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OSM mapping party report
by aude 23 Aug '11

23 Aug '11

Here's a write-up, photos, and the map (before/after) for the mapping party held during Wikimania: http://www.openstreetmap.org/user/aude/diary/14605 In sum, we gave a workshop, followed by taking ~25 participants out on the streets of Haifa to collect map data, broke into 4 smaller groups. Big thanks to Eugene (seav), MADe, Zvika, Yarl, and Polimerek, all experienced mappers, who helped lead the groups, as well as the Hebrew speakers who accompanied us. The map (http://osm.org/go/xtTsF0inF-) is drastically improved, with excellent follow-up by the mappers to get the information entered into the map. We've also uncovered a bunch of RTL bugs in OSM, and could use help to address them. Cheers, Katie -- President, Wiki Society of Washington, DC Inc. http://wikidc.org @wikidc / @wikimania2012

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Partial scholarship system
by maarten deneckere 22 Aug '11

22 Aug '11

Hey, On the Wikimania wiki<http://wikimania2011.wikimedia.org/wiki/Feedback#Scholarships>we have some discussions on the best way to organize the "partial scholarships". We want to prevent that people from countries far away from the venue (Australia, Canada, thirld world countries, ...) stay home because the partial scholarship does not help them enough. We don't want them all to request a full scholarship, either. Please help us for the next conference, and fill in the questionnaire on https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dG1BaUJHZkpJS2… Everybody can fill in this form (even if you didn't attend, or didn't find funding), so send this to everybody that wanted to come! Grtz, Maarten

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Ramadan etc.
by Federico Leva (Nemo) 22 Aug '11

22 Aug '11

WereSpielChequers, 21/08/2011 23:10: > but clearly holding our annual conference in Israel > during Ramadan was not the best way to encourage people from Islamic > countries to attend. I hope that in future we can make sure that > Wikimania is more inclusive than that. It was also during Shabbat, by the way (which is a traditional problem even for Wikimedia Italia general assembly...). I don't know how big an impact Ramadan has had. I think that Meir Sheetrit has done more to explain us why the participation of arab israelis and palestinians in Wikimedia is so low, than the associations protesting against Israel[1]; I mean, when he said how expensive Internet connections are in Israel, and why this must change. Nemo [1] That might be because I'd normally agree with them so I knew the things they said.

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old mails
by phoebe ayers 19 Aug '11

19 Aug '11

A bunch of old mails that had gotten stuck in moderation due to having attachments got released early this morning; sorry about the confusion. And enjoy the press clipping :) phoebe

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A trip to Petra after Wikimania
by dror1975＠icqmail.com 17 Aug '11

17 Aug '11

Hi, Here are two useful links from Jordan Tourism Board: http://www.visitjordan.com/visitjordan_cms/GeneralInformation/GettingAround… - List of border crossing. My advice: Either go eastwards across the Lower Galilee from Haifa to Beit Shean, cross the border at Sheikh Hossein Bridge and continue southward in Jordan, or go southward along the Israeli coast, then go to Beersheba, then on the road to Eilat cross the border at the Wadi Araba Crossing (Petra is quite near). Don't use the Allenby/King Hossein Bridge because it is the main gate from and into the West Bank, which means three kinds of authorities (Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian), more people waiting in line, more forms to fill in and more potential headaches. According to this site, Jordanian visas are issued on the spot at the crossing. Note - unlike the Israeli authorities, the Jordanian authorities insist on stamping the passport itself. http://www.visitjordan.com/default.aspx?tabid=63 - Views of Petra on that site. It is considered one of the most remarkable sites in the region, and the most prominent tourist attraction in Jordan. Jordan is tourist-friendly and quite cheap. Most people can communicate in English. Please note that August falls on Ramadan, so most people you are going to meet in Jordan will be fasting during daylight hours. Be considerate. One more warning - this is August and Petra is in the middle of the desert. Temperature might rise as high as 40 centigrade. Cars, buses and most rooms are air-conditioned, but when you walk outside, cover yourself well with light clothes and drink a lot (but not in front of those who fast). Dror K

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Thanks for all the fish... and lessons learned
by Delphine Ménard 17 Aug '11

