & Cela Sculptoris (created by Sidney Hall and Richard Rouse Bloxam, after Alexander Jamieson, restored and nominated by Adam Cuerden. Part of a series of plates from Urania's Mirror, continuing the goal of creating a complete restored set of all thirty-two plates. As of time of writing, three remain to be completed.
The Adoration of the Shepherds (unknown author, digitized by the Google Art Project, nominated by Andrew J.Kurbiko) An example of a Ukrainian religious icon, showing the Adoration of the Shepherds
Nave, Organ and Altar of the Immaculate Conception Church, Farm Street, London (created and nominated by Diliff) Three beautiful images showing aspects of the Gothic Revival Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street.
Bolinus cornutus (created by H. Zell, nominated by Armbrust) Five systematic views of the predatory sea snail Bolinus cornutus, also called the Horned Murex.

Featured topics

One featured topic was promoted this fortnight.

Sega Genesis (nominated by SexyKick) Includes an article on the video game console (known as the Sega Mega Drive outside the U.S.), all the optional accessories and add-ons, the portable version, the online services, and lists of games.