Gerard Dummer

Afgelopen juli is in Alexandrië Wikimania 2008 georgansieerd. Voor iedereen die daar niet bij kon zijn, zijn er al een tijdje video’s online te bekijken. Ik heb de video’s nog niet bekeken maar vind het mooi dat op deze manier ook de sessies toegankelijk zijn. De player waarin de video’s worden afgespeeld zijn speciaal ontworpen voor een wiki: Kaltura. Het jammere is wel dat de video’s niet heel snel opstarten.
Over wikimania in Alexandrië is veel discussie geweest. Dat begint al vooraf als het gaat om waar de wikimania voor 2008 moet worden georganiseerd. Als dan gekozen is voor Alexandrië is de discussie daarna of dat wel voor iedereen veilig is om naar toe te gaan. Kijk de threads maar eens na van februari, maart en april 2008.

Het leukste vind ik de thread van Delphine Menard waarin ze beschrijft hoe de wikimania van haar dromen eruit ziet. Misschien ook iets voor andere congressen.

-It would be in a city easy to reach, with a big airport and cheap
flights incoming because it’s a huge hub, or it would be next door
(Frankfurt airport 😉 )
– It would be in a top-notch conference facility, with tons of plugs
everywhere, air conditionned if needed, modular conference rooms, all
in one place and close to the accommodation building (a mix of
Cambridge, Alexandria for the conference facility, Taipei and
Frankfurt for access).
– It would have a great outdoor and indoor community area, with wifi
that works all the time, with comfy couches as well as ground mats for
the yoga-types, with coffee, cookies, juices and fresh water available
at all times. (a mix of Frankfurt and Taipei)
– It would have all the accommodation in one place, close to the
conference grounds, or even actually _on_ the conference grounds, and
it would be cheap but practical, clean and modern accommodation, with
different possibilities – share a room, not share a room, share a dorm
etc. (a mix of Frankfurt and Taipei)
-It would have an amazing range of food for lunches, which would be
served in a big room where annoucements and meetings can take place (a
mix of Taipei and Cambridge).
– It would take place in a really “wow” place so that we get speakers
to *want to come* to speak (Harvard or Bibliotheca Alexandrina)
– It would be close to sightseeing stuff for social evenings as
“discovery trips”.
– It would have an amazing party location and an amazing party with
dancers with rotating hat-thingies (just like Alexandria!)
– It would host up to 500 people, not more, so I can get to meet
almost all of them. 🙂
– And finally, to steal Sj’s idea, it would have a giant rotating
Wikipedia globe that people could get into and make roll around like a
hamster wheel, just for the fun of it.

Vandaag kwam op de Foundationlist het bericht langs dat Wikimania van 2009 in Buenos Airos gehouden werd. De keuze hiervoor werd als volgt toegelicht:

The jury was particularly excited by a few parts of the Buenos Aires bid:
* A strong, organized team, with division of labor already underway
and support from Wikimedia Argentina. Many people contributed to the
bid, with obvious enthusiasm for organizing the conference and quick
responses to inquiries.
* A detailed budget proposal and planning schedule. Many major
expenses are being covered by the provider. The total budget is
similar to Wikimania 2007’s, including a larger travel scholarship
fund, and they have provided detailed charts ahead of time.
* A significant number of sponsors already lined up, with some already
confirmed. They hope to cover half the accommodation and $60k in
travel scholarships, which will help to ease travel costs for
participants from far away.
* A solid venue : as with Toronto, this was situated within a
well-maintained cultural center in a major international city, near an
airline hub; culturally open, and an international melting pot.
* Relaxed visa rules, and easy entry from South American countries.
* Good Spanish-language media contacts, with the promise of outreach
to and the opportunity to work with the Spanish-language Wikimedia
communities.

Toronto, the runner up, also provided a great bid. The jury was
especially excited by:
* Strong English-language press in the area, and media experience
among the bid team
* A very accessible venue, especially for US/European attendees.
* An excellent venue : a university campus, with dorms directly at the
venue. As with Buenos Aires, it was situated within a well-maintained
cultural center in a major international city, near an airline hub;
culturally open, and an international melting pot.
* Extensive budget accommodation in the dorms; with many options for
casual social space.
* A dedicated bid team, with the hope of Wikimedia Canada being formed
in time to help coordinate.

However, the jury felt that Buenos Aires’ bid showed stronger
organization overall. Additionally, much of the information in the
Toronto bid was carried over from previous bids, and it was unclear
how much of a commitment for the University of Toronto facilities
there was specifically for 2009.

Brisbane and Karlsruhe also provided good bids. Brisbane in particular
had an enthusiastic bid team and a strong proposal, with particularly
good local sponsorship opportunities; though this was offset by the
high travel costs for out-of-country attendees. The jury felt both
bids needed more detail (including specifics about accommodation
options, and more detailed budget information) to be compelling.

As in previous years, the relative accessibility of locations was
extensively discussed. The jury believes that it’s important for
Wikimania to be accessible to as wide an audience as possible,
particularly to members of the Wikimedia community; the relatively
high cost of travel to South America from Europe and North America was
one of the most significant drawbacks we identified in the Buenos
Aires bid—especially coming on the heels of Taipei and Alexandria.
Having said that, the jury believes that the Buenos Aires bid overcame
this drawback with its numerous advantages, among those the
opportunity to hold the conference in a Spanish-speaking locale, on a
new continent. We hope to receive strong bids from easily accessible
locations for 2010.

De voorbereidingen voor Wikimania in 2008 in Alexandrië zijn nog in volle gang.