Wikipedia:GLAM/MonmouthpediA/Public Relations

Goals or Messages
Wikimedia UK is working in collaboration with Monmouthshire County Council, universities, schools, colleagues, businesses, the town council and the local media to create new Wikipedia pages or improve existing ones. The objective is to document all notable buildings, monuments, pictures or people (as per Wikipedia's own category of Notability http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Notability).
 * '''Creation of the World's 1st Wikipedia Town

In the line with the goals of the Wikimedia movement, the project seeks to unlock information from all over the town and to share it with as wide a community as possible. Benefits for the town are that it stimulates local interest in the valuable heritage that a city possesses. It gets people involved in placing that content online into Wikipedia pages (written content) or onto Wikimedia Commons (pictures, audio records or video). This fosters learning, a better understanding of the community and a strengthened sense of local identity.
 * '''Share the sum total of Monmouth's knowledge and make it freely available to all

The simple steps being taken in Monmouth could work in any town or city in any country. The more places that follow this lead, the greater levels of learning and understanding and sense of local identity that are created
 * '''Why Monmouthpedia is important is that it could be any town, anywhere in the world.

All additions or improvements are welcome. Translating an article into a new language, to someone with ties or interest in the cultural heritage of the town or a building or an object in the town
 * '''Everyone, Everywhere can contribute to the project


 * How this will be delivered
 * 1) The MonmouthpediA project site
 * 2) Over 1,000 QRpedia codes in Monmouth by April 2012
 * 3) A Free and Open Wifi Network available to everyone, in beta by 21st April
 * 4) Working with individuals in the town and across the world

Project Awareness
These are the implict values that underpin the Monmouthpedia Project - to do something on this scale through collaboration, cooperation and co-content creation is a novel task that, on completion, with be a testament to the work and passion of all involved - The Wikimedia movement seeks to involve volunteers and make content freely available to all, this project takes this idea to a hyperlocal or geolocated level. This may have the potential to energise towns and cities around the world into offering content and exciting local people everywhere to share their passion for their town or city with the rest of the world too - In sharing the cultural heritage of a town or city, the people are sharing it with the up to 480m people a month that currently view the existing Wikimedia family of websites (including Wikipedia). - This project gives them a vehicle to do this and share it with a wider global audience. In sharing the cultural heritage of a town or city, the people are sharing it with up to 480m people a month that currently view the existing Wikimedia family of websites (including Wikipedia).
 * '''A sense of achievement
 * ''' Doing it first (a global pilot) -
 * '''The identity or image of town or city is sharply enhanced
 * '''The residents of a city often feel pride in their city, they are keen to offer a commitment to their community or they simply wish to share their incredible local knowledge with a wider audience.

- So much data that ought to be freely available in the public domain is not. Sometimes it is not freely available for 'physical' reasons - only a tiny % of a museums exhibits will fit in the bookcases, shelves and on the walls of a museum. In other instances. governments are starting to see the value of releasing data it has traditionally collected (Ordnance Survey, Geograph) and releasing it to apps developers who are creating extra value. This project explores another way of opening up public data, in a fun way - you create the pages - that also fosters a community identity and a powerful sense of achievement at a project's completion.
 * '''The importance of freely sharing data, fostering a stronger culture of openness

'''"”imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing.”"

'''

What it means for any town or city
Audiences: history society, archaeological societies, city archivists, galleries & museums and historical buildings professionals
 * '''The project gives order and audience to a city's cultural heritage

Audiences: civis society, people living in the town, working in the town or involved with the town in some fashion
 * '''Empowering people by giving them tools to create and share knowledge that they care passionately about

Audiences: Everyone - making a sense of 'I'm Monmouthpedia' which can keep the momentum of this project and allow others around the world to follow
 * '''We've created something we can be proud of as a town and, as a result, we can all share it in its success

Audiences:The success of this project could be replicated anywhere in the world, lessons can learnt and new ways of achieving the same objective can come from the brilliance of other communities around the world
 * '''Encouraging new ways of collaborating with others, sharing and publishing the results

Non Commercial

 * Context adds value to the experience of Monmouth
 * Raises interest in a town
 * Increases digital awareness and enables digital inclusion
 * Raises skills levels across a town

Commercial

 * Enhancement of the visitor experience to maximise the potential of word of mouth recommendations and repeat visits
 * Development of a digital experience which creates a unique and sustainable competitive advantage for the destination
 * Potential growth of Monmouth and Monmouthshire’s visitor economy

Could this be an exciting part of a new future for Wikipedia?
"Monmouthpedia paints a portrait of a Welsh town on Wikipedia. In sharing the town's knowledge with the rest of the world, it stimulates learning, it fosters a strong sense of community and a share sense of civic pride"

Tactics - getting the message to a wider public
Press - Look to create content - press releases - to be agreed by partners Wikimedia UK/Monmouth - Broad principle: an agreed release between both parties that covers these three stages a) Pre-event b) On the day b) Post event = based on the messages detailed above

Radio - Discuss opportunities with Monmouth press team to create opportunities locally and nationally for a) Documentary-style reports b) On the day interviews and reports

