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Talk:Wikimedia Developer Summit/2018/Writing Tips/Examples

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These could be all wrong

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Cscott (talkcontribs)

Caveat lector: I have no idea if these examples are actually what the committee is looking for. Hopefully they'll get looked at and improved collectively until they *are* a better match for what's expected.

KSmith (WMF) (talkcontribs)

I'm not in a position to say whether or not these are what the committee is looking for, but I want to thank you for providing examples that are not actual possible topics. We discussed providing examples, but didn't want to bias anyone's thinking about what technical topics they should/shouldn't cover.

SSastry (WMF) (talkcontribs)

While I am not on the committee, I want to second what Kevin said. These are good examples.

199.116.73.155 (talkcontribs)

I edited the page to reflect that we will be using these as official examples!H

Reply to "These could be all wrong"
Summary by Cscott

"Highly structured" format added to the examples, pending review by program committee.

Cscott (talkcontribs)

A more structured format was suggested by Sarah R as well, which might be more suitable for non-native speakers. I've edited her example a little bit to remove actual technical content:

Title: Embracing a new era with partially riped tomatoes

Background: Recent progress with on-demand tomato ripening using Ethylene gas has opened an exciting possibility for our project. We no longer have to ship fully-ripened tomatoes and risk bruising and spoilage.

Advice:

(1) Cooperate with the industry on developing ethylene ripening technology.

(2) Begin to ship partially ripened tomatoes which third-parties can ripen on-demand.

(3) Evaluate the impact: what happens when most consumers want the partially-ripened tomato product. Should we eliminate the divisions between the partially-ripened and fully-ripened products? Should we invest R&D in improvements to ripening technologies to stay on top of this trend?

Cscott (talkcontribs)

As discussed on another thread, I worry that terse proposals might lose the unconscious "writing contest" when evaluated by the Program Committee, so I'm reluctant to endorse this abbreviated format w/o feedback from the program committee. OTOH I agree that the bullet-point format might make it easier for those who feel uncomfortable writing a traditional essay-style argument.

SRodlund (WMF) (talkcontribs)

@Cscott I agree with this format and the thought that the more structured format provides a more supportive framework for folks who are not as comfortable writing in English.

I am going to move it and add it to your "unofficial" examples now until the program committee provides additional guidance.

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