Wikimedia Hackathon 2024/Participate
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The Wikimedia Hackathon took place from May 3rd–5th 2024 in the charming city of Tallinn, Estonia. While the majority of the event unfolded in person, we're thrilled to announce that select program elements were broadcast online, ensuring broader accessibility. For a wealth of information on attending, venue details, travel recommendations, accommodation options, and scholarship opportunities, you've come to the right place.
Here's the scoop: event attendance is absolutely free of charge. However, participants are responsible for managing their own travel and accommodation expenses, unless they secure a scholarship or receive support from their respective organizations (such as WMF or other affiliates).
A limited amount of masks and COVID-19 self-tests will be available onsite, but their use is not mandatory.
Registration
To attend the Wikimedia Hackathon in Tallinn, registration is required. Currently, the registration form is closed as we are in the process of screening and confirming attendance. For those interested in last-minute registration for the onsite event, please reach out to the organizing team via email - hackathon@wikimedia.org.
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The details you provide in the registration form will remain confidential and will solely be accessible to the Hackathon coordination team (WMF staff). In the case of scholarship applications, the data will be shared with the scholarship committee. The registration and scholarship application form is managed through Pretix, an open-source third-party service, which may be subject to additional terms. For a comprehensive understanding of privacy and data handling, please review our privacy statement.
How to register
To register, do the following:
Here are screenshots of the different steps:
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Volunteering
We organize and co-create this event with the help of all participants! You are welcome to join in many different roles & capacities, see our spreadsheet and sign up if you'd like to help out!
- Help desk: Help answer general questions about the Hackathon, facilitate connections between attendees, and provide technical support in various areas and projects. Group coordinator: Oyinyechi
- Documentation: Make sure all documentation related to the event is up to date on the Hackathon wiki and Phabricator. Group coordinator: Deb Tankersley
- Session coordination: Help with welcoming the speaker, taking notes, facilitating and time checks during a session, etc. Group coordinator: @KCVelaga_WMF
- Event blogging: Document your experiences from attending Wikimedia Hackathon. Group coordinator: Joris Darlington Quarshie
- Event photography Take photos during the event and upload them to Wikimedia Commons. Group coordinator: @Nes
- AV operator: Help with live streaming opening and closing ceremonies, setting up, operating, and troubleshooting audio & video equipment for presentation-style sessions. Group coordinator: Andrew Lih / Robert Sim
- Trust & safety: Ensure all participants adhere to Wikimedia's code of conduct for technical spaces and friendly space policy. Group coordinator(s): Nasma Ahmed & Janina Abrams
- Announcements: Post updates about the event in various Hackathon-related venues (e.g., upcoming program session, time to go for lunch, or social event). Group coordinator: Onyinyechi
- Logistics: Help with event logistics (e.g., moving things around, changing room setup between plenary and hacking, etc.). Group coordinator: Karen Hernandez
Online participation
The 2024 Wikimedia Hackathon is primarily an onsite event, and we couldn't enable full remote participation. However, there are various possibilities for people attending remotely to work on projects and interact with other participants:
Work on tasks: The tasks distribution and tracking takes place on Phabricator. Feel free to indicate that you are working on a task or to ask questions directly in Phabricator comments.
Interact with participants: The Hackathon social channels (IRC, Telegram, etc.) will be very active during the event, and the remote attendees are welcome to join these channels, talk about their projects and asks, and ask questions to the many technical contributors who are present on these channels.
Project presentations: The opening session (including project presentations) and the closing session (including showcase) will be broadcasted on Mediawiki's Youtube channel. However, it will not be possible for remote attendees to participate directly in these sessions. Remote participants are invited to present their projects on the Hackathon social channels instead.
Program and workshops: The onsite items of the program will not be recorded nor broadcasted online. However, notes will be taken on Etherpad documents, and the speakers will share their slides on Wikimedia Commons if any. If you are particularly interested in a session, feel free to contact the speaker so they can send you more information.
Scholarships
To foster a supportive and diverse technical community, the Wikimedia Foundation operates a scholarship program. This initiative is designed to offer crucial assistance to selected technical contributors, covering their travel and accommodation costs, thereby enabling their participation in the onsite event.
The scholarship application phase concluded on January 5th. It is no longer possible to apply for a scholarship.
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The scholarship application process is scheduled to kick off on November 27th 2023, coinciding with the registration process, and will conclude on January 5th 2024. Notification of scholarship recipients will be sent out no later than January 31st, providing ample time for travel arrangements and visa requests if necessary. Our scholarship program is tailored to champion engaged members of the technical community. Priority will be given to individuals who have actively contributed to Wikimedia technical projects for at least one year. We wholeheartedly encourage contributors from underrepresented communities to submit scholarship applications. The scholarship committee, comprises of {Moriel Schottlender, Joseph Seddon, Deb Tankersley, and Kerdo Kristjan Tamm} will meticulously assess applications, evaluating participants based on the following criteria:
Please note that full-time WMF staff members are ineligible for scholarship consideration. If you are part of the WMF staff, kindly explore the internal selection process or engage in a conversation with your manager regarding your attendance. Wikimedia affiliates have the option to conduct their own scholarship programs to facilitate community members' attendance at the hackathon. Further information on scholarships offered by Wikimedia affiliates will be included here as it becomes available. Target audienceThe theme for this edition aligns with last year's, emphasizing the gathering of individuals who have a track record of contributing to the technical aspects of Wikimedia projects. We're looking for those who are versed in navigating the technical ecosystem and are adept at working autonomously or collaborating effectively on projects. This is a change to the previous “one-fits-all-model”. Our decision to explore a new model is rooted in valuable insights gained from past Wikimedia Hackathons and other tech events and workshops. Several factors have prompted us to innovate and adapt, aiming to enhance the overall participant experience:
Other Wikimedia Movement events cater specifically to newcomers, extending a warm welcome to those new to Wikimedia and/or development. Consider joining Wikimania 2024, which hosts technical sessions, or explore other newcomer-friendly events (you're welcome to explore additional options). In terms of capacity, we're excited to welcome all participants up to the maximum capacity of the venue. For the scholarship selection process, we're seeking applicants with at least one year of active involvement in technical projects. The program features a project matching session during the opening, along with introductions to various tools and projects. |