Wiki Loves Africa 2022/Participating communities/Planning for local communities

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We really look forward to working with you on this project and getting some great results!

Below are some suggested actions to consider working on with your team. If you are interested in hosting events around the project then and need funding, submit a rapid grant (see below).

Getting ready for Wiki Loves Africa 2022: Suggested steps towards apply for a Rapid Grant

1. Gather your team
2. Decide if you are going to take part: What does Wiki Loves Africa 2022 local involvement look like to you?
   1. Is your local Wikimedia community already interested in hosting Wiki Loves Africa? If not, ask them to support or endorse your team's application.
   2. How and where do you get the best pictures for the theme … get 2022 theme ideas.
   3. Ideas for activities you could do: photo walks, info sessions, upload sessions, talks from local professional photographers on technique, etc.
   4. Ideas for events you could host: launch event, national contest, etc. Decide on whether you wish to host a national round of judging and prizes - if you do, you will need to organize the judges, the selection process, the prizes, etc.. But this is absolutely not mandatory!
3. Who will do what, when?
   1. Define your team, define the roles needed and assign tasks:
   2. Detail who is in charge of what?
   3. Declare your intention to participate on this table.
4. Now you have a plan, what is needed to support that plan?
   1. Look at this Contest Rapid Grant Template to see what questions need to be answered.
   2. Look for local partners: groups who might be key partners in spreading the word or hosting events.
      1. For example, do you have a venue partner who will host, and has wifi you can use?
      2. Are there local photographers or photography groups that might want to be involved, or a local photographer who might be interested in offering basic photography training?
   3. Do you need food? How much will food cost?
   4. Do you need t-shirts, branded hats or other small merchandising (badges, stickers, etc.) to make people feel more ‘seen’ and valued as part of a group - look at the generic designs on Meta and more on Commons
   5. Cost out your plan - how much does this all cost locally?
5. Fill out the Contest Rapid Grant application … Apply using this Contest application section
   1. Once complete and published, let your community know, and ask them the larger Wikimedia community across Africa to endorse your application.

Where does one check if groups are available in the area they lives in?

That's a good question... and not one easy to answer...

First we have affiliated usergroups. Those are easy to track. See recent news (for new groups).

Then there are non affiliated usergroup in the process of being affiliated. Normally, you can find them from those categories (I do not know why there are 3... one or two must be outdated):

• Wikimedia User Group Application Under AffCom Review
• New Wikimedia User Group Application
• Wikimedia User group Applications Pipeline

For example, last year... I came accross Nigerian Commons Photographers User Group...

Then there are unaffiliated usergroups... and not in the affiliation request pipeline. I do not know if there is anything that would look like a list anywhere...

Usually... one get to know about them through the following means :

• sometimes you discuss with someone on the wiki... and just like that... you learn about a new group...
• sometimes someone show up in a telegram channel and you hear about it
• or you may dig into all those who asked for a rapid grant in the past

But if I were new from a country with no knowledge... I would simply ask in several places. On mailing list... on telegram... on country portal pages on wikipedia... and if there is a group... I guess you'll finally bump into them ?

What should you do next? What else can you do?

* Let your community know about the contest. Your local community can include local Wikip/medians and aligned Open Movement members (enthusiasts from Creative Commons, Open Street Map, Open Data, OER, etc.). Relevant links to provide include WLA on Meta, WLA on Commons, WLA on Twitter and WLA on Facebook

• Join the Wiki Loves Africa mailing list and African mailing list for discussions, opportunities, and announcements.
• Join the Wiki Loves Africa Telegram group
• Suggest jury members for the international jury: suggest judges who might be interested in taking part in the international contest (perhaps a locally celebrated photographer, chef, filmmaker or journalist).
• Share on your own Facebook page. You may reshare our posts as well. (Please like this page - we will repost your info.)
• Share on your own Twitter account. You may reshare tweets from http://twitter.com/WikiLovesAfrica (Please follow and link your tweets about the competition to our handle.)
• Share on your own Instagram. Follow the main Instagram and share.
• other suggestions?

How to plan your events?

Below are a few ideas on how to get ready for any events you have planned. Please add to if you have found a tool or approach useful when you were doing your work.

Pre-event planning

1. Build a team
   • Types of partners. View Wikimedia Conference workshop slides
   • Who is going to join?
2. Secure a location
   • In-kind funding and support
   • Proximity to the participants
   • A collaborative guide if your event is online
   • Event planning
3. Plan the structure of the event/s and activities
   • what do your participants need to be able to contribute to the event - this could take multiple sessions
   • what do they need to know - compile a list of resources they might need to help them
   • what resources do you need to help them - Check some of these out
   • what do they need to do before they arrive
   • what do you need to do before they arrive
   • You may find some ideas in the Wiki Loves Women Event Toolkit (in English)
   • Also look through this Community Content Campaign Framework: preparations
   • You could use the Wiki Loves Women Checklist (illustrated by Florence)

How to prepare for your event

Events organising and planning

You may find a checklist in Wiki Loves Women Event Toolkit (in English).

1. Preparing for your event

• What presentations and materials do you need and in what order example of last year slides about SheSaid
• How do you create a good talk or session (watch the conference video, in aside thumb)
• Learn some great tricks on public speaking (read through the book, in aside thumb)

2. Keeping track of impact

• Set up your Outreach Dashboard
• Wikiscan for Wikiquote
• xtools
• Wikidata Query tool - example
• Quarry. Example: participants to WLA 2021
• Fountain Tool
• Hashtag tool

3. Creating a friendly and safe environment

• Safe, Brave Space from Art+Feminism
• Security and safety toolkit
• WMF Friendly Space Policy
• Universal Code of Conduct Policy text

4. Host your event! Take photos!

• This is what you are ready for!

5. Reporting and documentation

• what can you report? production output? number of participants?
• what impact have you made?
• example of activity report from Minette for Nos Jardins

How to build your community – communicate about your activities

You will find Wiki Loves Africa 2022 Communications materials, design resources and branding information. Below you will find strategies to build your community and create visibility about your activities through press releases and social media.

Planning communications

• What channels are your participants on
• What do they need to know beforehand, what will get them excited
• Create a list of media contacts in your country that you think will be interested in talking about the competition. Contact them. What about holding a press conference? or sending them a press release?