MediaWiki

Outreachy/Administrators/Announcements

< Outreachy | Administrators

This is an archive of all big Email, Zulip, etc. announcements made to interns and mentors throughout the program for the Outreachy/Round 20.

May 4th, 2020:

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Participants with accepted proposals

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This email was sent separately to all accepted interns with their mentors on the CC list. It was sent in reply to the email sent by Outreachy organizers, dropping them from the thread.

Hello ...,

Greetings! First of all congratulations on getting accepted to the Outreachy program with Wikimedia :)  

We are proud of you, and you should be proud of yourself. We had over 27 applications, so you impressed a lot of people on your way!

Next, we have prepared a list of recommended steps (https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreachy/Round_20#Recommended_steps_for_accepted_interns) for you to consider between now and the internship period kick-off. Though these steps are not mandatory, once the internship period starts, we would expect from you to:
* Write bi-weekly reports
* Stay up-to-date with your goals as outlined in the timeline
* Communicate regularly with mentors and keep them updated on your progress and challenges
* Submit evaluations on time
* Attend any program-related meetings we host
* Follow any guidelines we share to involve you in our community and process
* Wikimedia administrators will be using Zulip to share announcements and opportunities for participating in various Wikimedia activities. We will use the Accepted projects topic under #gsoc20-outreachy20 stream for all communications. You and your mentors can also consider using this platform to have simultaneous conversations.

Although we hope this never happens, if for some reason you feel like there is a problem between you and your mentor, please contact us directly on Zulip via @**Pavithra Eswaramoorthy** or @**Srishti Sethi**.

We’re so proud of your contributions to our community so far, welcome aboard and wish you a pleasant time working with Wikimedia!

Participants with declined proposals

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This message was posted on all proposals on Phabricator that didn't get selected.

We are sorry to say that we could not allocate a slot for you this time. Please do not consider the rejection to be an assessment of your proposal. We received over 27 quality applications, and we could only accept 3 students. We were not able to give all applicants a slot that would have deserved one, and these were some very tough decisions to make. Please know that you are still a valued member of our community and we by no means want to exclude you. Many interns who we did not accept in 2019 have become Wikimedia maintainers, contractors and even Outreachy interns and mentors this year!

If you would like a de-brief on why your proposal was not accepted, please let me know as a reply to this comment or on the ‘Feeback on Proposals’ topic of the Zulip stream #gsoc20-outreachy20. I will respond to you within a week or so. :)

Your ideas and contributions to our projects are still welcome! As a next step, you could consider finishing up any pending pull requests or inform us that someone has to take them over. Here is the recommended place for you to get started as a newcomer: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/New_Developers.

If you would still be eligible for Outreachy next year, we look forward to your participation


Mentors

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This email with sent to all mentors (via BCC).

[GSoC/Outreachy Mentors] Some next steps before the internship kick-off

Hello mentor,

All projects accepted through GSoC/Outreachy programs were announced today! Wikimedia will be mentoring 14 GSoC and 3 Outreachy interns this summer!

First, we would like to thank you for supporting the participants during the application phase :)

Next, we would like you to review some steps before the internship kick-off as they might help lay a solid foundation for the coding phase:
* Review the "GSoC 2020: Next Steps for all Mentors and Org Admins" email (see below) sent by program organizers at Google.
* Review your responsibilities as a Wikimedia mentor, especially during and after the program: 
  * https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code/Mentors#During_the_program
  * https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreachy/Mentors#During_the_program. 
* Consider joining Wikimedia's Zulip if you are not already using any other platform for project collaboration. We can help you get set up with this! Learn more about the use of Zulip tool for Wikimedia's outreach programs. 
* If this is your first time participating as a mentor and you have additional questions, we would be happy to set up a meeting with you to discuss and share more.

One of the objectives of outreach programs such as GSoC and Outreachy is to introduce newcomers to open source software development. We encourage mentors to keep this in mind and use these programs more for providing a learning opportunity to a newcomer and integrating them into the Wikimedia community and less for getting new features completed for a project. 

Let us know if you have any questions! Looking forward to this season of GSoC/Outreachy with you :)

March 24th, 2020: Information regarding proposals

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Mentors

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This email was sent to all Outreachy Round 20 projects' mentors by creating an email thread for each project. 

Hello!

