Wikimania is the Wikimedia Foundation's yearly celebration. After the COVID19 Pandemic, it was not physically possible, so we were given the opportunity to organize it locally in India this year. There were four events held in India, and we were one of them.
How it was started?
It was started on the 3rd of June 2022 with a call from Sailesh Patnaik. In the afternoon, Sailesh called me and asked me to apply for a grant to organize an event on behalf of Odia Wikimeidans User Group and he sent me two references.
There were just two hours to write, review and apply. So I just copied the budget from the 2018 event organized by Diptiman Bhai and increased it a little bit and sent him for a quick review. Then changed the status from draft to proposed.
Grant Approval:
It was the 4th of July, Sailesh messaged me to check my e-mail and also told me that, someone from the WMF team would contact me regarding the grant.
Immediately, I checked the e-mail and yes, our grant was approved. Then the process of conversation started and we started calling our fellow wikimedians of Odia and Santhali community.
The whole process took such a long time and by that time, I went to Delhi for some work. I was in Delhi, and at that time I got another e-mail and also a message from Rachit for a small meeting with the media team of WMF.
I was unable to attend that meeting at that time due to my work time, so I seek help from Chinmayee Mishra (Chinu) and Subhasish Panigrahi (Subha bhai). They both saved me that day and within two to three days, we got the grant amount in the bank account.
Event date Finalization:
After the approval of the grant, we had an online session with each other on Bahuda Yatra and finalized the date for the 13th and 14th of August. Most of us agreed on that day and the venue was decided for Bhubaneswar.
After receiving the grant amount, there was not much time for the event, and in the meantime, I was not here in Odisha. So, again Chinu was there to rescue me. She came to Bhubaneswar and started looking for the venue and after looking for more than 12 places within two days, we were confused with that exact place as per our budget.
During that time, I got another message from Rachit, that Dr. Manavpreet Kaur from the WMF would join us during the event. I met Manav in 2018 for the 1st time and then we met two more times. So, Manav helped us during the whole event.
They both decided on the venue and Chinu also called everyone to confirm their arrival. The next of our event was Independence day in India, so most of our friends couldn't come. So, we had planned for an online session for them also.
In the meantime, we took help from Subha bhai for the T-Shirt design, and Chinu also shorted that tension. Gyana bhai was also there in Bhubaneswar and they both had fixed almost everything.
The Day before the Event:
Everything was finalized for the event and Manav mam was coming in the morning on the 12th of August. Almost all was going well, but heavy rainfall started. That day Manav and Chinu did lots of work in that heavy rainfall.
I reached in the evening and by that time they both had finished almost everything. And I met both after almost three years. There were some other works to finish, so Chinu left for that and I joined Manav for to buy some gifts for the Guests. After that, we walked a few (kilo)meters and returned after roaming around.
That night, we were working up to 2 AM I think. Ramjit Tudu who worked both for Santhali Wikipedia and Odia Wikipedia came at around 4.30 that morning.
Day 1:
Day 1 of the Bhubaneswar Wikimania started with heavy rainfall again. We had planned to start the event by 9.30 am, but due to heavy rain, most of our Wikimedians couldn't come in time. Mrutyunjay bhai and Sashank bhai reached by train and then others also joined and we started the meeting.
After the introduction session, the guest for the event, Manoj Kumar Mishra, the IT Secretary of Odisha joined us and we discussed lots of things and proposed some ideas for some collaborations with the government of Odisha.
He was present for the cake cutting ceremony where the youngest wikimedians like Prateek Pattnaik and Ramjit Tudu cut the cake and Manoj sir left.
After that, we had our lunch and then discussed on the Community and some other kinds of stuff related to the Odia Wikimeians User Group.
Manav had discussed the Wikimedia Movement and described her role at the WMF. Some wikimedians also shared their experience. And the day 1 ended with a group photo for the news distribution.
After finishing everything it was my duty to contact the media persons for the news publication. Mrutyunjay bhai and Sashank bhai helped me to write news in Odia and then circulated the news for publication. It was published on two news portals like Dhenkanal Updates and KNews as well as in Prameya newspaper.
I met Nasim bhai after 7 years and Aditya bhai after 6 years. So, that night we had a long conversation with all.
Day 2:
The rainfall had increased as compared to the previous day, so the other wikimedians who promised to come on Sunday, couldn't join us. But Dr. Subas Chandra Rout joined the event for while with his son Sithikantha Rout, who is also a Wikimedian.
Before starting the sessions, I recorded a podcast with Murtyunjay Bhai for Gapufy, and you can listen to it on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavan, Amazon Music, and on YouTube.
Subas sir shared his experience and then, we took a group photo with the Wikimania T-Shirt and also recorded the "Happy Birthday Wikidata" video. Sir left within an hour due to his health issues and the meeting continued. We discussed the issues we're facing on Odia Wikipedia and Snthali Wikimedians Ramjit and Durga shared their issues also.
As per everyone's approval, we got another admin for Odia Wikipedia, Soumendra bhai. Then, discussed the future plans as well as the community strategy.
After finishing lunch, it was time to end the session. And our local Wikimania ended with the same format followed by the Global event. Some of the Wikimedians joined Manav mam and ended the event with some steps of Odia Folk Songs. And we took another group photo before leaving the room.
After grabbing everything from that conference hall and saying bye to everyone it was time to distribute the news again. Manavpreet helped me to draft the news in English and Subha bhai shared the mail id for the newspapers. It took almost 3 hours to send and had a chat with them over call. But, nobody had published the news, because on 15th August, they got lots of ads and for news, there was no space.
Somehow we managed to contact some other portals and some digital news channels published some news videos on Social Media.
Any event couldn't finish without Rasagola and Chhenapoda. So after dinner, Chinu took Manav to the market and grabbed some Baked Rasagola for us. Manav was happy about the event and for the taste of Rasagola.
After the Event:
On the 15th of August, in the morning we joined the flag hoisting ceremony of the hotel, and then it was time to say bye to Manav. Chinu and I accompanied her to the Airport and she left for Chandigarh. Then, we both left for our home.
