Beutler Ink reflects on WikiConference North America 2024
WikiConference North America is like Comic Con for encyclopedia nerds: it is the biggest annual gathering of Wikimedians on the continent. A few weeks ago, Beutler Ink brought its largest delegation ever to Indianapolis for the 2024 event to develop an even greater appreciation for the community that keeps Wikipedia alive.
"One thing that makes Beutler Ink different as a paid consultancy is that we actually participate in the community. You will not see many other Wikipedia consulting firms at events like these," said President Bill Beutler. "We intend to make Wikipedia better with the work that we do and we wanted to give our team a chance to learn and get up-close, IRL experience with the Wikimedia movement. That's good for our clients, too."
Each BINKer came to WikiConference with their own unique relationship with Wikipedia, and each came away with new insights. Here's what they learned, and what excites them most about Wikipedia moving forward.
Bill Beutler, President
Bill Beutler is one of the original "white hat" COI (conflict of interest) editors and is well known in Wikipedia circles. His talk at this year's WikiConference, "The State of COI: Ten Years After the Donovan House", detailed the changing landscape editors with a COI have to navigate, especially those working at PR agencies. In 2014, Bill led a multi-agency initiative that released an open letter to Wikipedia promising to interact with the platform ethically.
"A whole new generation of professionals has come to the industry, and as much as they used Wikipedia to write their term papers, they don't know about this side of it. This was about trying to rekindle that discussion."
Bill getting ready to present on the state of COI editing in 2024.
Image credit: Another Believer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Favorite event: What Is the Future of the Wikipedian in Residence Position?
The Wikimedian in Residence (WiR) is an editor working at a cultural or government institution such as a museum, library, or university, who facilitates collaboration with the Wikipedia community. At this event, a panel of current WiRs discussed their common challenges.
As they explained, even "mission-aligned" institutions sometimes have trouble understanding how to work with Wikimedia projects. What's more, while WiRs do not handle COI issues, they will sometimes hear: "Our president has a few questions about her Wikipedia page…"
From left to right: Mary Mark Ockerbloom, Lane Rasberry, Andrew Lih, and Jamie Flood discuss the challenges of being a Wikimedian in Residence at WCNA 2024 while Jake Orlowitz moderates from the podium. Photo by Bill Beutler.
Tiffany Mok, Director of Client Operations
Tiffany Mok is still dipping her toes into the Wikipedia world as a volunteer, but as a liaison between clients and BINK's team, she sees everything that happens in our Wikipedia projects. Meeting volunteers in person gave her a greater appreciation for the people who make Wikipedia happen.
"Because we work mostly with the PR side, we hear our clients say, 'Who is in control of this stuff? Who are these volunteers? Why would they do this?' These people are doing this on their own time. They want to edit things that interest them. What truly resonated with me was the dedication and passion that volunteer editors bring to improving Wikipedia for everyone."
Favorite event: "Wikipedia belongs in prisons"
Longtime Wikimedian Jake Orlowitz has a passion for bringing information to people. In one presentation, he made the case for bringing Wikipedia to the incarcerated.
"Given that prisons are often information deserts, the collaboration between Jake, JSTOR, the Wikimedia Foundation, and the Department of Corrections is crucial in bridging that gap and facilitating access to Wikipedia. This project reminded me of our work with Freedom Reads and their mission to bring literature into prisons and juvenile detention centers. After attending Jake's session, I reached out to Freedom Reads to explore potential synergies between the two initiatives. I’m hopeful we can find meaningful ways to close the information gap and support rehabilitation efforts."
Image credit: Jdforrester, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Noah Lamberger, Client Partner
Noah Lamberger is new to Wikipedia, and has just created their first article. Attending WikiConference North America has inspired them to do more.
"I read Wikipedia daily, like most people. When I look something up that interests me, I have started to add it to my watchlist so I can start engaging with and editing the things that interest me now that I have the background and can feel more confident in doing so. I love that the wiki system has created a space for so many people to thrive and do their thing."
Favorite Event: English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee: What is happening, where it is going, and what does the community want to ask?
The Arbitration Committee (ArbCom) is an elected group that resolves disputes. It's kind of like Wikipedia's Supreme Court, though some dislike the comparison. Its work can be more than a little arcane, not to mention tedious: each decision can take anywhere from 30 minutes to two and a half hours.
"They have monthly meetings to discuss community problems and determine what action to take to help enforce the rules of Wikipedia. I was really impressed to learn about how this committee operates in the background with so much time and dedication to help Wikipedia function smoothly."
Stephanie Allen, Strategist
Another new volunteer Wikipedian, Stephanie Allen thrived on being around other "nerds" in Indianapolis. She spent much of her time on the first day at the Latin American Heritage Month Edit-a-thon. Language barriers melted away in the spirit of collaboration.
"Being able to speak with other editors as I was writing was helpful, especially because this was a side of Wikipedia I had not been on before. Editing on Wikipedia can be very isolating. Talk page conversations and different WikiProjects help, but ultimately nothing can replace in-person conversation and the community that comes with it. That's why I decided to participate in the edit-a-thons over panels. I knew people would be accepting and eager to help me learn and it created less of a barrier to entry for editing."
Joshua Leach, Strategist
An on-again, off-again volunteer editor with a few thousand edits to his name, Joshua Leach loves going to WikiConferences to rekindle his passion for volunteer editing and to get in the weeds about the backend governance of the Wikimedia movement.
"It's hard to come back from these events and not want to spend all day editing Wikipedia. I meet so many people with so much enthusiasm and drive for this project, then look at the incredible work they do. It makes me a little competitive. I want to have that same body of work."
Favorite event: "Waikiki: The wiki any agent can edit"
The Waikiki event wasn't a lecture so much as a brainstorming session about generative AI, large language models, and how they could be harnessed for good. About 20 people got together in a room to start bouncing ideas around and give the Wikimedia Foundation possibilities going forward. AI can be a big problem, but harnessing it for help with research and copy editing could be a huge boon.
"I'm someone who loves getting into the nitty-gritty of Wikipedia. You can find me happily tinkering with broken citations any given week. I don't want to cede anything to AI. But I also know that fewer people agree with that, and I can see how loading up some kind of LLM with all the esoterica of templates and the Manual of Style could be a huge help. I'm still skeptical but cautiously optimistic. AI could be a big help with this type of editing."