First, we’d like to thank you for your continued participation in the Wikimedia Outreach programs. Even in the difficult times that we are in right now due to COVID-19, we see that you are actively supporting applicants and doing your best, so thank you for that. :)

As a lot of our applicants have started working on their proposals, we wanted to share some information and tips with you:

* Please make sure all applicants create their proposals on Phabricator and include the Outreachy (Round 20) <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/project/view/4511/> project tag, this helps us keep track of all applicants and their progress.
* While providing feedback, treat everyone fairly. The GSoC mentor guide <https://google.github.io/gsocguides/mentor/selecting-a-student> has an interesting pro-tip relevant to this -- “One temptation to be avoided is to give a promising student excessive help in rewriting their proposal. It is likely that the result will be a proposal stronger than the student it represents. Students’ communication, organization and logical thinking skills rarely improve over the course of a summer.” Also see: Selection Process Tips <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreachy/Mentors#Selection_Process_Tips>.
* Please note that the student application deadlines remain the same (until further update) for Outreachy, 7th April 2020. We request our mentors to review the proposals keeping in mind the impact of COVID-19 on our applicants and their contributions. In addition, we recommend that all mentors give feedback on proposals a week or so before the deadline, so that the applicants have the chance to incorporate any feedback before submitting their application.
* Outreachy project mentors have an option of closing a project to new applicants if they are already working with a number of strong applicants and/or feel overwhelmed by the no.of applicants. For more information, see the ‘Too Many Applicants?’ section of the Outreachy Mentor FAQ <https://www.outreachy.org/mentor/mentor-faq/>.

Most importantly, please stay safe, and take care of yourself and your loved ones. :) Reach out to us for any questions!

Best,
Pavithra and Srishti (Organization administrators for Outreachy Round 20)

Participants

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This message was posted on the Zulip Stream for Outreachy Round 20 (and GSoC 2020): gsoc20-outreachy20 

@**everyone** Hello! We see a lot of you have started working on your proposals, here are a few things to keep in mind, make sure to:

* go through some examples of good proposals and use the pre-populated template given in the [Outreachy](https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreachy/Participants#Application_process_steps)/[GSoC](https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code/Participants#Application_process_steps) application process steps. Also, refer to the [GSoC guide on writing a proposal](https://google.github.io/gsocguides/student/writing-a-proposal).
* add the [Outreachy (Round 20)](https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/project/profile/4511/) and/or [Google-Summer-of-Code (2020)](https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/project/profile/4510/) project tags.
* subscribe your mentors and the org admins (@**Srishti Sethi** and me) to the Phabricator task.
* submit the application forms on the Outreachy/GSoC websites.

Also, please note the following:

* The proposals are created on Phabricator and are public to allow the broader community to provide feedback. The goal is to receive as much feedback as possible. :) So, do not miss creating the proposal on Phabricator, it is a required step!
* We'd suggest you subscribe your mentors to the task once you have a draft ready, so that they aren't flooded with notifications while you edit.
* To ask your mentors for feedback, leave a comment on the Phab task itself or contact them on the respective chat platforms.
* Please be patient while they get back to you. If required, you may remind them politely. :)
* We encourage you to review each other's proposals and leave feedback. Make sure to use friendly and inclusive language, and provide any criticism constructively.
* The student application deadline for this round of GSoC is 31st March 2020, and for Outreachy (until further update) is 7th April 2020.

If you need help with your proposal, contacting your mentors or anything else, please feel free to reach out to @_**Srishti Sethi** or me. Thank you for participating in these programs with us! We look forward to reading all your proposals! ^_^

February 10th, 2020: Invitation to apply to Outreachy and Google Summer of Code program with Wikimedia!

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This was an email announcement shared on many channels listed here: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T244496

(feel free to forward the message as is to your friends, family members & colleagues)

Hello folks,

We would like to invite you to apply to the Outreachy and Google Summer of Code program with the Wikimedia Foundation (a non-profit organization behind Wikipedia)!

About the Outreachy program
Wikimedia will be mentoring ~7 projects in the Outreachy program in the May to August 2020 round. The initial applications are due February 25th at 4 pm UTC.

Apply today: https://www.outreachy.org/apply/

Outreachy offers three-month internships to work remotely in Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) projects with experienced mentors. The internships may include programming, user experience, documentation, illustration and graphic design, or data science.

Outreachy internships run twice a year – from May to August and December to March. Interns are paid a stipend of $5,500 USD for the three months of work. They also have a $500 USD stipend to travel to conferences and events. Interns often find employment after their internship with Outreachy sponsors or in jobs that use the skills they learned during their internship.

Outreachy is open to both students and non-students. Outreachy expressly invites the following people to apply:
* Women (both cis and trans), trans men, and genderqueer people.
* Anyone who faces under-representation, systematic bias, or discrimination in the technology industry in their country or residence is invited to apply.
* Residents and nationals of the United States of any gender who are Black/African American, Hispanic/Latin@, Native American/American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander.

About the Google Summer of Code program
Wikimedia is planning to mentor 8-10 projects in 2020’s Google Summer of Code (GSoC) program. Beginning February 20th, pending Wikimedia’s acceptance as a mentoring organization, applicants can begin discussing ideas with the mentors!

