Submissions/AfroCROWD: A panel discussion on the work of Afro Free Culture Crowdsourcing Wikimedia and Running Monthly Wikipedia Edit-a-thons.

This is an Open submission for Wikimania 2017 that has not yet been reviewed by a member of the Programme Committee.

Submission no. 2068 Subject - C5 C9

Title of the submission

AfroCROWD: A panel discussion on the work of Afro Free Culture Crowdsourcing Wikimedia and Running Monthly Wikipedia Edit-a-thons

Type of submission (lecture, panel, tutorial/workshop, roundtable discussion, lightning talk, poster, birds of a feather discussion)

Panel

Author of the submission

Alice Backer and Sherry Antoine

Language of presentation

English

E-mail address: AfroCROWD1@gmail.com

Username: Aliceba

Country of origin

United States

Affiliation, if any (organisation, company etc.)

Wikimedia New York City

Personal homepage or blog

AfroCROWD.org, Twitter.com/AfroCROWDit, Facebook.com/AfroCROWD, Instagram.com/AfroCROWD

Abstract (up to 300 words to describe your proposal)

Afro Free Culture Crowdsourcing Wikimedia (AfroCROWD) is an initiative which seeks to increase the number of people of African Descent who actively partake in the Wikimedia and free knowledge, culture and software movements. Since its launch during Black Wiki History Month in 2015, AfroCROWD has sensitized thousands in its target audience about free culture crowdsourcing and the need to close the multicultural and gender gaps in Wikipedia. AfroCROWD has also held monthly multilingual edit-a-thons in partnership with notable cultural institutions, academics, organizations, librarians, curators, archivists and other partners. AfroCROWD has also trained future trainers in the target community and is open to all.

In this panel we will talk about the work of AfroCROWD and how we organize monthly events to increase the number of people of African Descent who edit Wikipedia and endeavor to get participants to actively partake in the Wikimedia and free knowledge, culture and software movements year round. We will also showcase the work of other groups who work with our target audience.

We will also share our best practices and lessons learned in over 2 years of non stop monthly edit-a-thons in this important area. The panel is open to all, and at all levels of experience.

Presenters: Alice Backer, Sherry Antoine, Richard Knipel and guests:

Each contributor will offer perspective from the point of view of their role in AfroCROWD: Alice is its founder and executive director, Sherry is its public outreach and program manager, Richard is the president of Wikimedia NYC which supports the work of AfoCROWD. We will also have guests from the Wikimedia NYC community who have worked with or Allied with AfroCROWD and AfroCROWD participants who can speak to their experiences with the project.

What will attendees take away from this session?: Attendees can expect to learn about AfroCROWD’s innovative methods of outreach, partnership building and collaboration, and how to apply those methods to projects. This is especially good for those interested in a monthly edit-a-thon / event model.

Theme of presentation: Sister Projects

For workshops and discussions, what level is the intended audience?

NA (all are welcome)

Length of session (if other than 25 minutes, specify how long): 25 minutes

Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?: Yes

Slides or further information (optional): AfroCROWD.org, Twitter.com/AfroCROWDit, Facebook.com/AfroCROWD, Instagram.com/AfroCROWD. We will also bring slides then.

Special requests

NA

Is this Submission a Draft or Final?

This is a Completed submission for Wikimania 2017 ready to be reviewed by a member of the Programme Committee.

Interested attendees

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