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Wikipedia:Meetup/San Francisco/Maker Faire 2010

< Wikipedia:Meetup | San Francisco
  In the area? You're invited to
   San Francisco Meetup @ Maker Faire
  Date: May 22 & 23
  Time: 10am-8pm Sat, 10am-6pm Sun
  Place: San Mateo County Event Center
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This is a page for planning for the Wikimedia Foundation booth at the 2010 San Mateo Maker Faire (Homepage), May 22 & 23

If fire-breathing robots do not make you want to come, we are not sure what will. Seriously, this was a lot of fun last year.

Planning

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Wikipedia:Meetup/San Francisco 12#Planning for Maker Faire

Event notes

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"Official" Schedule

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  • Saturday (May 22) 10AM - 8PM
  • Sunday (May 23) 10AM - 6PM

Volunteers

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Put your name down if you're at least interested in helping out.

Shift Info

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Last year, we had the problem with having too many people at the booth first thing in the morning and then not enough later in the day. This year we're going to break things up into "shifts". I (SGN) ask that you show up at least 10mn early for your shift and be ready to stay around for the duration of your shift. After the shift, you're more than welcome to stay at the Faire (since you're already in the gate) and do what ever your heart desires. If you've got a late shift, we can get you in early to the Faire so you can "check things out", and then work later.

Shifts

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Replace one of the slots with your name. If your desired shift is already full, please consider filling out the other shifts before "expanding" a filled shift. Yes, we can have more than 3 at a time and yes, you can work multiple shifts -- however, we have found that it works best when the booth has a few people but not too many at any one time. And we want to make sure everyone has a chance to see the Faire!

Saturday (May 22)

Sunday (May 23)

Any

  • Sign up here if you are willing to take any un-assigned slot; please leave your email address so you can be notified (about May 20th) when empty slots are filled from this list

Volunteer info

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About the Faire and our booth

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Maker Faire is crazy and very large. It features all sorts of things from fire-breathing robots to crafts. Something like 65,000 people show up to the San Mateo Fairgrounds. More: http://www.makerfaire.com/

Our booth will consist of tables in a space inside a big building. We will be next to WikiHow so together we are planning on being "wiki central" (edit this Faire?)

Currently our display consists of computers on which we will run various visualizations, and tables with giveaways. Last year the volunteers spend most of their time talking to passers-by about Wikipedia, Wikimedia projects, answering questions and demoing the projects. ("I tried to edit but had trouble" "I think Wikipedia is really cool" "are you guys really a nonprofit?" "what's commons?" were common conversations last year.)

Someone has to stay with the booth at all times, but there is not much to do other than talk to people. But there are a LOT of people to talk to. Hopefully we will be able to coordinate volunteer shifts so that everyone who helps out can also have plenty of time to see the faire.

If anyone has any brilliant last minute ideas about what to bring/display in the booth, please let me know!

Friday Night setup

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Phoebe and Shakataganai are leading setup on Friday evening. Please contact one of us if you are interested in helping out with setup (it doesn't usually take very long). However, you get to hang out afterwards and meet makers, which is fun. equipment notes

Volunteer guidelines

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As volunteers, your job will be to:

  • talk to any interested passer-by about Wikipedia and Wikimedia and answer questions. Note: your job is not to get in arguments :) Some people will have heard about controversies in the news, some people will think Wikipedia sucks, some people will love it, some people will have the standard questions ("so how do you know Wikipedia is accurate?"). Occasionally (given that this is silicon valley) we have gotten offers of business deals or collaborations. The crowd is generally very familiar with Wikipedia, and people tend to have pretty good questions.

Our priority is to give a friendly, human face to Wikipedia, educate passer-by about the Wikimedia projects, and remind people that they, too can participate :)

Notes:

  • If someone asks a question you can't answer, please ask the other booth volunteers, or refer them to the site. If it seems like an unusual question, you can refer them to the OTRS contact page.
  • If there is a confrontation or difficult/unusual exchange you do not want to deal with, please refer them to Phoebe (if present) and/or any WMF staff who are present. Explain that we are all volunteers and refer them to the OTRS contact page. NOTE: we have occasionally had angry people, though no one that was violently confrontational. If someone gets particularly upset, please don't engage; tell them they have good points, thank them for their thoughts, turn away to talk to someone else. Refer them to the calmest person in the booth if needed; if something bad happens, we can turn to Maker Faire security. Most people just walk away however.
  • Most exchanges happen very quickly, so a degree of judgment is required in how much detail to go into. Most people are simply curious and don't need a full-on explanation of notability or whatever.
  • People will ask about whatever is in the news. This week, sadly, that's porn on Commons. Please be prepared in advance to answer these questions. (For instance: we absolutely delete illegal material, we do monitor and regulate what goes on Commons, and we are actively discussing the issue in the community; we do not censor Wikipedia and we are committed to making an educational resource).
  • For a few hours, you are the face of Wikimedia :) Don't be a jerk, don't be POV.

What to bring

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  • comfortable shoes -- you'll spend a lot of time on your feet
  • clothes for typical Bay weather: hot during the day, cold at night. Wear a wikimedia tshirt if you have one!
  • cash -- if you want to buy food or a tshirt. (There are ATMs on campus, but last year they ran out of cash)
  • a water bottle -- I am going to bring in some bottled water for volunteers, you may want to bring your own however. While outside food is not permitted, you may also want to bring in a sandwich or something (please be discreet) if you don't want to buy faire food.
  • A camera -- because there is some awesome stuff around.
  • A cell phone if you have one, since it's easy to get separated from friends.
  • something for your throat, if you get hoarse from talking easily. Whatever other personal items you would take to a fair.

Getting there, traffic, parking

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  • TRAFFIC IS HORRIBLE, especially from the freeways. Leave lots of time for driving, parking, etc. Public transportation is STRONGLY recommended if possible (though it requires a hike from the Caltrain station). Here are directions by car & by transport:
  • If it is like last year, if you come in the middle of the day you won't get a parking spot in the fairgrounds parking. Just head straight to the free parking with the shuttles. If you show up in the morning (before or around opening time) try the onsite lots.
  • Note if you come by bike you get a discount on your ticket

How to check in

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  • map: http://www.makerfaire.com/bayarea/2010/map/
  • Goto the "Maker & Volunteer Checkin" (Right side of the map, just below east gate). Note: this gate is directly off the parking lot. It is not the gate closest to caltrain.
  • Call Jon/Phoebe @ (redacted)
  • ...
  • Profit!
  • NOTE: you are not a sponsor or an exhibitor. You are a "Maker."

Contact

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  • If you need assistance on site, contact either Jon or Phoebe. Phone numbers will be mailed to volunteers. NOTE: we will both be onsite ALL WEEKEND (we're staying in San Mateo), so if you need a place to crash midday or can't come or anything else happens, please contact one of us.

During / After

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