The student application will be due on March 31st 18:00 UTC: https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/

Google Summer of Code now in its 16th year, is Google's summer program for university students who want to get involved in open source software. Over 15,960 students from 109 countries have already participated. Google Summer of Code is a unique program that pairs students with mentors who introduce them to the open-source community and provide guidance while they work on real-world open-source projects during their summer break from university.

Projects cover a wide range of fields including: Cloud, Operating Systems, Graphics, Medicine, Programming Languages, Robotics, Science, Security and many more. It's a highly competitive program (and this year is expected to be even bigger than last year), so don't wait until the last minute to prepare!

About the Wikimedia Foundation
The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit organization that hosts and 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, free of interference. We host 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.

Resources
* Browse through the participants’ guides, to learn more about the application process steps:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreachy/Participants
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code/Participants
* All the projects will be showcased here:
https://www.outreachy.org/communities/cfp/wikimedia/
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code/2020

We hope you will help us spread the word about Wikimedia’s participation in these programs: https://twitter.com/mediawiki/status/1224790357361098752 (by retweeting the post in the link or by sharing this email)

Looking forward to your participation!

Cheers,
Srishti & Pavithra (Wikimedia organization administrators for GSoC & Outreachy)

January 20th, 2020: [REMINDER] Call for projects and mentors for Google Summer of Code 2020 and Outreachy Round 20 is ongoing!

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This was an email announcement shared on/with: 

Hello everyone,

TLDR; Wikimedia will soon be applying as a mentoring organization to Google Summer of Code 2020 and Outreachy Round 20. The application submission deadline for GSoC is February 5th, and Outreachy is February 18th. We are currently working on a list of interesting project ideas to include in the application. If you have some ideas for coding or non-coding (design, documentation, translation, outreach, research) projects, share them here: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T241019. 

Timeline
As a mentor, you will be engaging potential candidates in the application period – for GSoC between February 20th–March 16th and for Outreachy between March 3rd–April 7th. During this time, you will help candidates make small contributions to your project and answer any project related queries. You will be working more closely with the accepted candidates during the coding period between May-August.

Project ideas
We have started compiling a list of projects that you can take a look at here: 
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code/2020,
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreachy/Round_20

If you don’t have an idea in mind and would like to pick one from an existing list, check out these projects: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/tag/outreach-programs-projects/ 

Through GSoC, you can mentor only coding but with Outreachy also non-coding projects (including design, translation, outreach, etc.). Last year, documentation improvements to over 100 pages related to the MediaWiki Action API on MediaWiki.org happened via three GSoC + Outreachy projects.

Some tips for proposing projects
* Follow this task description template when you propose a project in Phabricator: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/tag/outreach-programs-projects/. Add #Google- Summer-of-Code (2020) or #Outreachy (Round 20) tag to it.
* Remember, the project should require an experienced developer ~15 days to complete and a newcomer ~3 months.
* Each project should have at least 2 mentors, and one of them should hold a technical background.
* When it comes to picking a project, you could propose one that is:
  * Relevant for your language community or brings impact to the Wikimedia ecosystem in the future.
  * Welcoming and newcomer-friendly and has a moderate learning curve.
  * A new idea you are passionate about, there are no deadlines attached to it; you always wanted to see it happen but couldn't due to lack of resources help!
  * About developing a standalone tool (possibly hosted on Wikimedia Toolforge), with fewer dependencies on Wikimedia's core infrastructure, and doesn't necessarily require a specific programming language, etc.
  
To learn more about the roles and responsibilities of a mentor, visit our resources on MediaWiki.org: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreachy/Mentors, https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code/Mentors.

Cheers,
Pavithra & Srishti

December 19th, 2019: Early heads-up! Call for projects and mentors for Google Summer of Code 2020 and Outreachy Round 20 begins

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This was an email announcement shared on/with: 

Hello everyone,

Wikimedia will be participating in the Google Summer of Code 2020 and Outreachy Round 20!

This is an early heads-up to potential mentors interested in participating in these programs – if you would like to mentor a coding or non-coding (documentation, design, research, outreach, translation, etc.) project, share your ideas in a comment on this Phabricator task: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T241019 or refine it more secretly during the year-end holidays :)

We will reach out to you with more formal steps in January! In the meanwhile, here are some relevant links for you:
* A recent blog post highlighting one of our intern's and mentor's experience participating in Outreachy program with Wikimedia: https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2019/06/25/wikimedia-and-outreachy-technical-internships-are-bridging-the-free-and-open-source-inclusion-gap/
* Roles and responsibilities of Google Summer of Code and Outreachy mentors: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreachy/Mentors, https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code/Mentors
* Ongoing projects work via Outreachy Round 19 https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreachy/Round_19

Looking forward to your participation!

Cheers,
Srishti & Pavithra (Wikimedia org admins)

See also

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