Press:Wikimedia DC Launches "Wiki Loves Monuments USA" Photo Contest

Cash prizes for best pictures of national historic sites uploaded to Wikipedia

September 1, 2013—Wikimedia District of Columbia has launched Wiki Loves Monuments USA, a month-long photography contest. Wiki Loves Monuments USA is part of the international Wiki Loves Monuments contest, certified by Guinness World Records for two consecutive years as the world's largest photography contest. The contest welcomes contributors from the United States and around the world to upload pictures of recognized historic sites, including buildings and landmarks, to improve Wikipedia's coverage of these sites.

Wikimedia District of Columbia will be awarding cash prizes of US$500, $300, and $150 for the best three photographs of sites on the National Register of Historic Places submitted to Wikimedia Commons, the media repository for Wikipedia, from September 1–30. A panel of experts will choose the best ten pictures, which will then be submitted as U.S. finalists in the international Wiki Loves Monuments contest. The top international prize is a free trip to the Wikimania 2014 conference in London, with additional prizes for runners-up.

Wiki Loves Monuments USA welcomes participants new to editing Wikipedia and encourages them to photograph historic places close to them. The contest's official website, www.wikilovesmonuments.us, makes it easy to find historic places to photograph and then upload for use in Wikipedia articles. Android smartphone users can download the Wiki Loves Monuments app to quickly find, photograph, and upload their pictures. The app is available here: .

Worldwide, Wiki Loves Monuments attracted over 15,000 participants from 35 countries in 2012, 10,000 of whom had never contributed to a Wikimedia project before. These participants uploaded over 350,000 photographs, including over 22,000 from the United States. The photographs are made available for use under a free license for use on Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects. The contest, which was originally organized in the Netherlands in 2010, will be held in over 45 countries this year.

The United States edition of the contest is made possible by Wikimedia District of Columbia, as well as sponsor Freestock.ca, a free stock photography website.

To learn more about Wiki Loves Monuments USA, visit our website at www.wikilovesmonuments.us.

About Wikimedia District of Columbia: Wikimedia District of Columbia is an official affiliate of the Wikimedia Foundation, serving Washington, D.C., and the surrounding states of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Delaware. A nonprofit educational organization, Wikimedia District of Columbia is dedicated to the advancement of general knowledge and the collection, development, and dissemination of educational content under a free license or in the public domain. Our projects seek to benefit Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, as well as other projects of the Wikimedia Foundation. To learn more about Wikimedia District of Columbia, visit www.wikimediadc.org.

Contact:

James Hare, President

Email: press@wikimediadc.org

Phone: (201) 696-8182

Fax: (202) 204-5218

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