Proposal:2012 Languages conference

This page is a proposal being developed by our members. The proposal was moved by John Vandenberg and seconded by Tony1. If you are not a member of the organisation, you may request an account on this wiki using special:RequestAccount, and discuss this proposal on the discussion page.

This proposal is for Wikimedia Australia to allocate AUD$60,000 to fund a languages conference held in Indonesia between August to November 2012.

Background

In May, the Wikimedia Australia committee looked at the issues relating to assisting languages which do not yet have a presence within Wikimedia. We had been specifically asked to look at funding the development of free fonts for one writing system of Indonesia, however we were conscious of the fact that there are many writing systems and languages missing from the Wikimedia community. We first needed a global strategy, and then the Wikimedia Foundation and chapters need to select which languages they will champion.

Also in May, Wikimedia Australia resolved to commission an expert to assist the Language committee (LangCom) develop a strategy document for languages and writing systems, and the Language Committee held its first face-to-face meeting in Berlin.

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Language_committee/May_2011_meeting#Projects_and_plans

Since May, LangCom member Millosh has created the Missing Wikipedians documentation, which will also form part of the languages strategy document that is needed. Millosh presented this at meta:Wikimania 2011.

http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Missing_Wikipedias

http://wikimania2011.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/Missing_Wikipedias

Videos of the session are available on youtube[1]

In order to continue the development of a strategy of creating Missing Wikipedias, and move towards implementing that strategy, we need to bring together people from the Language Committee, language experts and native speakers, in order to address issues relating to languages and writing systems that are preventing these Wikipedias from forming.

The best way to achieve this is to have conferences. For cultural and accessibility reasons, these conferences should be held in the regions where the native speakers are, rather than in Europe and North America. As there are many missing languages in the Oceania region, we should hold a conference in this region that will be a model for other regions to follow.

Wikimedia Australia is planning AusWiki Conference 2012 in Adelaide. As a result of this existing conference project, Wikimedia Australia doesn't have the capacity to also run the languages conference. John met with Siska in Canberra in May and is confident that Wikimedia Indonesia is best placed to run the language conference for languages in our region.

Steering committee

The steering committee is a group of high-level stakeholders who are responsible for providing guidance on the planning of the conference. It will be comprised of two or three members of each collaborating partner. The steering committee will not make any decisions. They will prepare briefs that will flow into the decision making processes of the collaborating organisations.

Wikimedia Language Committee

Wikimedia Australia

John Vandenberg
Tony1
<yet to be filled>

Wikimedia Indonesia

Timeline

2011

September 1

Wikimedia Australia will establish a private mailing list and wiki for the conference planning. The steering committee will be the initial participants on the mailing list and wiki, with additional participants added by a vote on the private wiki.

September 4

Public meeting in #wikimedia-au at 5PM AEST (which is 7AM UTC). The relevant parts of the transcript will be posted to the conference planning private wiki.

September 10

The steering committee will finalise their changes and comments to the public proposal page and distribute a brief privately to the collaborating partners. This must include a clear description of the conference scope and a rough timeline for milestones for the conference preparation.

September 14

The steering committee will distribute a draft Memorandum of Understanding to the three collaborating partners.

September 18

The proposal and MoU will be considered by the Wikimedia Australia committee. The Wikimedia Australia committee will vote on the proposal, and provide feedback on the MoU.

September 22

The committee secretary will provide minutes for this item to the steering committee on September 22.

Should the proposal fail to be approved by the Wikimedia Australia committee, the MoU will be distributed to the members.

September 29

WMID and LangCom will make a decision on the MoU

October 9

Should the proposal fail to be approved by the Wikimedia Australia committee, the public proposal will be voted on by the general assembly of the members.
The relevant parts of the transcript will be posted to the conference planning private wiki.

November

Wikimedia Australia will transfer AUD$10,000 to Wikimedia Indonesia as an unrestricted grant.

November 30

Deadline for LangCom members to express wish to attend the conference.

December

LangCom will provide a budget for their use of the AUD$20,000, including identifying any of their own membership who will be receiving assistance to attend the conference from WMAU.
Steering committee will distribute a brief containing recommendations for the conference date, website and the call for papers.
The public website will be created.

2012

January

Wikimedia Indonesia will report on their use of the AUD$10,000 unrestricted grant.
Wikimedia Indonesia will provide a budget for their use of the AUD$20,000 allocated to conference costs, itemised for any expense over AUD$500 and including three quotes for expenses over AUD$2000.

February

The website will be completed and the conference advertised.

April

Wikimedia Indonesia will report on their use of the AUD$10,000 unrestricted grant.

October

The conference likely to happen in October 2012.

Budget

Wikimedia Australia will initially provide AUD$ 10,000 to Wikimedia Indonesia to organise the conference. These funds will be unrestricted and be provided to Wikimedia Indonesia after Wikimedia Australia, Wikimedia Indonesia and LangCom have an in-principle agreement on the scope of the conference. Wikimedia Indonesia will provide the Wikimedia Australia committee with a request for further funding once they have developed the conference and obtained quotes. This proposal reserves AUD$ 20,000 for this purpose.

AUD$ 10,000 for travel grants to be allocated by Wikimedia Australia for Australian attendees.

Flight from Australia to Bali : AUD $ 1,000 x 5 = $5,000

Two nights at Bali: $ 200 x 5 = $ 1,000

AUD$ 20,000 for travel grants to be allocated by LangCom for their own members and international attendees that they invite to attend.

Flight from Europe to Bali : AUD $ 1,500 x 10 = $15,000

Two nights at Bali: $ 200 x 10 = $ 2,000

The total amount that WMAU will allocate is AUD$60,000, with the following organisations responsible for the use of the funds:

$AUD 30,000 - Wikimedia Indonesia
$AUD 10,000 - Wikimedia Australia
$AUD 20,000 - LangCom

Responsibilities

Wikimedia Australia will be responsible for determining the scope and program of the conference, in consultation with the Language Committee and Wikimedia Indonesia. Wikimedia Australia will set up a private wiki for Wikimedia Australia, Wikimedia Indonesia and LangCom to use for internal communication.

The Language Committee will be responsible for selecting the papers and attendees.

Wikimedia Indonesia will be responsible for any other decisions regarding the conference, specifically any aspect of running the conference, and for requesting additional funding from Wikimedia Australia as required to achieve the desired outcomes.

Wikimedia Australia committee will be responsible for approving any additional funding requested, above the allocated amounts in the budget above.