Proposal:Wikipedia loves ... my town
- This page is a proposal approved by the committee. The proposal was moved by Bilby and seconded by Steven Zhang. 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.
After the success of the various "Wiki Loves Monuments" competitions, it seems like a worthwhile idea to try a similar model in Australia as an initial trial.
Rationale
One of the things we want to do is to let people know about how they can be involved in Commons and CC-licensed work. The objective is to run a competition where the participants are encouraged to learn about both. By inviting submissions on Commons and providing literature to entrants about Commons, CC and WMAU, we serve an educational role that should encompass both people interested in quick snaps and enthusiasts. Any photos would also be a plus, as there are a large number of Australian topics which are still insufficiently covered.
Theme
Rather than the general theme in the Wiki Loves Monuments competitions (monuments as a term has a more restrictive definition in Australia than in Europe), we propose narrower themes for the competitions, to give participants more direction. For the first competition, we propose a "Wikipedia loves ... my town". Entries will need to express the local area, although within that they'll have a fair bit of room to move. This will:
- Be approachable to all, as there will be no need to travel beyond the local area.
- Assist with Wikipedia's coverage of towns and suburbs, which are photographic themes that provide an easy and safe entry point for new contributors.
- Be applicable for low-end equipment. Point-and-shoot cameras are sufficient, and wouldn't be at a severe disadvantage to dSLRs.
- Tie into the "My place" program at schools.
- Be open to all ages.
Later themes could include public art, animals and historical sites and the like, but the advantage of "My town" is that it can be run more than once.
Rules
- The competition will be open to all Australians, except members and families of the Wikimedia Australia committee and the judging panel. The competition will be open from 1 November 2011 to 28 February 2012. All photographs entered must be:
- taken during the competition period.
- uploaded to Wikimedia Commons and released under a compatible Creative Commons or Public Domain license.
- the photographer's own work, and the entrant must be in a position to release the image under a CC license.
- submitted as digital files (photos can be taken on a variety of media, including digital, negative film, polaroids and transparencies).
- Limit of three entries per entrant.
- Optional
The proposers and committee will make a decision on the following options prior to the launch.
- The competition may include New Zealanders.
- The competition may have two categories:
- under-18, and
- 18 and above.
Judging
Judging will be based on three criteria: technical merit, educational value and composition. A panel of at least three judges will be formed, including at least one person from the current Wikimedia Australia committee.
Feedback will not be automatically available to contestants, although there may be cause to consider individual feedback upon request.
Prizes
Wikimedia Australia will fund the prizes for the pilot of this competition. After the competition, the organisers will seek sponsorship for the competition to run again the following year, and report to the committee before June 30, 2012 with a new proposal to run the competition again in 2012-2013.
The prizes for each category will amount to $1000. The following prizes are indicative of those that will be awarded. The specifics may change.
- First prize: Either a Pentax K-n camera in the winner's choice of colour, or a lens of their choice to an equal value ($600)
- Second prize: Panasonic Lumix FT10 point-and-shoot digital camera. ($300)
- Third prize: Photography book. ($100)
Total budget: $2000