Talk:WMUK Skills Development Training 2016
Some suggestions
This was discussed by several of us at the recent London Meet up.
Separate pages
Firstly I think it would be useful to separate the information on the two distinct training sessions, as there may be different people attending on the different days. Leutha (talk) 13:19, 14 December 2015 (GMT)
Volunteer engagement
I found the description of volunteer engagement somewhat unclear, and I am not sure to what extent it incorporates the lessons from organising Wikimania 2014. I have put up a presentation from 2014, which, I hope, encapsulates one of the salient issues. Leutha (talk) 13:19, 14 December 2015 (GMT)
Coproductive approach
One thing which came out of our discussion at the meet up is the vale of a co-productive approach, which is an important part of the Wiki Way. As far as I can tell there has been no steps taken to draw together what emerged from our two Volunteer Strategy Gatherings (VSG), and I would appreciate being pointed towards where the documents discussed in the Project based approach part of the VSG held in July. As far as I can tell we have not been able to have any community discussion of how to take Project Management forward with WMUK. There are in fact different sets of principles of project management which can then be applied in different ways depending on the nature of the project. As we are going to be creating a blueprint for project managing wikimedia events, perhaps we should be highlighting this as an important step towards precisely having that community discussion and that we will be implicitly be developing a WMUK approach to project based work, even if the process is not as formal as creating policy.Leutha (talk) 13:32, 14 December 2015 (GMT)
- I would be interested in taking part in this type of development. I have some experience of en:Coproduction_(public_services). LoopZilla (talk) 13:34, 25 December 2015 (GMT)
Comments
Thanks Leutha! I wish we spoke about that at the meetup when I was there - these are good questions and it would make for an interesting discussion. Perhaps you could get in touch with the office to discuss?
I think the volunteer engagement workshop, being a half day, will be quite general in its approach, rather than a strategy of how to organise WMUK's volunteer programme specifically. I will ping your presentation to Midas so they can gain even more background to our work with volunteers. Project management training certainly arose as a reflection of the fact that we are encouraging volunteers to apply for grants and run projects (the core of the Volunteer Strategy day this year), but should also support building skills that are needed for this. I'm expecting that we will take quite a general approach, looking at overall good practice of managing projects or events.
Thanks again for your reflections, Daria Cybulska (WMUK) (talk) 11:37, 16 December 2015 (GMT)
- I would like to echo the concerns raised by Leutha. These events are all very well, but they seem to lack focus and direction from the outset, and follow-up can be poor. It strikes me as a bit odd that WMUK should be seeking to train volunteers in project management when WMUK's own skills in this field might appear sketchy. For example, we had a four-hour session on 31 October to design some TfT training modules, but have heard nothing since. Richard Nevell set up a page, I made a few comments, then nothing. See: User:Richard_Nevell_(WMUK)/TtT_modules_sandbox#Module_1 How and by whom is this project being managed? Edwardx (talk) 12:56, 17 December 2015 (GMT)
- Well there is an irony to it. After Wikimania 2014, I tried (and tried and tried) to get the chapter to think about a legacy, particularly doing something with the 200-odd volunteers from the conference (and the hundreds more who offered but, for one reason or another, weren't part of the event), but I got the distinct impression that nobody was interested, and the few efforts there were were led by two members of staff in their spare time (neither of whom now work for WMUK, more's the pity). Like so much of WMUK's resources, the opportunity was squandered. This is a large part of the reason that these are my first edits to this wiki for about a year. Nonetheless, gathering a lot of experienced people in a room for a day would be a valuable learning opportunity and is the sort of thing that the chapter is useful for, given that it has money to pay train fares and a physical space and other logistical support. So I say approach it with an open mind (or perhaps just a pinch of scepticism); hopefully the session will be useful and interesting, and in the worst-case scenario we can share our own experiences. Harry Mitchell (talk) 03:19, 19 December 2015 (GMT)
- Thanks Harry Mitchell. Agreed, if we think about this session more along those lines, and bear in mind a co-productive approach as set out by Leutha, then it should be a good day, come what may! Edwardx (talk) 11:43, 20 December 2015 (GMT)
- Thanks all! I will copy my comment from the main page under Edward's comments, sorry if this wasn't visible earlier. "I agree that better follow up is one of the things to continually work on. For the modules, they're still being written - I'm told that it's a long process! :) I really welcome your ideas on improving focus - drop me an email if you like." Daria Cybulska (WMUK) (talk) 14:24, 5 January 2016 (GMT)
- Thanks Harry Mitchell. Agreed, if we think about this session more along those lines, and bear in mind a co-productive approach as set out by Leutha, then it should be a good day, come what may! Edwardx (talk) 11:43, 20 December 2015 (GMT)
- Well there is an irony to it. After Wikimania 2014, I tried (and tried and tried) to get the chapter to think about a legacy, particularly doing something with the 200-odd volunteers from the conference (and the hundreds more who offered but, for one reason or another, weren't part of the event), but I got the distinct impression that nobody was interested, and the few efforts there were were led by two members of staff in their spare time (neither of whom now work for WMUK, more's the pity). Like so much of WMUK's resources, the opportunity was squandered. This is a large part of the reason that these are my first edits to this wiki for about a year. Nonetheless, gathering a lot of experienced people in a room for a day would be a valuable learning opportunity and is the sort of thing that the chapter is useful for, given that it has money to pay train fares and a physical space and other logistical support. So I say approach it with an open mind (or perhaps just a pinch of scepticism); hopefully the session will be useful and interesting, and in the worst-case scenario we can share our own experiences. Harry Mitchell (talk) 03:19, 19 December 2015 (GMT)
Wikipedia 15th Birthday
I hope those attending, particularly from outside of London will be able to join us celebrating the 15th Birthday of Wikipedia on Sunday, 10th January at the 101st London Meetup. Leutha (talk) 16:19, 17 December 2015 (GMT)
Publicity
I was unaware of this until after the closing date. Was it posted to the UK list, or on watchlists? Although I am a paid-up member, I don't get any newsletters, although I understand they exist. Johnbod (talk) 13:51, 20 December 2015 (GMT)
- Hi Johnbod, after a hiatus the newsletter has been brought back with one sent out on 29th September and another on 12th December. We use CiviCRM to send the newsletter to all our members, unless they opt out. In your case, the system sent you the last two newsletters. If the December issue hasn't shown up in your inbox, it would be worth checking the spam folder. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 13:24, 21 December 2015 (GMT)
- I also wasn't aware of any of this. In fact, it seems that most of the people who should have known weren't told. Like John, my newsletters also don't come through, nor do they appear in my spam folder. I really wish I knew exactly who the chapter is talking to regularly. It doesn't seem to be me or the people I know. Philafrenzy (talk) 00:10, 30 December 2015 (GMT)
- I was also made aware very late, and made a comment on the Mailing List. There does seem to be a need for a coherent communications policy. Personally, I want an email, either "to WMUK members" or the mailing list or both. YMMV LoopZilla (talk) 19:51, 3 January 2016 (GMT)
- I also wasn't aware of any of this. In fact, it seems that most of the people who should have known weren't told. Like John, my newsletters also don't come through, nor do they appear in my spam folder. I really wish I knew exactly who the chapter is talking to regularly. It doesn't seem to be me or the people I know. Philafrenzy (talk) 00:10, 30 December 2015 (GMT)