TV - Discuss opportunities with Monmouth press team to create opportunities locally and nationally for a) Documentary-style reports b) On the day interviews and reports

Twitter - Hashtag alternatives proposed Suggested pre-event teaser Tweet - (draft) based around the town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch This village has the longest place name in Europe and one of the longest place names in the world. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llanfairpwllgwyngyll)
 * #Monmouthpedia
 * #MPedia

Suggested tweet Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch or Monmouth? Which Welsh town is most famous in world? #Monmouthpedia (of course, you add a link to a Monmouthpedia page shortened by Bit-Ly in this tweet

Blogs
 * Seek to get individuals working on the project to write about their experiences - support where possible with short VoxPops videos
 * Seek to get WMUK & Monmouth city groups blogging about how they are working together and what the project means to them
 * Seek to get curators in Monmouth that are seeing the benefit of the project to blog about what it means to them (perhaps building on the Did You Knows on Wikipedia so far?)
 * Invite Guest Bloggers (someone from 'outside' looking in who admires the efforts and ambitions of the project)

Social Media - Record interviews with local participants that can be posted on YouTube and Wikimedia Commons and used by those involved in promoting the project - Set up an Event Brite site to promote the 'launch on the day' of Monmouth the World's First Wikipedia Town - Working title 'SamPedia' - which will 'white label' this information in a simple form that could be used by non-Wikipedians who are seeking to help publicise the Monmouthpedia event

Events on the day

 * Tweeting/Blog/Press Room
 * Board Room for WMUK Board Meeting
 * Exhibition - what Monmouthpedia has done so far
 * Editing/Training - a place (probably off-site) at which people can learn how to edit edit Wikipedia in a proactive way

Press Coverage so far
Tweets about Monmouthpedia

December 2011

 * Monmouth chosen for new Wikipedia venture, Monmouthshire Beacon, 29 Dec
 * Monmouthpedia: Wikipedia’s new project covering life in the Welsh town of Monmouth, TheNextWeb, 30 Dec
 * Wikipedia project to cover life in Monmouth, BBC News, 30 Dec
 * Community Wikipedia Scheme “Monmouthpedia” Launched, Gizmodo, 30 Dec
 * Wikipedia vai criar a Monmouthpedia, Sol (Portuguese) 30 December
 * Wikipedia analizará la vida en un pueblo británico, Baquía (Spanish) 30 December
 * Wikipedia launches project dedicated to Monmouth, Digital Spy, 30 December
 * Interview with Mrjohncummings and Victuallers, BBC Radio Wales 30 Dec (54 minutes in)
 * Say it with me: “Monmouthpedia” Marketplace Tech Report 30th December
 * Monmouthpedia: la Wikipedia de un pueblo, La Salle, 30 Dec
 * Town chosen for Wikipedia venture, MyVillage, 30 Dec
 * Coming Soon - Monmouthpedia!, Monmouthshire.gov.uk, 30 Dec
 * Monmouth chosen to star in unique Wikipedia experiment "Western Mail", 31 December
 * Wikipedia project dedicated to Welsh town, Monmouth, T3, 31 Dec

January 2012

 * Wikipedia launches new QR code project to document daily life in Monmouth, UK Qrcodepress.com, 2 January
 * Monmouth becomes the world’s first Wikipedia town monmouthshire.gov.uk, 2 January
 * Wikipedia as travel guide (Croatia) IT Vesti, 2 January
 * Wikipedia names Monmouth for new cultural project, Women in Technology, 3 January
 * Wikipedia brengt dorpsleven in beeld De Morgen (Dutch) 4 January
 * Wikipedia Takes Tourism Mobile business 2 community, 4 January
 * Is Monmouthpedia The Future Of Wikipedia?, TechDirt, 5 January
 * | Monmouthpedia launched to cover all aspects of life in Welsh town 100gf | Politics and Computers, 2 January
 * | The Monmouthshire Beacon sparks global interest in Monmouthpedia Monmouthshire Beacon 11 January
 * Council Backs Creation Of Monmouthpedia e-government bulletin, 12 January
 * | Monmouth to be first Wiki-town Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Review, 18 January
 * Wikipedia puts Monmouth on frontier of a new kind of local history The Guardian, 26 January
 * Welsh town of Monmouth gets Wikipedia treatment, ComputerActive, 26 Jan

February 2012

 * | Monmouth to be Wales' first WiFi town Monmouthshire Beacon, 29 February
 * | Monmouth: world’s first Wikipedia town also to be first WiFi town in Wales Monmouthshire County Council, 22 February

March 2012
press contacts: john.cummings@monmouthpedia.org and info@wikimedia.org.uk 
 * Monmouthpedia was in the local paper (the Monmouthshire Beacon) every two weeks
 * Monmouthpedia, a project of Wikipedia, which lists a whole city, Nanopress, In Italian
 * Monmouthpedia, Wikipedia will catalog an entire city, Tuutogratis, In Italian

Statistics
English language Monmouthpedia project page view statistics

A formal WikiProject assessment page for the English language wikipedia is available at GLAM/MonmouthpediA/Assessment. It is updated automatically on a daily basis.