Email to hackathon participants sent Thursday, June 9


Subject: Wikimania Hackathon 2016: Email for Participants
CC: Rachel, Quim, Siebrand, Nick, Simone, Iolanda
BCC: All hackathon participants

Wikimania Hackathon Participants,

If you are receiving this email, you are registered for the Wikimania Hackathon in Esino Lario, which will be taking place Wednesday June 22 and Thursday June 23. We are looking forward to welcoming you!

Please read this email and its links in detail and let us know if you have any questions after reading.

The main focus of the Wikimania Hackathon is to complete Community Wishlist projects.

See phab:T135422 "Wishlist tasks suggested for the Wikimania Hackathon 2016" for a few recommendations.

Action Items for all participants:

Action Items for newcomers:

  • Please read our documentation so that you have a better understanding of what to expect and how the hackathon will run.
  • Get yourself on and familiar with Phabricator. Phabricator is an easy to use tool which will be used heavily throughout the Hackathon. You can subscribe to any tasks you are interested in, in order to receive updates.
  • Read through https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/How_to_become_a_MediaWiki_hacker
  • Follow the instructions at https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Hackathon/Laptop_setup to get your development environment setup
  • Ask! If you have any questions about how to get involved in advance of the event, or if you would like help understanding our event, we are here to answer your questions. Just respond to this email and we will get you some answers. :D

Action Items for Hackathon mentors and long term wikimedians:

  • We will have a high percentage of newcomers and novice-level developers at the Hackathon in Esino Lario and we need your help! Please consider helping to make this event successful in one (or all) of the following ways:
    • Run a basic or introductory session, training or workshop in your area of interest or expertise at this event. We will be holding a beginner session track throughout the entire hackathon in the Kindergarten Theater. You can sign up to run a session now!
    • Think about creating tasks and roles in advance of the hackathon that newcomers and new-developers can take on and help you with. Everyone will be given an opportunity to present their topic and areas that could use help at the hackathon opening. Update and clarify your phabricator task descriptions, and add the #Wikimania-Hackathon-2016 project tag.
    • Volunteer for an hour or two at the help-desk. Hang out with the organizers and answer technical questions, or introduce people to each other as questions come up. Sign up in advance as someone that organizers can approach when participants have questions, or show up to the help desk as you like.

Information for all Participants

Make sure you are familiar with our Friendly Space Policy. At the event, any violations of the policy or complaints can be reported in person or by email to Rachel Farrand, Nick Wilson, and/or Quim Gil (all CCed on this email). If you do not feel comfortable approaching any of the people listed above you are also welcome to escalate your report to the main Esino Lario Wikimania organizing team.

The Wikimania Hackathon 2016 will be held in multiple locations around the town of Esino Lario. Most importantly, please note that the Hackathon opening (which is very important to attend) will be taking pace in a different location than the main Hackathon event. Details can be found on the event page and are still subject to change, so please check back just before the event.

That’s all for now! We will check in again before the event to update you with final information.

Ciao!