Gallery of Honour competition to spread free knowledge in Russia — Wikimedia blog

"The Gallery of Honour of Southern Russia and Eastern Ukraine is a public organization that holds the Gallery of Honour competition, an important event for supporting youth talent and for strengthening connections between generations. The competition is dedicated to the people and history of Southern Russia (Southern and North Caucasian Federal Districts) and Eastern Ukraine (Lugansk oblast and Donetsk oblast). In the first two tours, the participants were expected to use sites like YouTube; the third and final tour will feature cooperation with Russian Wikipedia, the best way to accumulate and distribute the knowledge. The first two tours attracted more than 600 people from Rostov oblast, Volgograd oblast, Astrahkan oblast, Krasnodarskiy kray, Stavropolskiy kray, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Northern Ossetia-Alania, Chechnya, Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykia, Adygea, Moscow and Ukraine. The Gallery of Honour of Southern Russia and Eastern Ukraine and Wikimedia Russia (the official Wikimedia chapter here) hope that the final tour will be attended by even more people, as editing Wikipedia is open to everyone. The competition is unusual for Wikipedia; article writing competitions don’t usually yield such big prizes (250,000 rubles, or roughly $8000 US). The competition is taking place from May to October 2013; scientists, artists and some of the best-known Russian Wikipedia article authors will be invited to enter the jury. On June 3rd, 2013, at 14:00, Interfax (Rostov-on-Don, Budennovskiy 60Б, 11th floor) will hold a press-conference about the competition’s start. Full rules will be available at Википедия:Галерея Славы Юга России и Востока Украины soon. Webinars will be organized to make participation easier for those who haven’t edited Wikipedia before. There will be several categories for competition: best articles about biographies, human settlements, and historical and cultural events. Authors and uploaders of the best images will be encouraged. There are also special prizes for teachers and mentors of younger Wikipedians. An odd prize, 'The smartest,' will be awarded to the city that has the highest participation rate (per 1000 inhabitants)."