Wikimania-l June 2017

wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org

28 participants
8 discussions

Traditional costume party during Wikimania
by Subhashish Panigrahi 13 Aug '17

13 Aug '17

Hello everyone, Is there any traditional/ethnic costume party or that kind of gathering that is being planned already or people might be interested to join for? It would be fun to showcase the diversity of the Wikimedia community? To add some fun Wikimedian A can write/print the name of their costume (preferably English Wikipedia entry) about the costume they would come wearing, and find a buddy (B) who speaks a different language than theirs. B can then create an entry on Wikipedia/Wikidata or expand the entry if already existing, or even record how it is pronounced. People can also gift their buddies small keepsakes. This is still an idea_in_brewing_state. Would love to hear more thoughts. Subhashish

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Visa rejections
by Bodhisattwa Mandal 30 Jul '17

30 Jul '17

Hi, The main topic of discussion among the scholarship recipients from global south this month is the high visa rejection rate by Canadian embassies from these countries. This year, we had 7 scholarship recipients from Bengali community, 4 from India and 3 from Bangladesh. Already 3 out of 4 scholarship recipients from Indian part of the communities got their visa rejected, others are waiting. Although I am hoping for the best for all the scholarship recipients, but may be news of more rejections are coming soon. Wikimania should be organised in a visa friendly country, and not in those countries where global south citizens are not allowed to enter even for a 6-days conference. Otherwise, a global community is not truly presented. Best wishes, Bodhisattwa

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Fwd: [Wikimedia-l] Wikiconference North America 2017, August 9th - 10th in Montreal!
by Pharos 26 Jun '17

26 Jun '17

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Kelly Doyle <kelly.doyle(a)mail.wvu.edu> Date: Wed, Jun 21, 2017 at 2:47 PM Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Wikiconference North America 2017, August 9th - 10th in Montreal! To: "wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org" <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> Hi all, We are excited to have this opportunity to host WikiConference North America 2017<https://wikiconference.org/wiki/2017/Main_Page> (August 9th & 10th) this year ahead of Wikimania and we hope to see you there! As in 2016, the first day of WCNA is designated as our Wiki Culture Crawl Day and the second day is fully programmed. Wednesday, August 9th will be a Culture Crawl Day! This is a day-long event where we collaborate with local museums, libraries, and cultural institutions to host free backstage tours, edit-a-thons, and more. These crawls are a fantastic opportunity for conference attendees to experience the local culture, as well as collaborate with local institutions to improve Wikipedia. This year we have established relationships and are planning free access and events with the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) and McGill University. At the BAnQ, we plan to have an edit-a-thon, where Wikimedians utilize the Archive's resources to improve Wikipedia's coverage of Montreal's people - and ending with an evening reception. A photo drive< https://wikiconference.org/wiki/2017/Photo_Drive> will be occurring throughout the day. Thursday, August 10th will be a day of programming. If you are interested in participating in programming at WCNA, such as a presentation, panel discussion, or an unconference session (lightning talk, open space, etc.) on Thursday, August 10th, please submit your proposal here< https://wikiconference.org/wiki/2017/Submissions>. We are seeking volunteers to help during the conference. Please sign up as a volunteer<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfh4x1yzqiAuwbkHvy2BaIV TLAxj6UP5DbXcfC-bUSdz67hyg/viewform?usp=sf_link> if you are interested. For both days of WCNA 2017, you will need to register<https:// wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Registration> through the Wikimania Eventbrite<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wikimania- 2017-registration-33032011636>. Please be sure you are registering for the August 9 & 10, Wikiconference North America sessions. For those attending the August 9th Cultural Crawl, there is a promo code available (wmcon2017); note that if you use the promo code, you may not attend other pre-conference events on August 9th. Only use the promo code if you plan on only attending our Culture Crawl, as if you register for the incorrect event with the promo code, you may be barred from entry to that pre-conference event and/or session. Best, Kelly & the WCNA ’17 Planning Committee / Kelly Doyle Wikipedian in Residence for Gender Equity West Virginia University (304) 293-0342 kelly.doyle(a)mail.wvu.edu _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

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Wikimania registration & hotel: register today!
by phoebe ayers 25 Jun '17

25 Jun '17

Hi all, Reminder! Register today for Wikimania and for the conference hotel, if you plan to stay there. The early registration deadline is July 10 and the deadline for booking accommodation in the conference hotel (where the sessions will be located) is June 30th: next week! details: https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Accommodation https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Registration best, Phoebe -- * I use this address for lists; send personal messages to phoebe.ayers <at> gmail.com *

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Visa rejections
by Jayanta Nath 23 Jun '17

23 Jun '17

I think Wikimedia Canada not send any intimation to their Embassy of respective countries. Jayanta Nath

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Re: [Wikimania-l] Visa rejections
by ilario.valdelli 22 Jun '17

