Wikipedia:Meetup/Chicago 9

Chicago Meetup

You're invited to share delicious food and edit with us during The Great American Wiknic 2014!

What, Where, and When?

What? Editors of all experience levels are invited to:

Kibitz with your fellow Chicagoland Wikipedians in person!
Help work on articles! We are planning on improving a number of World War I and political dissent (but other topics are definitely welcome). There is a full list of new article topics as well as a list of articles that could use some work. Choose anything that suits your fancy!
Have a picnic lunch, courtesy of the Pritzker, over at the North Garden of the Chicago Art Institute (weather permitting, otherwise we'll picnic indoors!)
Spend time checking out the Pritzker's art gallery and exhibitions!

Where? Pritzker Military Museum & Library, 104 S. Michigan Avenue ^{Google Maps link}

Nearest Transit Stations

Blue Line - Monroe

Red Line - Monroe

Brown Line - Adams/Wabash

Pink Line / Green Line / Orange Line - Madison/Wabash

Metra - From Union Station, it's about 7-8 minute walk. Refer to Google Maps for directions from the station.

Nearest Bus Lines:

Northbound: The 3, 4, 6, 26, 143, and J14 all drop you off at Michigan & Monroe-- just walk across Michigan and you'll be right where you need to be!

Southbound: Same lines as above will all drop you at Michigan & Jackson-- from there, walk north about two blocks to Monroe and look to your left for the library.

The Pritzker is on the corner of Michigan and Monroe in the Monroe Building (across from the Art Institute). Our event is likely to be on the 3rd floor of the building, where you can get a nametag and information on the day's events.

When? Saturday, July 12th from 11:00 AM to 3:30 PM.

What else do I need to know?

Participants will be given lunch and their entry fees to the Pritzker waived, but they must sign up at the bottom of the event page. We will ask you to check in on your arrival.
The general agenda will look like this:

We will meet initially at the Pritzker at 11:00 AM to make introductions, get ourselves situated, and begin some editing.
At 1:00 PM, we'll head over to the North Garden just next to the Chicago Art Institute for lunch (and if it's raining, we'll just eat at the Pritzker). Lunch will be catered by Panera. If you have particular dietary restrictions, please contact I JethroBT ahead of time, and we can make accommodations for you.
After lunch, we'll head back to the Pritzker where we can resume editing and take some time to check out the Pritzker's excellent art gallery and collections. We'll finish up around 3:30.
For folks interested in hanging out afterwards, there's a reasonably-priced Thai place not too far from the Pritzker we can venture to. (Insert a walk this way joke here.)

Join us!

It's over! Thanks to all who came, particularly those who had to suffer through the torrential rain this morning. Outcomes are below. I, JethroBT ^{drop me a line}

Haven't edited Wikipedia before? No problem. Editors of all experience levels are welcome. We'll help you get setup with an account and get you started on whatever kind of work interests you. Let us know if you are coming by signing in below using four tildes (~~~~).

I'll be there!

I've never picnicked at the library before! I, JethroBT ^{drop me a line} 02:10, 15 June 2014 (UTC)
I should be able to make it.--TonyTheTiger (T / C / WP:FOUR / WP:CHICAGO / WP:WAWARD) 01:06, 18 June 2014 (UTC)
I will "replace this line with" my affirmation of attendance. Are we bringing cupcakes, knives and food for squirrels? Jack Sebastian (talk) 15:27, 21 June 2014 (UTC)
Sounds great - I've wanted to come to a Chicago meetup since the first one. This looks like it should work. Fishal (talk) 05:58, 28 June 2014 (UTC)
I'll be there; I am just re-starting after some time overseas, but am excited to be editing again! Polymath Professor (talk) 22:30, 28 June 2014 (UTC) :)
Bolloro (talk) 04:52, 1 July 2014 (UTC)I'll be there, it's just a Clark bus ride and a walk away!
I'll be there! Only dietary restriction: I'm a vegetarian. --Evanro (talk) 19:14, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
Can't wait! SamanthaMes (talk) 15:01, 8 July 2014 (UTC)

128.248.23.217 (talk) 18:37, 9 July 2014 (UTC)i'll be there!

I might be able to make it

This girl right here - would be nice to meet some local Wikipedians. - Sara FB (talk) 22:46, 1 July 2014 (UTC)
I hope I can be there. Sonicsuns (talk) 08:41, 5 July 2014 (UTC)
I hope to be there. Snowman304|talk 20:38, 5 July 2014 (UTC)
I hope to make it! Victor Grigas (talk) 20:07, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
Sounds great, hope to be there. Alkan (talk) 02:16, 12 July 2014 (UTC)

I definitely can't make it, but contact me about future meetups

I'll be abroad on a Birthright trip but I'll come to the next one for sure! Drummerdg (talk) 06:49, 28 June 2014 (UTC)
Ironically, I have to be in Chicago the next day for a union convention, so I can't pop down to Chicago on Saturday, return to Milwaukee that night, then pop back down again Sunday; my budget won't stretch that far. --Orange Mike | Talk 14:18, 28 June 2014 (UTC)
Can't wrangle the transportation this time around, perhaps next time. – Philosopher ^{Let us reason together.} 21:22, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
Sorry, I was planning to be there but I can't make it after all. Nick Number (talk) 16:29, 4 July 2014 (UTC)
Wish I could make it! ~E$ (talk) 18:49, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

Outcomes

Attendees

Article creation

Autumn Sandeen (currently being drafted here)
Bank of Illinois (currently being drafted here)
Old Town Ale House, Chicago

Article improvements

Editing by the numbers

Collectively, we:

...spent ~24 person-hours editing,
...added 10988 bytes of information to Wikipedia pages/drafts,
...made 40 discrete edits to Wikipedia articles (many of these edits were substantial in nature),
...added or began drafts for 3 new articles,
...and improved 8 existing articles!

Other comments

It was very gratifying to be able to sit down and chat with you folks about what we're editing and what interests you about these types of meetup events. It was kind of great to have staff at the Pritzker asking us about Wikipedia too. Sometimes these meet-ups are an opportunity to teach readers of Wikipedia about what goes on behind-the-scenes, and I think there is great value in that, even if it means we're not churning out content. I, JethroBT ^{drop me a line} 04:46, 13 July 2014 (UTC)

Questions?

Please feel free to use the talk page to ask any questions about the event. Thanks!