Wikipedia talk:Meetup/NYC/April 2023

Spectrum Learning Lab

We should be sure of the venue of the Saturday, April 22 event. BPL's website says the New Spectrum Learning Lab mentioned in this page is in the DeKalb Library, 780 Bushwick Avenue, but our other page Wikipedia:Meetup/NYC/Earth Day 2023 Bushwick says the event is at the Bushwick branch, 340 Bushwick Avenue, which is over a mile north. Jim.henderson (talk) 12:53, 9 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Good catch, thank you Jim. This is my confusion. Wil540 art (talk) 00:02, 11 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Attendance & recap & notes on hybrid event

19 in person / 5 online / 5 people during open hour.

We held an "open hour" an hour before the event with the goal of having more time to socialize and also interact with the public. ~Five members, including User:Jim.henderson, showed up early and we made a help desk inviting people to ask us about Wikipedia (see photo below). Five people, from the general public at the library, came up to us, a number of curious and interesting people. I wish I had a WMNYC business card to give them. I wrote the chapter URL (Wikimedia.nyc) on the back of some stickers I had left over from the WMF meet-up. (We could use more stickers to give away) There was one conspiracy theorist who came up to us and talked at us for over 20 minutes and seemed to want to debate and seemed triggered by Wikipedia. It would be helpful for the chapter or foundation to share protocol on how to disengage folks like that, we did our best and he eventually left us alone. I wish I knew more about disengagement techniques.

The WikiWeds event itself was well-attended. We honored User:DGG, making space to talk about him and also went over the many upcoming Earth Day events. With User:Pharos unable to attend due to illness, it was a lot to manage the hybrid event hosting and clean-up myself. I believe hybrid events require two people working them at least to host properly and sustainably. As User:Jeremyb mentioned, a wireless mic would be helpful for the hybrid element. In the future, we should probably end the meetings at 7:45 or 7:40 at the Brooklyn Central Library out of respect to the staff. Garlic knots were a hit. Next time we could use a Pepperoni pie or 2 and a couple liters of sparkling water.

My 2 cents - Wil540 art (talk) 02:44, 13 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Excellent work by our tyro event leader. After walking out the door with an acquaintance I felt a twang of guilt about having made no more than a tiny contribution to the cleanup. Not enough guilt to make me cut short my conversation and return, alas. Jim.henderson (talk) 12:57, 13 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

And I didn't even make a tiny contribution! Sorry, Wil. Now that I think about it, I think being on the first floor and meeting right up until kick-out time means my brain switches quickly to "going home mode". Back at METRO, people tended to linger and leave in groups, perhaps because we had to wait for an elevator or perhaps because we didn't have as much of a hard out. I remember a lot of people helping with cleanup there. Or maybe it's just me that's been slacking since then. :) Might be good practice for the host to explicitly ask for a volunteer to help clean up during the "thanks for coming" wrap-up at the end?

Curious what others think of the timing at BPL? I find it a little stressful to go right up until they kick us out. We could move it up another half hour? — Rhododendrites ^talk \\ 13:34, 13 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]