MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference/Scholarships

The following content is currently a proposal and should not be considered official yet.

One of the goals of the MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference is to attract attendees from all MediaWiki communities. The MediaWiki Stakeholders' Group and #MWCon organizers recognize that everybody comes from different backgrounds. We wish to enable those who may not be otherwise able to afford a conference ticket to come and participate in the conference.

Eligibility

Anyone who is interested and who is otherwise unable to pay for themselves to attend may apply.

This may include if you are a student, if you are active in roles in the MediaWiki community that typically do not pay enough to cover the cost of the conference, and/or if you are a corporate attendee whose company is unable to fund your trip.

Factors for eligibility

The following are currently ideas and are not finalized yet.

• Degree of participation in any part of the MediaWiki community, even if it is not related to the MediaWiki Stakeholders' Group or MediaWiki.org
• Prior attendance at the conference
• Whether the recipient of the scholarship will be, or would consider, giving a talk
• Whether the recipient is eligible for funding from any other sources (e.g. their employer, the Wikimedia Foundation, etc.)

What the scholarship would be comprised of

Applicants can apply for varying levels of financial support, depending on their specific situation.

All scholarships will at least cover portions or all of the conference ticket cost. This represents a savings of around $250 (as the freelancers' rate costs that much as of 2024).

The scholarship does not cover airfare or hotel.

Who would make the decisions?

The #MWCon scholarships committee, comprised of members appointed by the MediaWiki Stakeholders' Group board of directors, would review the applications and make the decisions.

How many will be issued?

This all depends on the funding from the MediaWiki Stakeholders Group. The more funding we have, the more scholarships will be issued. In case there are more applicants than available funds, the scholarships committee will rank applicants and grant scholarships for the highest ranked applicants until the budget is exhausted. We encourage companies to sponsor the conference and MWStake, as this money can be allocated to scholarships for the upcoming year.

Can companies or organizations establish scholarships of their own?

It would be fantastic if a company would like to contribute enough funding for a scholarship. This scholarship would then be offered in the company's name. For instance, the "Acme Company #MWCon Scholarship".