#Glamwiki; the secret of our success

Guess what #Wikipedia, one of the 500 pound gorillas of the Internet, is bad at? It is telling about what it is that we do right. We do not cherish the moment and when we do, we do not tell the world about it. Sometimes it is small things like how AWESOME it is to have a conference in the building of the Assemblée nationale, to dine on its third floor and have a panorama with many of the famous Paris landmarks.

It is great to hear Beatriz inform us that history is written based on the richest sources and how Wikimedia Argentina is working on making the content of a box full of DVDs with Argentine news available. There is footage on the war of the Malvinas in there and as contemporary  history is written today in Wikipedia, history is written using Argentine television footage. 

It is great to hear from the cities of Toulouse, Brest and Rennes. They are the alpha adopters of Open Content in France. For me, the key to their stories is in how the citizens of these cities benefit. They are happy to share with us and that is the icing on the cake.

When the French National library explains its project with Wikisource, the kind of information is provided that can help people in other countries to use its approach as a template. We heard about a Chilean encyclopaedia that is becoming available under a free license, it is not dissimilar to what is happening in India and this too proved a well kept secret to me.

The most astonishing factoid to me is the availability of a news letter about the public policy outreach project. It would be great when the lessons learned are not hidden away. It would be great to easily subscribe and learn what works and what does not. 

Conclusion:

Blog, tweet and tell the world about our success. There are a few reasons why you should consider this

• Positive feedback makes people happy
• Examples good or bad help people to do the right thing
• Positive stories motivate people to go on
• Positive stories may sway people to work with us, become one with us
• Positive stories help governments and GLAMs consider Open Content as a viable approach for them

If you find it hard to get your story out or heard globally, I may be your ambassador when I like your story. When you read my blog regularly, you must have an inkling of what that is.
Thanks,
     GerardM