You can easily borrow a bike with Capital Bikeshare... It's cheap, easy and
effecient! The tip is to bring the back 5 minutes before the free period
ends and to wait 5-6 minutes until the timer resets itself and to borrow
the bike again...
Hello,
Every weekend, the Washington Metro shuts down parts of its system to
conduct scheduled track maintenance. During the weekend of the
conference, July 14-15, buses will be replacing trains between the
Pentagon City and Braddock Road stations on the Blue and Yellow lines.
As a result, the Crystal City and Ronald Reagan Washington National
Airport (DCA) stations will be closed. What this means is that to
travel to either the Crystal City or National Airport station, you
will have to get off at Pentagon City (if traveling north to south) or
Braddock Road (if traveling south to north) and then take a free,
clearly marked shuttle bus to those other stations. This is
particularly important to know if you plan on traveling through DCA on
the weekend. While the replacement shuttles run very frequently, add
an additional half-hour or so to your travel time.
Here is a Metro map for reference:
<http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/RushPlus_map.pdf>. The station
closest to the Wikimania 2012 venue is Foggy Bottom–GWU, most of the
hotels are by the Dupont Circle station on the Red line, and
Hostelling International is by the Metro Center station on the Blue
and Orange lines.
For additional track work advisories, see
<http://www.wmata.com/rail/trackwork.cfm>.
Regards,
James Hare
(Appologies for cross posting)
>From 29 June until 1 July 2012 the Wikipedia Academy (#wpac2012) [1]
will take place in Berlin, under the theme “Research and Free
Knowledge”. For the first time, Wikimedia Deutschland organises this
conference in cooperation with Freie Universität Berlin [2] and the
Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society [3]. This year, we lay the
focus on research on, with and within Wikipedia and invite researchers
who scientifically deal with Free Knowledge and its implications for
research and society to participate in the conference.
The Wikipedia Academy is aimed to address an international audience.
The conference language is English.
On Friday and Saturday the conference will be set at Freie Universität
Berlin, School of Business & Economics, Garystrasse 21. The event
venue for Sunday will be announced soon.
== Registration ==
For participation you have to register for a participant pass in
advance. The online registration
(http://wikipedia-academy.de/2012/wiki/Registration) is open now. The
participation fee is 60 Euro (reduced price: 30 Euro) [4].
== Programme ==
The conference programme is yet subject to alterations. A preliminary
programme schedule can be found on the WPAC2012 website [5].
=== Friday 29 June ===
Ahead of the conference, in the morning of Friday, we offer three
workshops (tutorials) which will take place at the conference venue.
The topics are Wikipedia Data Analysis for Researchers, Toolserver and
GLAM Tools. You can register via the online registration form against
an extra participation fee of 10 Euro.
The conference will officially be launched on Friday around 01:30 PM
with a keynote speech by Benjamin Mako Hill (researcher at MIT Media
Lab and the MIT Sloan School of Management, fellow at Berkman Center
for Internet and Society, Free Culture Activist and Advisor der
Wikimedia Foundation) introducing to the conference theme Wikipedia
and Research. In the afternoon, we will provide the opportunity to get
to know a number of different research topics, projects, and ideas in
an alternative format during a so-called Speed Geeking. Then, we will
also have our first couple of Paper Sessions! Many international
researchers have followed our Call for Papers. A list of all accepted
submissions is available on our website. At the Paper Sessions the
authors will present their scientific works on Wikipedia and Free
Knowledge in 30-minute slots each. The first conference day will close
with a panel talk on Wikipedia research and the Wikipedia Community.
=== Saturday 30 June ===
On Saturday we will host paper presentations in three blocks of one
and a half hours each. Apart from that, we are planning a panel on
science communication applying Wikis and Blogs. The Lightning Talks in
the later afternoon will offer an additional opportunity to learn
about the results of recent research projects and also about proposals
for future projects.
=== Sunday 1 July ===
On Sunday the Wikipedia Academy will open up for a broader public and
invite Wikipedia researchers as well as all those who are interested
in the various facets of Wikipedia and related projects and those who
are engaged in projects in the context of free culture, free licences,
open data or free software.
Following a keynote speech by Sarah Stierch (Community Fellow of the
Wikimedia Foundation, consultant and expert for topics such as the
gender gap and GLAM) on Wikipedia and Diversity, an extended Free
Culture Brunch will allow for international and interdisciplinary
exchange and cross-linking. Later on, Jeanette Hofmann (HIIG) und
Sebastian Hauss (Universität Konstanz) will discuss topics such as the
social aspects of Free Knowledge in a panel moderated by Matthias
Spielkamp (irights.info).
Around 03:00 PM the festive presentation of the Zedler Prize for Free
Knowledge will round the Wikipedia Academy 2012 off. With this prize,
Wikimedia Deutschland awards single persons, groups or projects for
their outstanding performances in the field of Free Knowledge. All
Academy participants are cordially invited to join this event.
We look forward to our Guests with their various fields of research
and scientific interests, stimulating talks and presentations as well
as an active exchange of experiences and ideas at the Wikipedia
Academy 2012.
