Hi all,
In the next day or so Rand and the fundraising team will be sending out an email to all of our donors (about 230,000 - thanks to a tremendous fundraiser) recapping the campaign sharing our 2nd annual report, which you can also read here:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Annual_Report
As with our previous year's report, we make an effort to describe the year's activities, our major accomplishments, our financial successes, and where we're heading in the coming year/years. This is a crucial tool for our fundraisers and for building strong relationships with our major stakeholders, and of course to let our chapters and our vast community of volunteers get a snapshot of our work. It's primarily intended to work as a print document, and one that quickly presents top-line data and key information, as well as a basic structured narrative about the Foundation and our volunteer community's work.
You'll note that our report is out later than last year, and this isn't a pattern we'll duplicate :) We did spend more time on design and narrative this year, with the intention of bringing more depth to the story, especially in features like the center-spread anatomy of an article. We also wanted to put more of a forward-facing direction on the report. Optimally our report will always come out 2-3 months after the close of fiscal, as soon as our audited statements are complete.
There's still more good work to be done, but it's a big leap from last year. This year's designers David Peters and Rhonda Rubenstein did a great job (collectively known as 'ExBrook design' here in SF http://www.exbrook.com/). Lane Hartwell's ccbysa photos feature prominently - she's been shooting our staff portraits for the last two years (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Photography_by_Lane_Hartwell).
We'll be starting work on the next edition in a few months. About 1500 copies will be printed here in the next week or so. We'll be sure to bring copies to the chapter meeting and of course Wikimania. We can ship some copies out as well if there's interest (but in limited quantities only, it's a pricy shipment after 10 locations :)
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
I read the Report earlier today as it was passed around Twitter. The design is really a step up from the last report (not that it was bad, just that is one is so good). The timeline in particular is helpful.
I would like to say that the page about the Mumbai attacks article felt * slightly* out of context, at least compared to the amount of space devoted to it versus, say, the NIH Wikipedia Academy. Donors might benefit from a more frank explanation that the article was just one example of the projects as a source of breaking news and how our content evolves over time.
Anyway, that's just some nitpicking on a pretty fantastic document. :) Well done!
Steven Walling http://enwp.org/User:Steven_Walling
On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 5:09 PM, Jay Walsh [email protected] wrote:
Hi all,
In the next day or so Rand and the fundraising team will be sending out an email to all of our donors (about 230,000 - thanks to a tremendous fundraiser) recapping the campaign sharing our 2nd annual report, which you can also read here:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Annual_Report
As with our previous year's report, we make an effort to describe the year's activities, our major accomplishments, our financial successes, and where we're heading in the coming year/years. This is a crucial tool for our fundraisers and for building strong relationships with our major stakeholders, and of course to let our chapters and our vast community of volunteers get a snapshot of our work. It's primarily intended to work as a print document, and one that quickly presents top-line data and key information, as well as a basic structured narrative about the Foundation and our volunteer community's work.
You'll note that our report is out later than last year, and this isn't a pattern we'll duplicate :) We did spend more time on design and narrative this year, with the intention of bringing more depth to the story, especially in features like the center-spread anatomy of an article. We also wanted to put more of a forward-facing direction on the report. Optimally our report will always come out 2-3 months after the close of fiscal, as soon as our audited statements are complete.
There's still more good work to be done, but it's a big leap from last year. This year's designers David Peters and Rhonda Rubenstein did a great job (collectively known as 'ExBrook design' here in SF http://www.exbrook.com/). Lane Hartwell's ccbysa photos feature prominently - she's been shooting our staff portraits for the last two years (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Photography_by_Lane_Hartwell).
We'll be starting work on the next edition in a few months. About 1500 copies will be printed here in the next week or so. We'll be sure to bring copies to the chapter meeting and of course Wikimania. We can ship some copies out as well if there's interest (but in limited quantities only, it's a pricy shipment after 10 locations :)
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
-- Jay Walsh Head of Communications WikimediaFoundation.org blog.wikimedia.org +1 (415) 839 6885 x 609, @jansonw
foundation-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Beautiful document. I like the ongoing calendar running across the bottom of each page. It gives a sort of narrative structure. I also would like to know what material the Wikipedia globe on the front page is made out of? Also, has anyone contacted Naresh Sharma's teacher or parents (see the last page of the report)? What a cute story :-)
Would it be possible to produce a version of the PDF that is single-page like the previous report instead of double-page, to make for easier online reading (rather than having to zoom in to be able to read the text, and then scroll sideways)? I understand that "It's primarily intended to work as a print document" but perhaps you could place two versions online - the "print version" and the "view online" version? You would probably have to leave the double-page spreads (pages 7 and 12) as they are.
Finally, if there is still time for comment/changes, with regards to the NIH section - should it be made more explicit that the chapters have the primary responsibility for undertaking outreach activities "on the ground" - and that the WMF allocates some of its program money for that purpose? It states on Sue's Feb. report to the Board that "investing directly in staging events" is an area the WMF will not prioritisehttp://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Letter_to_the_Board_%28Feb_2010%29#Areas_the_Wikimedia_Foundation_will_not_prioritizebut instead it wishes the Chapters to be the drivers of these kinds of activities. So, in the context of highlighting the NIH event which was an outreach activity the WMF ran, it might be useful to point out that the WMF does not generally intend to be using its funding to undertake such activities *itself* - but rather to use those funds to encourage chapters to do so. I'm not suggesting removing the NIH example from the page, but perhaps it could be clarified a little bit?
