User:Sonkiki/Handbook Project

This is my working page for a 3-week project as a contractor for WMF, with the goal of creating a hackathon/ event handbook.

Journal
disclaimer: this journal may not be complete

Week 1

Mon, 12 June: First day, trying to get into it, clicking my way through various wiki pages, made a timeline, currently collecting everything here: https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Sonja. Kick-off call with Rachel Farrand in the evening.

Tue, 13 June: encountering some issues with creating wiki pages, troubleshooting by Raimund Liebert (WMAT). Found out that Jean-Frédéric has started a handbook in 2014: User:Jean-Frédéric/Hackathon handbook and that Wenke from WMDE is working on an event guidebook in German as well.

Wed 14 June: got a lot of good suggestions for what it should look like, and what not, from WMF, Quim Gil, as well as community engagement team (Sherry Synyder, Chris Koerner, Nick Wilson, Benoit Evellin, ...).

Tips I got / what everyone wants:
 * + include glossary
 * + timeline with very specific instructions (e.g. NO:  "Think about branding", YES: "Four weeks before wedding:  Tell future mother-in-law how chic she will look in solid black mourning clothes." OR "Six months before hackathon: Assign one person to be in charge of encouraging participation by different kinds of people")
 * + clear page with comprehensive view (good examples: Help:Flow, https://www.ted.com/participate/organize-a-local-tedx-event)
 * + modular structure (example of Asian restaurant menus to build-your-own meal)
 * + keep it KISS (avoid hard to collaborate on formatting like on Help:VisualEditor/User guide)

Topics for Handbook ***** DRAFT *****
I like this structure, use this as example: https://www.ted.com/participate/organize-a-local-tedx-event

Pictures to illustrate handbook with:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Evaluation/100_Words_Campaign

maybe define different users of this handbook?

 * 1) planning to become a host in the future
 * 2) new host, already working on event
 * 3) just want to read documentation / inform later < probably not necessary to cater to them

Get Started (maybe use different title, see TEDx page as example)
place to go to when you first look for information, small bits,

Timeline
To-do lists sorted as a timeline, from early planning stages a year in advance, to execution during the months, weeks and days leading up to the event, the event itself as well as post-event tasks and long-term actions.

Examples of good timelines:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Handbook/The_Ideal_Timeline >> this is outdated
 * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Handbook#Timeline_and_planning >> this is the new version


 * Sherry's take on the above timeline (with vegetables): https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Whatamidoing_(WMF)/Sandbox&diff=16880696&oldid=16880445
 * Here's how she improved the design:
 * 1) adding a few words to the section title,
 * 2) turning the sub-sections into section headings (instead of bold text)
 * 3) adding a colored box for an explanation at the top of the section, and
 * 4) adding a decorative image (I chose vegetables as my theme, but it could be anything, and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Evaluation/100_Words_Campaign could be a good starting point).
 * Hackathons/Hackathon tips for organizers

Team intern
Administrative Tasks/ Team Communication: Breakdown of internal team-tasks

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Event Setup
everything from badges to volunteer roles and engagement during the event

Logistics + Venue
rooms, badges, food etc.

CI and Design:
documentation of options, for informed strategic decisions

Outreach strategies: Diversity, Newcomers, like minded Communities
Strategies to further diversity and inclusivity in the community, with a focus on women* in tech and implementation as well as execution of the friendly space policy. strategies to engage newcomers / enlarge the community / bring more newcomers into the community, by means of pre-hackathons, outreach activities and the mentoring program on the hackathon itself.

Accessibility Event page on Meta from Benoit and Sherry: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Events/Accessibility

Promotion + Press (get better title or break into chapters)
How to reach out to Outreach strategies to sponsors, stakeholders and like-minded communities
 * Promotion within Wikimedia world
 * Stories for the press

Sponsor Relations/ Strategies
how to approach potential sponsors, identifying them etc.

Stakeholders: MediaWiki Stakeholder's group as well as local politicians etc.

Afterwards
how to wrap up, what to do after event

Templates
texts as well as graphics/ layout templates for various forms of communication, such as registration forms, emails and sponsoring materials https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/?tgif=d&q=hackathon
 * emails: see also Esino Lario Emails!
 * registration form
 * Feedback form
 * website text, maybe, too?

Optional for later: Interviews:
Brief interviews with previous hosts as well as WMF staff

List of Events
All MediaWiki related Events: Events on mediawiki.org

All Wikimedia events: Events

Hackathons
events pre-dating this table: Wikimania Haifa 2011 called "Developer Days": https://wikimania2011.wikimedia.org/wiki/Developer_Days, plus I think we could go further back even, with earlier wikimanias.

