This document discusses the problem of knowledge loss at VIS over time due to short board member mandates and lack of documentation. It proposes creating a wiki to provide a convenient, exhaustive, and up-to-date central place for VIS information like evaluations, budgets, and details of past trips and committees. It also suggests holding a Wiki Weekend where current board members teach newcomers how to edit the wiki and contribute information about topics they are knowledgeable about to start populating the wiki and prevent future knowledge loss.

1. VIS Wiki
And the Wiki Week
VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org

2. VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org
Why?

3. Why?
VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org

4. Why?
VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org

5. Why?
VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org

6. Why?
VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org
Problem #1
Only three
people will
remember last
year

7. Why?
VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org
Problem #2
Mandates are
short (average: 2
semesters)

8. Why?
VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org
Problem #3
People join mid-
semester and
miss their
handovers

9. Why?
VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org
Problem #4
How do you
compress years
of knowledge
into a few
hours of
handover?

10. Why?
VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org
Result
Knowledge get
lost. All the time.
Example
You want to
organize a
Gotland trip.
Who do you ask?
Them? How?

11. A wiki is…
Convenient
• No need to search through the Drive
Exhaustive
• Evaluations and budgets are just part of the truth
• The devil is in the details
Alive
• Unlike static documents, it won’t get outdated
• Future boardies will update it (hopefully)
VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org

12. VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org
How?

13. VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org
Everything that is red should become blue.
We’re missing at least 96 pages.

14. Wiki Week(end)
Let’s meet at 16:00 every day,
starting Thursday.
• I’ll teach you how to edit the wiki (it’s simple!)
• You pick a topic you know about
• Your committee, a trip you led etc.
• You write everything you know about it
• Rinse, repeat
VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org

15. Wiki Week(end)
Result:
VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org
(You know, maybe)

16. VIS Wiki | Timothy Daniel, Info/Web | info@visesn.org
Yes/no?