Outreach programs/Messages to candidates

Boilerplate texts for participants in mentorship programs to be sent as plain text in emails.

Candidate declined with incomplete application
Dear //name//, thank you for your interest in contributing to Wikimedia.

You haven't presented a developed proposal before the deadline, and you haven't done any contribution either. We understand you might have got busy times lately, but then this might be a reason to leave this project for later...

FOSS OPW is a full-time internship, and we usually only accept students during the Summer round because of the longer holidays.

We recommend you to start preparing your application for the next round, which will be done in conjunction with Google Summer of Code. We have several cases of candidates that were declined in one round but then they did the homework and were among the strongest in the following round.

To find ways to learn and to contribute to Wikimedia, see https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/How_to_contribute

You can subscribe here to receive notifications about Wikimedia's participation in the next FOSS OPW round:

https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T921

Thank you for your understanding. Let me know if you have any questions. We wish you good luck in your next steps, hopefully on software freedom tracks. :)

Candidate without a public proposal
Dear //name//, thank you for your interest in contributing to Wikimedia.

We have checked your proposal at http://opw.gnome.org. Please publish it under https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/FOSS_Outreach_Program_for_Women/Round_9#Candidates, as we require to all candidates in our process. This is very useful to receive community feedback and to show that you can work publicly in a wiki workflow, a very useful skill in our community.

Looking forward to seeing your proposal published in mediawiki.org. Also, if you haven't sent a note to wikitech-l pointing to your proposal, please do it now. This will be your introduction to the community.

If you have any questions, just ask.

Introductory email to all candidates
Dear FOSS OPW applicant,

You have completed your first step in the direction to becoming a Wikimedia intern in the next months. The next step in our reviewing process is to make sure that you have completed the basic requirements for all accepted candidates:


 * Introduction of your proposal to wikitech-l.
 * One microtask or more.
 * Two mentors supporting your proposal.

As org admins, Rachel (CCed) and me can help you, but in fact we expect you to have the initiative to ask your mentors and find your way, just like any free software contributor does in all levels of experience and expertise.

Meanwhile, it is possible that you receive community feedback about your proposal. This is good! It means that people care about you, your proposal, and the work that you might contribute if you are accepted. Please watch your wiki proposal and the email thread of your introduction to wikitech-l, and reply to the questions and comments you might receive.

If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask your mentors or us org admins. We are here to help you.

Good luck!

Candidate accepted
Congratulations! Your proposal has been accepted. You can find more details at

(URL of the program, for instance https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code_2014 )

In the next months, you will become a dedicated Wikimedia contributor. Your mentors and the rest of our community will help you succeed in your project; never hesitate to ask questions.

Through this program you will meet interesting people. You will learn what documentation and courses cannot teach you. Our goal is to make you feel at home, to help you become a long term contributor.

Here you have three basic steps to get up to speed:
 * 1) Establish a relationship with your mentors. You are members of the same team now.
 * 2) With the help of your mentors, specify your minimum viable product and publish a first contribution towards that goal.
 * 3) Start a routine of micro-reporting your progress on a weekly (or daily) basis using simple sentences with links.

Now is the time to review our Lessons Learned in order to avoid common mistakes at the beginning of a project:

https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Mentorship_programs/Lessons_learned

Thank you for your interest in contributing to Wikimedia!

Candidate declined
Unfortunately, your proposal has been declined this time, but don't give up. Some of our interns were declined in their first attempt, but then were well prepared in their next application. We encourage you to try again. Wikimedia participates in several outreach programs that offer internship opportunities.

Now that you have invested time and energy in your application, you know more about our community, and you have established contacts that can help you define your next steps.

These are the steps we have seen taken by successful re-applicants: We hope to see you around, becoming a stronger candidate. Some useful links: Thank you for your interest in contributing to Wikimedia!
 * 1) Learn why your application hasn't been accepted. Ask your mentors, the Wikimedia org admins, and other community members that gave you feedback or have helped you in other ways.
 * 2) Keep contributing to your preferred projects consolidating your relationship with other project members.
 * 3) Start working on your next proposal well in advance communicating your initial plans early, and drafting your proposal publicly.
 * https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/How_to_contribute
 * https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:New_contributors/Starter_kit
 * https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Annoying_little_bugs

Wrap-up email
Hello, how are things going?

I'm sending this email to all GSoC 2014 and FOSS OPW round 8 participants at once, so bear with me if some of the points below are not interesting to you or don't apply.

Someone said that we are better at ramping up programs than wrapping them up. True or not, in the name of Wikimedia I want to wrap up better this round than the previous ones. You deserve no less.


 * My wrap-up is your wrap-up. Some participants wrote a wrap-up post and linked it from their entry at https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code_2014 / https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/FOSS_Outreach_Program_for_Women/Round_8 and others didn't. It is an important and interesting exercise, for you, for your project, and your future.


 * You are invited to present your project in a Tech Talk https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:Calendar/How_to_schedule_an_event/TechTalks . We will organize these sessions based on your proposals, probably grouping 2-3 projects in one session. Good for your project, your CV, and your chances of presenting in future events. If you are interested, let me know.


 * You are also invited to become a Google Code-in mentor, proposing tasks to complete your projects (i.e. fixing remaining bugs), or whatever other tasks that you feel like proposing. See https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Code-in_2014 and subscribe to https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T924


 * Are you looking for more opportunities to contribute to Wikimedia as a volunteer? Let me know what your are looking for and I will do my best to put you in touch with the right people.


 * If you have ever considered working at the Wikimedia Foundation, let me know. Now or in the future, who knows? We can put you in touch with our HR team, always interested in learning about new candidates. Your Wikimedia internship is a very appreciated asset in your CV now. By the way, four of you are working with us already!

Any other questions? Just ask. I hope you had a good time during your Wikimedia internship, and I really wish that you feel encouraged to stay in touch, getting involved, and recommending to others to apply for future internships.

And thank you very much for having invested your time and energy with us.

PS: full disclosure, you can follow the status of this wrap-up and of my work at https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T717 and related links -- I also try to deliver my reporting on time! :)