Wikimania 2021 for Newbies

Have you found yourself perusing the great line up for this year’s Wikimania and wondering what is on offer for first-time attendees? Thinking about what the experience will be like, and don’t know where to begin? Even if you have just started editing or getting involved with the community,  Wikimania is a welcoming event for first timers with loads of opportunities to learn more and meet new people. 

This year, because the event is all online, it actually opens up the amount of people you can meet and interact with, from the hundreds to the thousands! That is one of the best bits of Wikimania whether online or in person, the chance to meet and be part of the ever growing Wikimedia community. We’ve made access as easy as possible, with considerations around time zones and session translations all being part of how the event will be run. 

Wikimania gives you the chance to hear about everything from photography competitions to the use of Wikipedia in the classroom to campaigns to close the gender gap and elevate indigenous voices.. And aside from the inspiring and informative talks, as with previous Wikimania events there is always room for fun to be had and some socialising and entertainment. We have international cook-along tutorials, quizzes, social hang outs and collaborative music events. And let’s not forget the Wikimedian of the Year will also be announced, this year with multiple awards being given out. 

Depending on local COVID rules, there will also be some in person events taking place around the world in the run up and over the course of the weekend, so if you do want to hang out in person with other Wikimedians, take a look on the Wikimania wiki to see if there are any events happening near you. We have picked out a few great talks and events for newcomers that will give you a good overview of the work of the Wikimedia movement and interesting projects and developments taking place across the globe. 

If you feel overwhelmed by the sheer choice of things to listen to and do – fear not! As sessions will be recorded and then posted after the event for everyone to go back and enjoy. We’ll be archiving everything on Wikimedia Commons by mid September. If you have any problems or questions during the scheduled event, we have a team of people there to help out. You can contact the Helpdesk and there is also a Telegram channel for out of hours questions. 

So – if you are now convinced of attending, great! Next steps are to register and then start to look through the schedule to see what interests you. It’s a good idea to also check out the Remo platform beforehand, just to get a feel for how it works.

Once you are at Wikimania, remember you can interact as much or as little as you like. You can sit back and enjoy the sessions or have group or one to one conversations at the tables set up on Remo. Wikimania is just the start of your Wikimedia adventure. It’s a place for making new friends, learning new things and it really is a welcoming space, so we can’t wait to see you there!