Glossary
type of events:
 * 1) # wmhack = annual Wikimedia Hackathon (usually in spring), where the software MediaWiki is further developed. (name #wmhack used in this column for better usability)
 * 2) Wikimania Hackathon = Hackathon (sometimes called Developer Meeting or DevCamp) at the annual Wikimania (usually spring/summer), normally held as a pre-conference in the 2-3 days before actual Wikimania starts.
 * 3) DevSum = Wikimedia Developer Summit, annual meeting (January, San Fransisco) to push the evolution of MediaWiki and other technologies supporting the Wikimedia movement.
 * 4) other = any other hackathon-like event

Ressources
Etherpads: Rachel Meeting Notes: https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/TC_Doc_Project

Now an archive: Collection of first thoughts/ ressources here: https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Sonja

Learning patterns
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Learning_patterns

Category Hackathon: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Hackathon_learning_patterns

Category Event patterns in general: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Event_patterns

two of them mention the word hackathon: This one could be useful, too: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Learning_patterns/Event_planning_process
 * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Learning_patterns/Coding_da_Vinci_-_the_culture_hackathon
 * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Learning_Patterns/How_to_design_and_develop_an_education_hackathon_within_the_Wikipedia_Education_Program

Main Locations (Pages) with general Hackathon/ Event related content:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Hackathons

https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:Calendar

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Events/upcoming List of all upcoming events, not maintained

Long page on Events in general, offers just a few lines about Wikimedia Hackathon.

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Events

Section #Resources is most interesting, but I'm copying all the links from there here anyways.

Accessibly:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Events/Accessibility

Wikimania Handbook:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Handbook

Ideal team:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Handbook/The_Ideal_Team

Wikimania checklist: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_checklist

Events checklist: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Events/Checklist >> very brief, not complete

events FAQ: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Events/FAQ >> very brief, not complete

Events Kit: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Events_kit

unofficial Wikimania Guide by user:Phoebe: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Phoebe/Wikimania#Things_to_consider_and_tips

Overview of all documentation for wikimania: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikimania_documentation

Research on Events:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Events

Nothing there yet about hackathons, but the current reseach going on from Carnegie Mellon (contact Anna Filippova, via rachel Farrand) could be included here: Paper (PDF) on hackathon research: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0ba96_UwEK8N09zOFBTWEwtaU0/view workshop on hackathon organization: https://hackathon-workshop.github.io

plus also research going on atm from Cooperative State University Baden-Württemberg Germany to write an analysis of the current state of hackathons, contacts Alexander Finkbeiner, Sebastian Kezic und Ricco Schwarz who contacted hackathon Vienna mailingliste. The results of this survey are being collected in a IEEE whitepaper. they are currently not planning on publishing the results, but it is possible that they do so later on. Contact via Rachel Farrand, has put them in touch with Carnegie Mellon.

Page that comes the closest to a handbook:
Probably main Site that we will edit:

https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Hackathons/Hackathon_tips_for_organizers

Links to other documentations, internal and external

https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Hackathons/Hackathon_tips_for_organizers#Other_Hackathon_Tips

Project:Calendar
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:Calendar

list of upcoming events related to MediaWiki development.

>> not up to date, e.g. Hackathon Vienna is missing

https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:Calendar/How_to_schedule_an_event

tips for all kinds of events, like meetups, developer summit, IRC office hours, etc.

3 chapters: general event suggestions, promotion and specific events (incl. hackathons)

>> this could be the main page where we collect all event info?

How-to Schedule Event on Project:Calendar Page
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:Calendar/How_to_schedule_an_event#Hackathons

includes just a few links:
 * For organizers: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Hackathons/Hackathon_tips_for_organizers
 * For participants: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Hackathons/FAQ
 * For future organizers: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Hackathons/Proposing_a_hackathon


 * Hosting chapter should publish budget/$ spent. Examples: Zurich: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Zürich_Hackathon_2014/Budget, Amsterdam: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Amsterdam_Hackathon_2013/Budget, Berlin.


 * Public lessons from hackathons. Examples: London: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:Calendar/How_to_schedule_an_event/HackathonTips >> this is actually Logistical improvements/lessons from Wikimania 2014, Lyon https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Hackathon_2015/Lessons_Learned, Mexico City


 * Hackathon metrics: Lyon

General Page about Lessons Learned from Hackathons:
Not linked to, work in progress:

https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Hackathons/LessonsLearned (created 29 May 2015 by Rachel Farrand, probably after Lyon?)