The WPAC2012 Team (academy(a)wikimedia.de) will be happy to answer
questions: Nicole Ebber, Angelika Adam, Maria Rößler and Denis Barthel
[1] http://wikipedia-academy.de/2012/wiki/Main_Page
[2] http://www.fu-berlin.de/
[3] http://hiig.de/
[4] http://wikipedia-academy.de/2012/wiki/Registration
[5] http://wikipedia-academy.de/2012/wiki/Schedule
--
Nicole Ebber
Projektmanagerin
Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | NEU: Obentrautstr. 72 | 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.
I've just been looking at the Accommodation page on the Wikimania 2012
wiki and apparently the Dupont Circle Hotel is located 15 minutes walk
from the venue, while the Kimptom hotels are located 45 minutes walk
from the venue and 10 minutes walk from the Dupont Circle Hotel. You
have very strange geometry in Washington DC... apparently the triangle
inequality [1] doesn't hold!
Can someone correct whichever of those numbers is wrong?
Thanks!
Tom
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_inequality
Hello!
My name is Benjamin and I'm with the Saylor Foundation and we're excited
to be a sponsor at Wikimania 2012. We'd like to set up a table somewhere
during the conference and while I know there will be plenty of available
space, I was wondering about the logistics of tables, chairs and whatnot.
Will there be such things available for use, or should we plan on bringing
our own to the event?
Thanks,
Benjamin
Hello Katie, James, Greg and everybody on the Wikimania-l list,
The fundraising team at WMF San Francisco is planning to conduct on-camera
interviews with Wikipedians during Wikimania and during the DC
Hackathon. Our goal is to create high quality video content narrated by
Wikipedians about their experiences that we could use to make a short video
for this years fundraiser (and possibly other projects too) that would
communicate the efforts of the movement and our mission to the world in an
engaging, informative way.
We are interested in taking portrait photographs of the Wikipedians we
interview that we could use for banners and other movement communication.
Normally I would do this, but since I'll be busy with interviews, I may
need some help. Is anyone hiring any photographers for anything like this?
Maybe we could collaborate?
Does anyone have a list of Wikimania attendees? I'd like to contact
attendees before the convention to see if they would be interested in
talking about their involvement with the movement (either on camera or off
camera). If you know of anyone I should talk to, please let me know, I'd
love to speak with them!
At George Washington University, my team is supposed to have rooms 402, 403
& 404 booked to do interviews, but Megan Trzcinski at GWU has informed me
otherwise; here is the information that I have from her:
July 9th: 402, 403, 404 available
July 10th: rooms not available
July 11th: 402 already booked in reservation. 403 and 404 not available.
July 12th: 402, 404 already booked in reservation until 7pm. 403 not
available.
July 13th: 402, 404 already booked in reservation until 7pm. 403 not
available.
July 14th: 402, 404 already booked in reservation until 7pm. 403 not
available.
July 15th: 402, 404 already booked in reservation until 7pm. 403 available.
I'd like to know if these rooms are indeed booked.
I am going to be in Washington D.C. on the 16th next week to scout the
rooms we have booked at GWU and also search for alternate spaces on GWU
campus or near Wikimania in general that we might want to record in. I'd
like to meet with someone who can help.
Thank you everyone and please let me know if my efforts overlap with
anything you are working on. I'd love to help in any way I can.
Victor Grigas
--
*Victor Grigas*
Storyteller
*Wikimedia Foundation*
vgrigas(a)wikimedia.org
+1 (415) 839-6885 x 6773
149 New Montgomery Street 6th floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
<http://wikimediafoundation.org/w/index.php?title=WMFJA085/en/US&utm_source=…>
Dear all,
It has come to the attention of the Wikimania 2013 Hong Kong organizing
team that there may be confusion over the situation of internet censorship
in China and whether it affects Hong Kong. [1]
We would like to clarify that, although Hong Kong has been nominally part
of the People's Republic of China since 1997, the city-state of Hong Kong
retains complete independence over civilian affairs. This, of course, means
that internet regulation in Hong Kong is completely separate from that of
Mainland China, and therefore internet censorship in Mainland China (the
"Great Firewall of China", [2]) does not apply to Hong Kong.
We would like to reassure all Wikimedians, especially those considering to
attend Wikimania 2013, that *Wikipedia has never been censored in Hong Kong*.
Visitors to Hong Kong will enjoy, among other things such as exuberant
local cuisine and efficient public transport, uncensored internet
connection and unhindered access to Wikimedia projects.
We hope to see you all at Wikimania 2012 in Washington DC and Wikimania
2013 in Hong Kong.
With best wishes,
Deryck Chan
Global engagement coordinator
Wikimania 2013 organizing team / Wikimedia Hong Kong
[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Wikipedia_Signpost/2012-05-07/N…
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Firewall
(cross-posted to wikimania-l, internal-l and wikimedia-l)
Dear All,
We have just published a blog post on Irene Lynch, a 78-year-old great
grandmother, artist, and storyteller who loves Wikipedia and has
donated $5,000 to Wikimania 2012. She's very passionate and plans on
attending Wikimania in July, so hopefully you will all get a chance to
meet her.
http://blog.wikimediadc.org/2012/05/youre-never-too-old-for-wikipedia/
Sincerely,
Nicholas Michael Bashour
President
Wikimedia District of Columbia
Washington, DC, USA
I want to live in university dormitory during the conference. It is said "We
are currently looking into reserving university dormitories. We'll keep you
posted!" on the
Accommodation<http://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Accommodation>page.
I wonder more information about it, and if there're some limits (such
as only to WMF or chapter scholarship recipients). Thx~