From late February until early March, the Contribution Team will be holding recruitment and advocacy drives at universities across the UK. This will take the form of:
- A short presentation covering how to edit, how Wikipedia works and how to use Wikipedia in academic life;
- A surgery/Q&A session, dealing with queries about specific articles from students and staff alike;
- A question-and-answer session to deal with other issues;
- Handing out leaflets and pamphlets encouraging people to contribute.
The goal of these events is to encourage good-will towards the community, to torpedo common myths about the projects, to decrease vandalism and to increase community participation. Should things go well, they will be followed up by additional visits to these institutions and to other institutions around the country. Wikipedians who are interested in attending or helping out are encouraged to sign up and post any offers of help or suggestions on the talk page. What we are most in need of at the moment is people to hand out flyers and leaflets (provided in advance) to students in the weeks before the event, and to book rooms for us to host the events in.