Activating Africa Panel
Dear Superbellymonster
You have put your name down as being interested in attending the the Activating Africa panel that will take place on the Sunday the 11 August in the Jockey Club Auditorium (just before the Closing Plenary). If you are working on a project related to Africa, please see the email below. If you are just interested to attend, then we look forward to seeing you there!
The idea behind the panel is to set out the need, see what is going on across the continent, and discuss what is possible in the immediate future. Here is the submission page to refresh your memory. There are two problems that this panel presents: One: there are too many stories that need to be told and discussed that make it difficult to give full representation of the landscape in 90 minutes; Two: given the costs involved, and the scholarship system, there are not enough people from Africa attending Wikimania to make sure everything is covered, and all the people, ideas, thoughts and realities heard.
With this in mind we want to shake expectations and make the Activating Africa panel a version of Pecha Kucha [www.pechakucha.org]. This means that 6 presenters present 20 slides, with 20 seconds per slide (this works out to just over 6 minutes per presentation with another 3 mins for questions for each presentation). The joy of this format is that we can ask people who are not at Wikimania to send through pre-recorded presentations (and, possibly, link up with them via skype to answer questions). Tech-willing, we will also investigate if there is a way we can make the whole session live. This format extends the conversation beyond just the people who managed to get scholarships to attend. As an extension of the panel, we will also create an Activating Africa website that allows for the conversation to extend beyond Wikimania, and back to Africa.
Here is the structure for the session:
- 10 minute intro – setting the stage about why Africa needs Wikipedia, and especially why Wikipedia needs Africa.
- 6 x 20 slide x 20 sec presentations of projects or wiki-relevant experience that have or are taking place across Africa.
- 20 minutes debate on the future of engagement in Africa – this will include 2 minute (max.) presentations about projects that are planned or ideas for future projects.
If you wish to present a project you are working on that is based in or relevant to Africa, or an idea for the future, please can you submit your topic via this form:
The deadline for submissions is the 31st July. Speakers will be notified on the 2nd August. All cyber or remote presentations need to be sent to Isla [info@wikiafrica.net] by Friday, 9th August.
We look forward to recieving your submission if you are interested; and please do feel free to share your ideas, suggestions and thoughts on this with us. Also, be sure to send this out to as large a network as possible so that we can make sure Africa is truly represented. please do email Isla on info [at] wikiafrica dot net Islahaddow (talk) 12:06, 25 July 2013 (UTC)