Itzik, I am sorry that I did not reply to this earlier. I am just kind
of baffled that we are having this discussion now, months after all
these questions where asked (see Future of the Wikimedia Conference)
and all the information about the scope and the slight loosening of
the attendee ratio have been put up on Meta. Following that, there
have been discussions about which groups to invite (recognised,
non-recognised), but not a single one about the number of attendees -
although it has always been asked for input.
Our main drive behind opening up was that we felt the 2(+1) rule is
kind of outdated, and it makes sense to have people sent those
representatives who they really believe need to be there. Either as a
contributing or a profiting attendee, but of course focussing on the
topics that are covered in the conference themes. This is also why my
colleagues from the event team only opened the registration _after_
the rough outline of the programme has been published by the programme
team.
As for the broader topic about the purpose, scope and future of the
WMCON, I think it does make sense to discuss this on-list (or better
wiki) before the event. An exchange of arguments and possible
solutions is welcome, those can be used to prepare for the session at
WMCON. I am definitely glad that we now have this discussion and I
like to hear more of people's thoughts.
As for the broader, broader topic that for example Risker mentions
above, I hope that the Chapters Dialogue will be able to provide
insights and food for thought. The presentation at the WMCON and the
extensive documentation that will be provided on-wiki afterwards, can
help foster these discussions on those movement related issues.
Again, I am glad that the pre-conference has now been initiated and
that we can use the following days to get in the right mood for the
conference weekend.
Thanks and best regards,
Nicole
On 2 April 2014 22:18, Itzik Edri <itzik(a)infra.co.il> wrote:
What the purpose of this discussion? The program
committee already
scheduled a session about the future of the WMCON. And as we are a week
before, and I believe it's too late to cancel flights and hotels booking,
nothing will probably going to be changed, even if there will be consensus
about the purpose of the conference.
And while it seem like the discussion is about WMUK's attendees only - I
must say I don't think this is the case. They are maybe the biggest
delegations (we may starts to change the term this year from
"representatives" to "delegation", which fit the case better), but
not the
only ones. There are other chapters who sends more than the others.
The silence and the ignorance of the organizer team regarding their
decision on that is something which worries me more, I think.
On Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 7:59 PM, Chris Keating <chriskeatingwiki(a)gmail.com>wrote;wrote:
Great! We are starting to have the conversation
we need to have!
So: What is the purpose of the Wikimedia Conference?
This has never been clearly defined, in my view.
I certainly found attending last year useful as it was a chance to get to
know face-to-face people I only knew over email, to share some useful
experience of Wikimedia UK's with other chapters, and to get an insight
into how others were thinking, and have some meetings which needed to be
done face-to-face.
In general those are very useful things. But is that what the conference is
for?
Chris
On 2 Apr 2014 17:17, "Cristian Consonni" <kikkocristian(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
(my 2cents here, not speaking in any capacity
besides my personal free
will)
2014-04-02 14:32 GMT+02:00 Jens Best <jens.best(a)wikimedia.de>de>:
Have a nice time in Berlin, maybe I will drop by
on some of the evening
events at least. :)
May I say? Please come by also at the conference.
I understand the point of having a rule (which we can decide if it is
a strict rule or whatever) of 2+1 representatives because it helps to
limit costs and it also assures that there isn't over-representation
of an entities over some others (which are both good arguments, btw)
but thinking of having a closed event were you can not come along if
you are interested to do so and you happen to live nearby seems Deeply
Wrong(TM) to me.
For comparison all General Assemblies of Wikimedia Italia are public,
everyone can come along and speak, of course when it comes to voting
(e.g. board elections) only members have the right to vote. We always
have some bystanders (this includes the occasional "I am painter, why
I don't have my Wikipedia page?") and, to date, our assemblies have
never being flooded by strangers :-). Moreover, for the sake of "bias"
and over-representation I think that this will not be of much more
impact than the fact of chosing to hold the event itself in Berlin.
Cristian
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Nicole Ebber
Leiterin Internationales
Head of International Affairs
Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin
Tel. +49 30 219158 26-0
http://wikimedia.de
Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e.V.
Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg
unter der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das
Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/681/51985.