Running your editathon

So you’ve had fun, you’ve done your bit in the name of information activism, but you want to do more. You want to go forth and spread your new-found knowledge to the world, in your communities and keep increasing the diversity of editors on Wikipedia.

Fab! So how would you go about running your own event to celebrate minority voices?

 

Editathons are typically a half-day event. Wikipedia editing training takes approximately 60-90 minutes. We have a lesson plan and video tutorials to help there.

Minimum requirements:

  1. a subject or theme for your event (having some kind of USP will help focus your promotional efforts too)
  2. a strong and stable internet connection and (if running an in-person event) some computers.
  3. a handful of pages to create/edit.
  4. a generous smattering of quality sources to back up your info.
  5. a dash of would-be editors.

Recommended:

  • Book a room with WiFi & a projector if your event will take place in-person. A remote, digital event will require some kind of video conference hosting platform, such as Blackboard Collaborate, Microsoft Teams or Zoom. There are positives and pitfalls of each but widely choosing the one you feel is most accessible to your audience will see you right.
  • Create an event page – e.g. using the Wikimedia Outreach Dashboard
  • Start publicising the event about 4-6 weeks in advance to recruit interested volunteers to do the editing; you can also ask for page nominations in case people don’t have the time to commit to the event itself but are interested in your cause.
  • Refreshments if you’re hosting – Tea, coffee and snacks attract attendees and help people stay for longer!
  • A trainer or experienced editors to lend support.  *This will really help you in an online event where editors might not all be working at the same pace! You can for a breakout room to help guide individuals through technical hitches whilst allowing the rest of your attendees to follow the training and give them more time to edit.
  • Provide a suggested hit list of articles and materials to support writing those articles (e.g. books from the library, links to obituaries, etc.). It’s up to you how prescriptive you want to be but having examples of reliable sources does help first-time editors get a feel for what should and shouldn’t be used to back up their writing.
  • Signup sheet – Here is an example of a registration form used by Wikimedia UK used to add people to the Wikimedia community email distribution lists: signup form

 

Q: How should an editathon be structured?

  • Introduction including a short/long guest talk from someone else about why we’re here, or a visit to somewhere interesting (ie historical information on your event theme or a specialist in the field)
  • Basic editing training, including any pertinent policies or guidelines.
  • Edit! (at least 90 mins for a short stub article, but ideally allow longer for people to really dig into information on the person they’re writing about)
  • Wrap up and (hopefully!) teach people to publish their page to the live article space (depending on their editing permissions) if ready, or draft space if not.
  • Follow up – update your event page, send sign in sheets to your region’s Wikimedia office (e.g. for the UK info@wikimedia.org.uk)

 

Q: How do I publicise an editathon?

  • Decide on a sign up method for the event e.g. Eventbrite/Attending. Dedicated free ticketing sites seem to allow a more reliable gauge on the number of participants than Facebook events where it is easy to put ‘interested’, but you may also reach a wider audience through such social media platforms.
  • Share the event page
  • Advertise to relevant (existing) volunteer or student groups
  • Decide if your event will be public or non-public
  • If you have a regional or national Wikimedia organisation, be sure to link in with them, e.g. add event page link to Wikimedia UK events page

 

Q: How do I create an event page?

Use the Programs and Events Dashboard for preparing and managing your event.