Best, -Liam [[witty lama]]
wittylama.com/blog Peace, love & metadata
On Sat, Jan 23, 2010 at 1:25 AM, Steven Walling [email protected]wrote:
I read the Report earlier today as it was passed around Twitter. The design is really a step up from the last report (not that it was bad, just that is one is so good). The timeline in particular is helpful.
I would like to say that the page about the Mumbai attacks article felt * slightly* out of context, at least compared to the amount of space devoted to it versus, say, the NIH Wikipedia Academy. Donors might benefit from a more frank explanation that the article was just one example of the projects as a source of breaking news and how our content evolves over time.
Anyway, that's just some nitpicking on a pretty fantastic document. :) Well done!
Steven Walling http://enwp.org/User:Steven_Walling
On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 5:09 PM, Jay Walsh [email protected] wrote:
Hi all,
In the next day or so Rand and the fundraising team will be sending out
an
email to all of our donors (about 230,000 - thanks to a tremendous fundraiser) recapping the campaign sharing our 2nd annual report, which
you
can also read here:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Annual_Report
As with our previous year's report, we make an effort to describe the year's activities, our major accomplishments, our financial successes,
and
where we're heading in the coming year/years. This is a crucial tool for our fundraisers and for building strong relationships with our major stakeholders, and of course to let our chapters and our vast community of volunteers get a snapshot of our work. It's primarily intended to work
as a
print document, and one that quickly presents top-line data and key information, as well as a basic structured narrative about the Foundation and our volunteer community's work.
You'll note that our report is out later than last year, and this isn't a pattern we'll duplicate :) We did spend more time on design and
narrative
this year, with the intention of bringing more depth to the story, especially in features like the center-spread anatomy of an article. We also wanted to put more of a forward-facing direction on the report. Optimally our report will always come out 2-3 months after the close of fiscal, as soon as our audited statements are complete.
There's still more good work to be done, but it's a big leap from last year. This year's designers David Peters and Rhonda Rubenstein did a
great
job (collectively known as 'ExBrook design' here in SF http://www.exbrook.com/). Lane Hartwell's ccbysa photos feature prominently - she's been shooting our staff portraits for the last two
years
).
We'll be starting work on the next edition in a few months. About 1500 copies will be printed here in the next week or so. We'll be sure to
bring
copies to the chapter meeting and of course Wikimania. We can ship some copies out as well if there's interest (but in limited quantities only,
it's
a pricy shipment after 10 locations :)
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
-- Jay Walsh Head of Communications WikimediaFoundation.org blog.wikimedia.org +1 (415) 839 6885 x 609, @jansonw
foundation-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
foundation-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Thanks Liam - It's really easy to produce a page by page document, so I'll see if we can have that lined up as a second option on the page.
I hear you about the chapters/events sections. I think the intent of the report will be to showcase work undertaken within the movement, whether at the hands of the chapters, non-chapters, foundation, or the volunteers. Note that we have a page spread focussed on wikis take manhattan as an example. I'll put some thought into how to differentiate that for subsequent communications projects, not just the report.
Thanks
On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 5:09 PM, Jay Walsh [email protected] wrote:
Hi all,
In the next day or so Rand and the fundraising team will be sending out an email to all of our donors (about 230,000 - thanks to a tremendous fundraiser) recapping the campaign sharing our 2nd annual report, which you can also read here:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Annual_Report
Late to the party -- but just to reiterate what others have said -- this is a really lovely document, nice work. I especially like the article anatomy spread -- it's very well done and could make a nice separate handout on its own (with the timeline cut out). I also really like the choice of quotes on the back... we should get Nicholson Baker to speak sometime at an event :)
A couple notes for next time: * I don't think the photo of Jimmy is identified anywhere? The photo credit is given but it doesn't say who he is :) perhaps this is intentional... stealth founder... like a stealth bomber but so much cooler.
* the timeline is quirky and fun and I like it. But I wonder if some of these events could be tied back to wikip/media better. E.g. there's a note about swine flu; but it could also be noted that our articles on swine flu got over 200,000 hits/hour in the same time period, making wikipedia the 2nd most popular website in the U.S. on the subject.[1] There's a ton of interesting Wikimedia events, meetup dates, project milestones, etc. that could populate such a timeline instead of/in addition to general world events -- such a timeline might help give context to the diversity and scope of the projects better than prose can.
Having just written up an (incomplete!) summary of 2009[2], I am quite aware of how hard it is to keep track of everything going on in Wikimedia-land -- especially after the fact! I think we should create some kind of in-progress history page on Meta -- a place to chronicle milestones and significant events as they happen, and work on filling in a timeline of past events.[3] There was also a suggestion for last Wikimania from user:Henna that we put up big pieces of paper on the wall to create a timeline of wikimedia history in-person. Sadly that didn't happen at Wikimania, but it's still be a cool idea for a future conference -- or maybe an ongoing project at the office, if there's wallspace? Visitors could help edit the timeline -- byom (bring your own marker) :)
-- phoebe
1. According to Erik Zachte, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2009-05-11/News_an... 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2010-01-11/2009_in... 3. there's http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Goings-on but it could be usefully expanded to include more stuff, in a different format -- easytimeline to the rescue?