I totally agree with Sven, the tag explaning about what you can talk about
can really make it easier for a person to just break the ice and start
talking.
Just like him, I also met quite a lot of different people. Although I
regret no having spent more time with the Iberocoop crowd, I had the
opportunity to talk about common problems with people from other Wikipedias
and different projects as well. The guys from wikiHow are great and
provided and interesting insight as to why women participate more on
wikiHow than on Wikipedia.
Also, the guys from Hong Kong can now be aware that the unconference model
is somehow working around the world, and given the experience in
Washington, it could be a great idea to include it as part of the
conference.
I have to thank Aude because she led the tour to the capitol, and also,
including (if privacy is not much of a concern) a mail with pictures of
them now so we can recognize them next time we see them. Thanks Wikimedia
DC.
Alhen
@alhen_
alhen at wikipedia, wikihow, wikispaces, and most places.
Promotor de Wikimedia Bolivia
00-591-79592235
2012/7/19 Sven <svenmanguard(a)gmail.com>
I personally met quite a few new people, but I did so
at the Hackathon
(where no one I knew was there) and at random (i.e. the non-event/invite)
dinners. During the conference proper, when I didn't have something I
really wanted to see, I followed a pre-conference friend to what they were
seeing.
Also, yes we need to do the "Ask me about..." thing. I saw a lot of custom
messages written on people's badges, and those were more effective
conversation starters than just project listings alone.
Sven
On Jul 19, 2012, at 12:25 PM, Andrew Lih <andrew(a)andrewlih.com> wrote:
Make sure to put everything here:
<https://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Feedback>
https://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Feedback
I'll remind the HK folks about it too, as I love the idea of more
"wiki-like" mixing methods.
-Andrew
On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 9:05 AM, Joseph Fox < <josephfoxwiki(a)gmail.com>
josephfoxwiki(a)gmail.com> wrote:
I do hope the HK guys are reading ;)
Joe
On 19 Jul 2012, at 23:59, Thomas Dalton wrote:
On 19 July 2012 05:57, Florence Devouard <
<anthere(a)anthere.org>
anthere(a)anthere.org> wrote:
> The first is that I see a trend in seeing
Wikimania as a "conference"
rather
> than a sort of "giant meetup". I
regret it.
> I was particularly sensible this year to the fact we had "factions". I
could
> see the French speaking guys hanging together
here. And the German
chapter
> people hanging there. And in another corner
the editing community of
the
> English Wikipedia. And over there, the Glam
people. And though there
were
naturally
bridges between those groups, there was not much mixing and
bonding.
I certainly found myself talking to people from the UK far too much. I
did make a point of leaving the UK group to go and speak to other
people a few times, but there is a strong tendency to drift back to
the people you know. I think it becomes more of a problem the larger
Wikimania gets.
Having been to quite a few international Wikimedia events, I know a
lot of non-UK people too, which helps. People at their first
international Wikimedia event must find it even harder. There
difficult part is always initialising conversation with someone new
(we're all Wikimedians, so finding something in common to discuss once
you've started talking is usually pretty easy). I have two ideas for
helping people initiate conversation:
* A speed-dating style event near the beginning of the conference.
Make sure it is the only thing happening at that time to maximise
participation. You won't be able to get everyone to talk to everyone
else within a reasonable amount of time (1000 people, 30 seconds each,
that's over 8 hours!) but you could speak to a large enough proportion
of attendees for there to be someone you've met in most groups so that
you can easily join the group.
* "Talk to me about..." lists on badges. Knowing that someone is
interested in a particular thing can give you an excuse to talk to
them.
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