Submissions/OTRS/Email: Communicating with the broader community

update

This submission was not scheduled.

It is re-proposed as a discussion by and for the OTRS community.

Agenda -

etherpad

0:00-0:05 WE START ON TIME, and welcome

0:05-0:15 Introductions, name, home wiki, why OTRS, how much OTRS experience

0:15-0:25 brainstorming, name OTRS issues and problems which we need to discuss

0:25-0:30 choose 2 most pressing issues, identify 2 different people to lead each discussion

0:30-1:00 - discussion 1

1:00-1:10 - wrap up and action items

1:10-1:40 - discussion 2

1:40-1:50 - wrap up and action items

1:50-2:00 - next steps and end

This is a Completed submission for Wikimania 2017 ready to be reviewed by a member of the Programme Committee.

Submission no. 2039 Subject - C5

Title of the submission: OTRS/Email: Communicating with the broader community

Type of submission (lecture, panel, tutorial/workshop, roundtable discussion, lightning talk, poster, birds of a feather discussion): Panel

Authors of the submission: BU Rob13

Language of presentation: English

E-mail address: burob13gmail.com

Username: BU Rob13

Country of origin: United States

Affiliation, if any (organisation, company etc.): N/A

Personal homepage or blog: Enwiki user page

Abstract (up to 300 words to describe your proposal): What happens when outside stakeholders email Wikipedia? Emails sent by readers, copyright holders, article subjects, companies, and many other interested groups all filter through our OTRS system to be answered by volunteers called "OTRS agents". Our volunteers dedicate substantial time to providing a positive experience to those who email us, but there is substantial room for improvement. OTRS is understaffed and chronically backlogged. New agents often struggle to gain confidence in handling complicated issues, and the available resources to assist agents are relatively sparse. A panel including current OTRS agents will provide an overview of how OTRS operates before discussing the issues facing our volunteers. Discussion will focus primarily on potential solutions to improve how we communicate with the broader community. The panel will conclude with questions, comments, and feedback from the audience.

What will attendees take away from this session?: As a primary learning outcome, attendees will leave with a better understanding of how OTRS operates, what issues face our volunteers, and how we can improve the service of OTRS to the community. We also hope to both encourage editors to consider applying for OTRS and increase interest in improving the OTRS system. Community feedback on potential reform is especially valuable.

Theme of presentation

WikiCulture & Community

For workshops and discussions, what level is the intended audience?: Intermediate

Length of session (if other than 25 minutes, specify how long): 55 minutes

Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?: Yes

Slides or further information (optional): No slides. OTRS is confidential, so we can't really show anything. I will be on the panel as well as at least three other OTRS agents, likely including one OTRS administrator. Exact composition of the panel depends largely on scholarship outcomes for many of the interested individuals, but I've received interest from ~8 OTRS agents, so there will be no problem putting together a panel once scholarship outcomes are known.

Update (4/9/17): Sphilbrick, one of the OTRS administrators, has confirmed their Wikimania attendance and willingness to be on the panel. The remaining composition still depends on scholarship outcomes. BU Rob13 (talk) 23:33, 9 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Update (4/12/17): The tentative panel composition is BU Rob13, Cameron11598, AmandaNP (DeltaQuad), and Sphilbrick. This is subject to change.

Special requests: Ideally, scheduled later in the conference after a lightning talk relevant to OTRS has been given (will be submitted and linked from here soon). This is not 100% required, but scheduling it after the lightning talk will allow me to pitch OTRS to a large audience and encourage attendance if they're interested in applying.

Is this Submission a Draft or Final?

This is a Completed submission for Wikimania 2017 ready to be reviewed by a member of the Programme Committee.

Interested attendees

If you are interested in attending this session, please sign with your username below. This will help reviewers to decide which sessions are of high interest. Sign with a hash and four tildes. (# ~~~~).

Cameron11598 (talk) 06:06, 27 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]
— Coffee // have a ☕️ // beans // 06:45, 27 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]
— regards, Revi 13:02, 6 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]
--Sphilbrick (talk) 15:26, 9 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Jamie Tubers (talk) 03:00, 12 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Birgit Müller (WMDE) (talk) 18:54, 12 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Anne Delong (talk) 06:01, 14 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Pigsonthewing (talk) 21:21, 1 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]
~SuperHamster Talk Contribs 01:16, 3 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]
L235 (talk) 15:35, 11 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]