Editing retreat in San José: Wikipedia collaboration with LaOficina  

The team of LaOficina, an association that promotes science, education, arts and technology through free and open culture, held a Wikipedia editing retreat in San José, Almería. Its objective was to continue advancing in two lines of content previously addressed in previous editions: the liberal uprisings of the 19th century in Spain and the Western Cinema filmed in Almeria.  

Both topics were chosen for their relevance and interest, and sought to continue contributing to enrich the content available on Wikipedia on these historical and cultural aspects. 

A perfect place to concentrate and work  

San José, located within the Cabo de Gata natural park, was the ideal setting for this activity. This small tourist town offers an excellent infrastructure, especially in low season, which allowed the team to enjoy more affordable rates without sacrificing the quality of the workspaces.  

The proximity to the provincial capital also facilitated the logistics of the retreat. In addition to the long working days, the location offered the perfect respite for the participants: walks along the banks of the natural park, ideal for clearing the mind. 

Motivation for participation and team objectives  

For LaOficina, this was not the first time they had organised an editing retreat. This format has proven to be an excellent method for both advancing joint projects and strengthening ties within the group. In addition, LaOficina has already been organising monthly meetings in Almería, which allowed several of its members to become more involved in the Wikimedia Movement, and even to become associated with Wikimedia Spain.  

On this occasion, the retreat served to finish pending projects from previous editions and to deepen the collaboration of the team, which favoured a very enriching human and professional integration. 

The dynamics of the work and the results obtained  

The retreat involved the participation of six people, who organised themselves efficiently to work on the articles through the use of Outreach Dashboard, a tool that allowed them to coordinate and consult the activity’s metrics. Paper-based bibliographic sources on the main topics were collected for the work, and tasks were assigned according to each person’s interests. User:Olea was available for technical support throughout the process.  

Among the outstanding articles that emerged from this retreat, we can highlight the translation into German of the article on the Almeria Western Film Festival (AWFF) by the editor User:Margaretvon, who was editing for the first time and managed to complete the article successfully. Progress was also made on the article on ‘Pronunciamiento de los Coloraos’, a particularly important topic for the team, although it is still in progress. In addition, User:Carlosjvives worked on several articles related to the AWFF, illustrating them with photos donated by the festival itself.   

Learnings and benefits of the retreat  

The retreat was an excellent opportunity to concentrate on the work, allowing for the implementation of a model that promotes family reconciliation, while achieving significant results in the collaborative projects. 

Despite the efforts and planning, the group agreed that the time flew by, reflecting the intensity and satisfaction of the work done.   

Next steps and the future of Wikipedia editing  

LaOficina will continue its routine of monthly in-person meetings, encouraging participation and maintaining its commitment to the Wikimedia Movement. The team remains open to adding new people interested in Wikipedia editing and the collective work that strengthens free knowledge.  

This editing retreat was not only an excellent opportunity to advance the projects but also consolidated the collaborative work and community spirit within the Wikimedia Movement.  

Wikimedia Spain will continue to foster these spaces for learning and collaboration to further enrich Wikipedia’s content and promote free access to knowledge.