January 27th, 2022 at 07:23 am
The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia free knowledge projects. Our vision is a world in which every single human can freely share in the sum of all knowledge.
We believe that everyone has the potential to contribute something to our shared knowledge and that everyone should be able to access that knowledge freely. We host Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects, build software experiences for reading, contributing, and sharing Wikimedia content, support the volunteer communities and partners who make Wikimedia possible, and advocate for policies that enable Wikimedia and free knowledge to thrive.
POSITION: Project Associate, Wikimania Conference (Contract)
Summary
The Wikimedia Foundation is looking for a Project Associate to join our team, reporting to the Lead Event Strategist. As the Wikimania Project Associate, you will be hired to support Wikimania 2022.
Wikimania is the Wikimedia movement’s annual conference, organized by volunteers and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. Topics of presentations and discussions include Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia, other wikis, open-source software, free knowledge and free content, and social and technical aspects related to these topics. The event is a key point in many Wikipedians’ calendars and it is a place and time for people to connect, learn and celebrate being part of a truly global community.
In 2022, we will organize a primarily virtual Wikimania with decentralized in-person components if global circumstances allow. For that, we will provide flexible, timely resources so that communities can independently organize local meetups based on their possibilities and energy.
The Project Associate will be responsible for the facilitation and coordination of the various Grant and Scholarship Programs that will be distributed globally to facilitate participation at Wikimania. The Project Associate will be supporting the various translation and interpretation components prior and during the event. In this role, you will be assisting the Lead Project Manager with the rest of the project domains: Production, Programming, Vendor Management, Registration, Project Management, Volunteer support, etc..
You are responsible for:
- Project Management: Helps manage deliverables due dates, timeline, and budget tracking for Wikimania.
- Vendor Management: Coordinate invoices for vendors as needed. Main liaison with Interpretation vendor: Translation services, and other related service providers
- Programming: Helps support programming selection process, program schedule, Wiki Updates, Community Updates.
- Speaker Management: Helps support the management of speakers closely with the Core Organizing Team
- Session Management: Showcaller for plenaries ensuring that show runs on time, cues are accurate and presentations are smooth. Act as liaison between the Virtual Production team, speakers and Foundation to ensure everyone is synced on the program running smoothly.
- Budget: Assists in Keeping track of overall budget performance. Keeps Lead Project Manager aware of upcoming deadlines
- Translation Management: Main point of contact for vendor relations relating to translation and interpretation services. Responsible for all event communication translations as needed.
- Registration: Coordinate between stakeholders to ensure that a registration system, scholarship system, database, web site, and other software is in place to enhance registration, logistics, and promotion (if applicable). Answer all inquiries in coordination with others on the team via the mailing lists. Help facilitate day-to-day communication between the event team and the volunteer community.
- Branding: Work closely with Foundation Communications teams for the development of brand identity. Helps coordinate collateral and other items including Signage (digital), Swag (digital and physical)
Skills and Experience:
- International Event Planning – a proven background in international event planning is vital in this role, as this annual event with participants reaching almost a thousand yearly, moves around the globe;
- Project Management – proven track record and affinity with project management principles and best practices is going to be important in this role to ensure that all elements are organized and event and production teams stay on schedule;
- Budget management – you will oversee financial elements of event planning and execution, so budget and financial management skills are vital to be successful in this role;
- Cross Cultural communication skills – effective and thoughtful written and verbal communication skills are essential in this role as liaison between many types of stakeholders;
- Collaboration skills – our events are collaborative in their design in accordance with our movement’s focus on volunteer leadership. and in order to create a positive experience for participants;
- Community management – working and navigating (internet based) communities that are self-governed by means of committees, organizations and working groups.
Qualities that are important to us:
- Creativity & resilience in approaching production challenges
- Ability to work with volunteers and facilitating work that is mainly led by the community
- Sensitivity to a culturally diverse range of people
- Self-organization, independence, efficiency and ability to meet deadlines in a remote culture
- An ability to lead with positivity
Additionally, we’d love it if you have:
- Affinity or experience with Wiki communities and are aware of the Wikiverse
- Knowledge on open source event management systems and processes (registration, conference planning)
- Fluency in at least one other language in addition to mandatory professional competency in English.
HOW TO APPLY
CLOSING DATE: February 5, 2022