Finally, after seven long years, WikiConference India was back. After Mumbai and Chandigarh, this time to the city of the Nizams. The capital of Telangana, Hyderabad. I missed the first two conferences in 2011 and 2016 for personal reasons. Naturally, I was more than eager to be a part of it this time. But before jumping on to what happened at the event, let me introduce WikiConference to those who are not that familiar with everything Wiki.
WikiConference India is a national conference of Wikimedians where they interact, exchange ideas, collaborate, learn, and share knowledge. Although most of us know each other and interact online, an offline meetup is always better. To know about new or lesser-known projects, make new Wiki friends, or do some face-to-face brainstorming.
Wikimedia Commons being my main project, I always aim to present something related to that whenever I attend a Wikimedia Conference. This time, my proposal was “Wiki Loves Photographs – How to photograph monuments and food”. I have been a part of the organising team of Wiki Loves Monuments in India for the past few years (barring 2022). Also, I was one of the members of the jury at Wiki Loves Food in India. From these experiences, I found even by tweaking a few simple things, many of the submitted images can easily climb up the ranks. And I aimed to explain them through my presentation.
The organisers were kind enough to accept my proposal. But it didn’t end there. They also asked me to facilitate a discussion on Wikimedia Vibrance. The panellists included a young Wikimedian, a copyright law specialist, a Commons User Group member, a Wikimedian working on free audiobooks and a couple working on an ecology-based project. It was such a lovely experience.
All the other sessions I attended were enriching. I especially loved the ones on Santhali Wikipedia, Angika Wikipedia, various Wikisource projects, health, oral citations, role on technology and Wikivoyage. But the best part for me, like any other conference, was the post-session informal meets. Catching up with old friends after a long gap, discussing various projects, or just life.
Hope the next WikiConference India happen in less than seven years.
Links –
Program details of the event
Recordings of most of the sessions
Photographs of the event (I was part of the official team of photographers)
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