Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2011-12
Key events
Wikimania 2012
Along with other Wikimedia institutions the chapter hosted the 8th annual Wikimedia conference, Wikimania, at George Washington University in Washington, DC, on July 12–15, 2012. has now concluded. Following a week of pure exhilaration that drew to a close on the afternoon of July 15, the 1,400 attendees from 87 countries turned off their laptops and exited the George Washington University Marvin Center one last time.
The theme for Wikimania 2012 was “Explore. Engage. Empower.” It was borne out of the organizers’ hope that those coming to Wikimania, whether from close or far away, used this great opportunity to explore new and exciting possibilities, engaged in active discussions and dialogue, and took what was learned here back with them in order to continue to empower people around the world through free access to global knowledge.
With support from sponsors and partners, over 700 people attended the Google Opening Reception at the Library of Congress, where the newest Wikipedian in Residence position was announced; more than 1,200 participated in the opening ceremony, which featured keynote speeches from the Ada Initiative co-founder Mary Gardiner and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales; and our community heard over 275 speakers, many of whom are already active contributors to Wikimedia projects, including the Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, Sue Gardner, and the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. In addition, we met and talked with the more than 200 participants at Tech@State: Wiki.Gov, and Richard Boly of the State Department’s Office of eDiplomacy shared a letter from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton congratulating attendees on the opening of Wikimania 2012 and Tech@State. Over the course of 5 days, our 1,400 attendees consumed 3,791 lunches, enjoyed 5,424 cups of coffee, and visited nearly every museum and monument in the Washington metropolitan area (although a citation might be needed). On these explorations, our local Washington, DC, highlights were photographed and many are newly included in Wikimedia Commons, a database of freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute.
One person in our community who is a great supporter of Wikipedia, to the surprise of some of our guests, is David Ferriero, the Archivist of the United States. In his remarks at the closing ceremony on Saturday, Ferriero discussed the important role that Wikipedia and Wikimedia Projects have for preserving history and documenting cultural heritage. After reminding the audience that the National Archives has contributed more than 120,000 digital files and pictures to Wikimedia Commons, he told the crowd, “if Wikipedia is good enough for the Archivist of the United States, then it’s good enough for you.”
“David Ferriero’s closing plenary illustrated just how inspiring the Wikipedia community can be for institutions and governments looking to become more open and transparent,” said Lori Byrd Phillips, US Cultural Partnerships Coordinator for the Wikimedia Foundation. “What was the most inspirational for me was the respect and appreciation shown by the Wikipedia community during the standing ovation for Mr. Ferriero. I’ve known that the Archivist of the United States loves Wikipedia, but last week I was reminded that the Wikipedia community returns that love to those who advocate for the movement.”
Kat Walsh, the newly elected Chair of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, returned the love to the organizers and volunteers of Wikimania 2012, recognizing the contributions they made to the overall experience. “The organizing team did an amazing job putting on the largest Wikimania ever,” Walsh said, “bringing together people from all of the various parts of our movement around the globe and presenting a full program of talks, tours, and workshops. My congratulations and thanks for the great work they’ve done.”
The Wikimania 2012 organizing committee would also like to thank our amazing volunteers. Wikimedia DC, the organizer of the conference, has no paid staff, except for an amazing intern, and the Wikimania organizing staff included only one paid event planner, Julie Perlmutter, who did an excellent job handling all of the conference logistics. Everything else was planned by a group of dedicated international volunteers who donated their time and skills to ensure that all attendees had a wonderful and enriching experience. Wikimania would not have happened without the work of this amazing group of people
James Hare, Wikimania 2012 Coordinator, delivers the opening remarks at the opening ceremony of Wikimania 2012
Richard Boly, Director of the Office of eDiplomacy, delivers an official greeting from the Department of State during the opening ceremony of Wikimania 2012
Mary Gardiner, co-founder of the Ada Initiative, speaks at the opening ceremony of Wikimania 2012
Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, speaks at the opening ceremony of Wikimania 2012
Roberta Shaffer, Associate Librarian of Congress for Library Services, welcomes guests to the Google Opening Reception at Wikimania 2012
Nicholas Bashour, President of Wikimedia DC, speaks at the Google Opening Reception at Wikimania 2012
A crowd of Wikimedians at the Google Opening Reception at Wikimania 2012
MediaWiki developers at the pre-conference Wikimania 2012 Hack-a-Thon
Wikimedians attend a presentation at Wikimania 2012
Sue Gardner, Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, speaks at Wikimania 2012
David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, speaks at the closing ceremony of Wikimania 2012
Wikimania 2012 attendees gather for a group photo
Program areas
Academic and educational outreach
2012 was an active year for editathons, workshops, and hackathons:
Cultural outreach
March:
- She Blinded Me with Science: Smithsonian Women in Science Edit-a-Thon
May:
- The second Smithsonian Institution Archives Edit-a-thon
July:
- ArtBytes hackathon at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore
August:
Government outreach and engagement
An informal "Wikipedia Lunch Group" has begun meeting at the Library of Congress, consisting of staff and other visitors.
Three Wikipedians at the Library of Congress participated in the OCLC "Linking Library Data to Wikipedia" webcasts by Max Klein.
Wikipedian-in-Residence Dominic McDevitt-Parks gave a one-hour talk at the Library of Congress on Wikipedia and the National Archives. He was introduced by Kristin Anderson, of the Wikimedia DC Board of Directors.
International and diplomatic outreach
The Estonian Embassy event was a great success ...
[And, The concert at the Austrian Embassy ...]
Public outreach and education
Editing for the Blind, three events at the DC Martin Luther King Public Library Adaptive Services Division. Using the JAWS screenreader, a group of blind library patrons learning computer skills created book reviews for three titles, including Hard Revolution and Fallen Grace.
The Great American Wicknic met at Dupont Circle in Washington, DC, and in Frederick, Maryland.