On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 1:23 PM, theo10011 <de10011@gmail.com> wrote:
Excellent point James. I agree with Harel about possible reason the enthusiasm fizzles away. Its a very common thing usually witnessed in stressful fields, the organizers tend to have a high burnout rate. 

That's why the caution from our group in DC (and NYC).  We want to build our capacity as a group and working together on smaller projects. (e.g. GLAM-Wiki US / DC and our various outreach projects)  We also want to form a chapter here.  If we successfully do both, then I think we would be ready to organize Wikimania.  At the same time, such efforts would help build our ties with other local groups and folks.

I'm concerned that Wikimania organizing (if done in the shorter term here) will take energy away from our GLAM outreach efforts and that's not desirable. 
 

So the next logical question becomes How do we attract and retain that kind of talent?

I think teaming up with other like-minded groups that have organized events would be helpful.  There are a ton of free culture / tech events held all over the place.

Student groups are also good allies, as they have people to help and ability to work with venues. (e.g. universities)

 

Joseph seddon made efforts last year to get a Wikimania committee off the ground but the effort didn't go anywhere, maybe we should reconsider it again. Also, one thing I wondered about, how about a designated staff personnel to handle Wikimania bidding and event planning, its the biggest thing we have in the entire year, it would make sense if there was a dedicated personnel who could help the hosts through the bidding process and then support the event with the team and the committee.

A designated person to help would be good.  Someone to help with travel and visa issues, especially.

-Katie (@aude)
 


Theo
Salmaan Haroon