[Foundation-l] Money, politics and corruption

[Keegan Peterzell]

Okay, this thread has intrigued me and I thought the answers would pan out
and it seems to have gone in various directions, but it was initiated by
Milos so I'll focus on what I perceive to be his problem:  Corruption
(through careerism, nepotism, political functions) and the have versus have
nots.

My reading between the lines is that this has to do with how scholarships
and other financial assistance allowed some to attend Wikimania and "live it
up" as the slang goes, versus those that attended on their own dime and
didn't have the resources to take part in the social, after hours functions
that are the lifeblood of networking.  If this is the case, the issue that
is had is allegations of personal rather than professional reasons that some
got to attend and had the resources, based on financing, to party.

Being that glib about it may seem like I am making light of the issue, rest
assured I am not.  Feelings of being an outsider when one is surrounded by
like minded people is not very constructive to say the least, and it causes
factions.  Now, I've never been able to attend Wikimania, and am unlikely
ever to be able to.  If you'd like factionalization and saying that the has
countries have it better than the have nots, it's much more feasible for
someone to attend something on their continent no matter the pocket change
when you get there.  Having attended many, many conferences it sounds like
business as usual.  Personally, I always found it practical to hang out at
the hotel bar instead of going into town for productivity.

Without going into details, Milos, am I off base with this as at least part
of your concern at Wikimania?

-- 
~Keegan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Keegan