It's not impossible for companies to work well with Wikipedia - just unlikely. Here's why, and how to overcome the problems. PR professionals and companies often want to work with Wikipedia, but don't know how to do it. This is based on a presentation I did at KWD Webranking awards in January, 2014, Stockholm, Sweden. Filmed version will be added as soon as it's published by KW Digital. Please help spread this message. (Commented version. Uncommented version here: http://www.slideshare.net/LennartGuldbrandsson/wikipedia-and-companies-explained-by-lennart-guldbrandsson-uncommented)

1. Wikipedia
&
companies
m e n ts
With c.o m
i n re d
Lennart Guldbrandsson
Wikimedia Sverige
lennart@wikimedia.se
@AliasHannibal

2. Why companies should work with Wikipedia. Let's compare Wikipedia with some
of the most trusted information websites.
il l io n
And no w o re than 5 0 0 m
has m
i p e d i a e a c h m o n th . . .
Wik o rs
vi s i t
Data: ComScore

3. However, if companies engage Wikipedia in the same way as the
Church of Scientology - with
attempts at pushing their agenda they will face the same two consequences:
1. Being banned from editing Wikipedia
2. Facing media and the public's
scorn for what they've done.
The lesson here: if you want to
work with Wikipedia, you'll have to
do it our way.
Read more:
http://bit.ly/xenuwikipedia

4. Companies should follow the
same rules as anyone else
who want edit Wikipedia. Our
five pillars is a good guide:
1. only encyclopedic material
2. only neutral material
3. only freely licenced material
4. in good collaboration with
other Wikipedians
5. while using common sense
Read more:
http://bit.ly/WPpillars

5. About 100 000 persons comprise the active group of Wikipedians. Most of us are easy-going, but we are a very diverse
group, and there is no central editorial board, which makes it imperative to be patient and polite when you deal with
Wikipedia.
Read more:
http://bit.ly/Wikipedian
Here's me, at the yearly Wikipedia meetup, 2012, in Washington DC.

6. This is a printed version of Wikipedia's best articles. But the
span between our best articles
and our worst is great. It's just
not single articles, either, but
entire topics. Some topics are
bad because we haven't gotten to
them yet. Some topics are bad
because the topic is difficult to
write about. Company articles
are difficult, for several reasons:
1. companies try to push PR into
the articles
2. competitors and critics want to
skew the articles negatively
3. few Wikipdians (relatively the
number of articles) know a lot
about the corporate world, i.e.
we have a lack of business people among our editors
4. most companies have very little knowledge about their own
history
5. most companies have very
little time updating Wikipedia or
learning its system.
Read more:
http://bit.ly/companiesWikimania

7. Some companies use PR companies to write
their articles for them. In some cases this turns
out bad, and almost every time the media takes
Wikipedia's side. Many Wikipedians want to
forbid paid editing completely, since the writing so often is skewed and non-neutral. Others
want to differentiate between paid editing and
paid advocacy editing. Still other Wikipedians
want to try to find a solution with the PR companies and their customers. We have no final
good solution, yet.

8. A big reason why PR companies get it wrong is that they go
the "dumptruck approach", i.e. just add a lot of text in one
go, without working with the community and its rules.
This often lead to...

9. ... the same thing as the scientologists: they get blocked and publicly
ridiculed.
So is there a solution?
Yes.
Next some dos and don'ts.

10. DON'T
* share an account
* threaten and/or demand action
* create articles (it's too difficult
for most newcomers)
* remove negative information,
such as information about a crisis or bad press
* plagiarize, even your own website

11. DO
First and most important: imitate
other articles and veteran users!
* remove obvious vandalism
* create account, be open with your
identity and bias
* write on Talk pages
* find users, ask for help
* work on the history section, where
it's often less controversial stuff
* provide sources, such as links to
annual reports
* provide freely licenced images

12. Again, imitate other users and
articles.
For instance, look at the best
articles by going to the one listed on
the main page of Wikipedia and find
out how your article could look.

13. If you should find yourself in
trouble, use these ways to contact
Wikipedia.
Read more:
http://bit.ly/WPContact
1. Talk pages
2. info-en@wikimedia.org

14. &
Wikimedia
UK
"Wikipedia Best Practice
Guidance For Public Relations
Professionals"
http://bit.ly/Wiki-PR
PR professionals and Wikipedians together
created a great guide for companies who
want to work with Wikipedia without
risking getting into trouble.

15. Questions?

16. Image sources
* https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Xenuobey.svg, CC-BY.SA 2,5, First Church of Xenu
* https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:10_sharing_book_cover_background.jpg, © ®, Lane Hartwell, David Peters,
Jmkim dot com
* https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Group_Photograph.jpg, CC-BY-SA 3,0, Lisa N Marrs
* http://thewikipedian.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/wikipedia-in-print-rob-matthews.jpg, ©, Rob Matthews
* http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/wikipedia-sockpuppet-investigation-largest-network-history-wiki-pr/, ©
* http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/22/wikipedia-ban-sock-puppet-pr, ©
* https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Afghan_dumper_truck.jpg, public domain, Jeremy Harris, U.S. Marine Corps
* https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D-P006_Zutritt_fuer_Unbefugte_verboten.svg, public domain, Torsten
Henning
* https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Welcome_mat_2.jpg, CC-BY-SA 2,0, The McClouds
* https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Johannes_Vermeer_%281632-1675%29_-The_Girl_With_The_Pearl_Earring_%281665%29.jpg, CC-BY-SA 3,0, Kunstkenner2305
* https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RedCrossNurseg.jpg, public domain, David Henry Souter
* http://www.cipr.co.uk/content/policy-resources/best-practice-guides-toolkits/wikipedia-and-public-relations, ® CIPR