22 Jun '17

Esino Lario too. There was a plan to transit people through Switzerland like second option using the Maastricht's agreement. As I know this option was not used. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone. -------- Original message --------From: Stuart Prior <stuart.prior(a)wikimedia.org.uk> Date: 22/06/2017 13:24 (GMT+01:00) To: "Wikimania general list (open subscription)" <wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> Subject: Re: [Wikimania-l] Visa rejections Lodewijk, AFAIK we've never kept track of rejections, but I could find out. My gut feeling is that there hasn't been a massive variation over the past 4 years, I think Mexico City was the most open to everybody (?) Rexford, possibly (and yeah Wiki = Wikileaks is *always* a problem lol). But some visa systems are very closed and bureaucratic and it's hard to bring any influence or assistance to bear beyond supporting documentation, i.e you can't even talk to a human being about it. To *truly assist* some of it would involve building political contacts beforehand to advocate for visas (i.e your local representative can help sometimes), that's a possibility but may create other problems, capacity for a start. The logistics of organising travel/accomm for hundreds of people from hundreds of locations is already onerous, adding an intensive visa support process into that it when some visa systems feel like a lottery would be easy to overpromise and underdeliver. What strikes me here is that visas are a problem for people from our developing communities, but they are one of many factors in deciding a Wikimania location. One country that might be visa-friendly to one, is prohibitively expensive to get to/stay in for another. So while Australia might be relaxed in terms of visas (I'm not confident of this btw) it's also objectively remote/expensive. Whether a location has achieved that balance is always a question, and I can't think of one Wikimania where everyone's agreed it has ;-) Stuart On 22 June 2017 at 12:12, Nkansah Rexford <nkansahrexford(a)gmail.com> wrote: It is easy to conclude the location hinders visa application acceptance. As much as it appears to be so, I strongly believe if there's good enough Visa support and assistance from the Wikimania Team/WMF, rejected cases could be low. Obviously, an applicant should have documents intact and good, and submit all the necessary details the embassy wants, including the invitation letter. However, in some countries, that ain't enough. In 2012, the invitation letter I submitted to the consular at the US embassy here in Ghana, she didn't read, and I could see from her face how nonsense it looked to her. Heck, anybody anywhere could conjure such a sheet of paper with black ink on, any time any day. Plus, the consular had NO idea what Wikimedia was. There was no way I could explain what Wikimedia is in the few seconds I had in front of the teller-like counter. Wiki? WikiLeaks? Duh! As much a mere letter of invitation is formal to some extent, to what extent is the WMF also willing to support visa applications outside just the letter? Not saying WMF should do exactly same, but I know other organizations that pick up the phone, and call the local embassy of the invitee way ahead of time to initialize conversations and to explain to *what extent* whoever they've invited fits in the about-to-happen event. The embassy in many cases, asks questions they won't otherwise ask the applicant, but would, to the inviting organization. This visa issue, until the WMF *truly assist*, some countries will still struggle getting accepted visa. It is not easy, and it ain't something just a letter wipes away. rex PS: I know cases where rejected visa are reconsidered and approved just because the inviting organization literally stepped in, and got serious with the embassy. On Thursday, June 22, 2017, Bodhisattwa Mandal <bodhisattwa.rgkmc(a)gmail.com> wrote: Hi, The main topic of discussion among the scholarship recipients from global south this month is the high visa rejection rate by Canadian embassies from these countries. This year, we had 7 scholarship recipients from Bengali community, 4 from India and 3 from Bangladesh. Already 3 out of 4 scholarship recipients from Indian part of the communities got their visa rejected, others are waiting. Although I am hoping for the best for all the scholarship recipients, but may be news of more rejections are coming soon. Wikimania should be organised in a visa friendly country, and not in those countries where global south citizens are not allowed to enter even for a 6-days conference. Otherwise, a global community is not truly presented. Best wishes, Bodhisattwa _______________________________________________ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l

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Looking for volunteers for Wikimania 2017 in Montréal
by Antoine Beaubien 08 Jun '17

08 Jun '17

Hello Wikimanians, In just two months, from the 9th to the 13th of August 2017, Wikimania will happen in Montréal. Like every year, Wikimania can’t be a success without the help of many volunteers. Do you want to be part of that great team of dedicated volunteers that work behind the scenes to ensure a successful event? You will also have time to attend sessions and take part in social activities planned. If you are curious as to what being a volunteer in Wikimania 2017 means, you can visit: https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Volunteers If you are available, send an email to abeaubien(a)wikimedia.ca, and I will work with you on next steps for your participation. Best Regards, Antoine Beaubien -- *Responsable des bénévoles* et président du comité Wikimania de Wikimédia CA Wikimédia Canada, section nationale de la Fondation Wikimédia *Volunteers Coordinator* & Chair of the Wikimania Committee of Wikimedia CA Wikimedia Canada, local chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation Wikimania 2017 — Montréal — https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/ 535 avenue Viger E, Montréal (Québec) H2L 2P3 https://ca.wikimedia.org Tél.: (514) 875-9985 <514-875-9985>, x690

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Wikimania ‘17 Draft Program is UP! Early Bird Registration Discounts
by Ellie Young 08 Jun '17

08 Jun '17

Attention Everyone (and please spread the word): Early Bird Registration is Open for Wikimania 2017. This discount pricing ends on July 10th so don’t delay! https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Registration Draft Program for the Conference is Now Up! https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Programme Deadline for Accommodation at the Headquarters hotel is June 22. See below! Wikimania 2017 will be held August 9-13, 2017 in and around the Le Centre Sheraton Montréal <https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Venue>, in Montréal, Canada <https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Montr%C3%A9al> The venue will host most of the conference, hackathon, meetups, and pre-events. Most of the WMF personnel and scholarship recipients will be housed there as well. Those that submitted accepted talks for the program have been notified and the agenda will be finalized in the next few weeks. We would like to encourage all speakers and attendees to register early and book their flight and travel as soon as possible. It is going to be a very popular, busy summer in Canada this year because of the 150th Anniversary of Canada and the 375th Anniversary of Montréal. If you wish to stay at the headquarters hotel and take advantage of our discounted rate, the deadline is June 22. After that prices will be higher and availability throughout the city limited. There is also a secondary property close by that is holding rooms for us as well. See: https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Accommodation If you have any questions with regard to the conference, please contact : wikimania-info(a)wikimedia.org We h ope you can join us in Montréal this summer! Ellie Young, WMF Events Manager on behalf of the Wikimania ‘17 Organizing Team

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Wikimania-l June 2017