Dear Wikimedians,
On behalf of the Wikimania 2014 selection Jury, after review and
evaluation of the two final bids, we have awarded the conference to
London. Congratulations to the London team, and to the Arusha team who
also put forward a solid effort.
We were concerned this year to see that both bidding teams put forward
proposals which were costly and complicated, in contrast to the
Wikimania tradition. The Jury briefly considered re-opening the bid
for other teams, and asked both bids to present a simpler core budget
and lower-cost options for attendees.
The London team took our comments to heart and decreased their core
budget to 20% of their initial proposal, and have committed to finding
ways to reduce the cost for community attendees.
We encourage future bidding teams to not give up their dreams, to keep
aiming for the stars, but at the same time, to not forget the spirit
of Wikimedia: a volunteer movement that makes creative use of limited
resources. We look forward to the proposed Wikimania Committee setting
out clearer guidelines on these principles.
The process to bid for hosting Wikimania requires a substantial time
investment, and we thank both candidate teams for their submissions
and hard work.
Yours,
James Forrester
Moderator, Wikimania 2014 Jury
For the Wikimania 2014 Jury
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James D. Forrester
jdforrester(a)gmail.com
[[Wikipedia:User:Jdforrester|James F.]] (speaking purely in a personal capacity)