17 Aug '11

I'll add my thanks to the chorus. It was an amazing Wikimania. Having participated in the organisation of quite a few Wikimanias, and since Itzik asked somewhere for "critics" so that they can do better next time, here are a few things that come to mind. I'd urge everyone to answer this thread to keep things in one place so that the team from next year can benefit from those. * Badges: badges should be recognizable at a glance. Especially for press. But also for organizers, speakers etc.. By the time I arrived, everyone had a different lanyard, some had written badges, other printed... complicated. Make more badges than you will ever need (a safe assumption is to print about at least twice the number of badges you think you'll need). Choose colors that people can recognize at a glance. Especially for the press (I'll never stress that enough). * Food: the food was so excellent it's not even funny (wow the hummus). But I've seen _lots_ of people looking for the vegetarian food without ever knowing which it was. So: Label food. Name of the food, principal ingredients (some are allergic to say... bell pepper, can't have milk etc.), vegetarian, kosher, whatever is of importance, make it clear. * Moderation in the sessions: Have a _seasoned_ moderator in each room. Someone whose only job it is to cut short presentations that are too long, who can moderate discussions/questions if there is a need. Someone nasty ;). That's about it for the main things I've seen, the rest was just great. :) Cheers, Delphine -- @notafish NB. This gmail address is used for mailing lists. Personal emails will get lost. Intercultural musings: Ceci n'est pas une endive - http://blog.notanendive.org Photos with simple eyes: notaphoto - http://photo.notafish.org

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Thank you Wikimedia Israel!
by Erik Moeller 16 Aug '11

16 Aug '11

Huge, huge thanks to WM Israel for Wikimania 2011--a beautiful gift to the community. You've been wonderful hosts, patient organizers, great friends. The conference has been a true pleasure, and having gone to all of them, you've really set an incredibly high bar for the teams to come. Thank you, thank you, thank you: you've given us all so much energy, so much fun, so much enlightenment. And a really kick-ass party. :-) Love, Erik

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Mail from finance@wikimania.org.il
by Niklas Laxström 16 Aug '11

16 Aug '11

Looks like at least some of us have gotten email from finance(a)wikimania.org.il. It's all in Hebrew and seems to mention invoice4u. Could someone clarify what it is about and whether it needs acting upon? -Niklas -- Niklas Laxström

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Fwd: Wikimania 2011: Thank you!
by Itzik Edri 15 Aug '11

15 Aug '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Wikimania 2011 <wikimania-info(a)wikimedia.org> Date: Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 1:20 PM Subject: Wikimania 2011: Thank you! To: itzik(a)infra.co.il [image: Wikimania 2011 website]<http://wikimedia.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e76bc57bf194f09fd2e6012d…> *Dear Wikimaniacs!* Thank you. Before anything else we would like to thank each and every one of you. *Thank you for being part of this amazing experience.* Thank you for a week of exaltation, the most exciting and inspiring week we have ever had. For over a year, the team of volunteers worked on the production of Wikimania 2011. We had all kinds of concerns about problems or things that might not work. When it comes to such a complicated organization, with tens of suppliers and hundreds of participants, we had all the reasons to fear that something, however small, might go wrong and harm the whole event. It is a great feeling to realize that none of these concerns materialized. We saw your smiles at the beach party; we saw you dancing happily. We blushed when we heard your complements. Only then did we allow ourselves to relax for a moment and wear a smile on our faces; a smile of satisfaction – *we have made it.* In his opening talk, Tomer described the complexity of organizing such a conference. Also, Deror, at the closing ceremony, shared with you the story of the long way we had gone in the past year producing Wikimania 2011. There is no need for me to repeat their words. However, it is important to me to say that Wikimania is first and foremost a community meet-up. It is not another conference. Beside its important goal of sharing ideas and discuss the movement's activities and the collaborative work of volunteers from all around the globe, it is primarily a once-a-year opportunity for hundreds of activists from tens of countries throughout the world to meet – to say hello to good old friends, get acquainted with new people, and, of course, to enjoy every minute. *For more photos, check our Flickr stream<http://wikimedia.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e76bc57bf194f09fd2e6012d…> * This is the principle that we bore in our minds during the entire production process of this conference, namely to let you enjoy yourself as much as possible. We hope we succeeded in making Wikimania in Haifa a significant experience. This is our gift to you and our way of saying thank you for your longstanding activity as volunteers in favor of the whole world. On behalf of Wikimedia Israel, I would like to thank, once again, the tens of volunteers who worked so hard on the production of the event. Some of them had to bustle around and could not hear a single presentation, and yet they had the pleasure of ensuring your enjoyment. We wish the best of luck to the team of Wikimania 2012 in Washington DC<http://wikimedia.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=e76bc57bf194f09fd2e6012…>. It is not easy to produce Wikimania, and only those who have had this experience can understand how much time and effort it takes of your daily lives during almost a year. Dear friends, we are here for you and we will be happy to assist you in any way possible. *See you next year in Washington DC!* *Itzik Edri* *Spokesman, Wikimedia Israel* *Wikimania 2011 local team* itzik(a)wikimedia.org.il *"..I've had the time of my life. No I never felt this way before, Yes I swear it's the truth, and I owe it all to you" --Time of my life.*

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Re: [Wikimania-l] Thank you Wikimedia Israel!
by Rajesh Pandey 15 Aug '11

15 Aug '11

I would like to thank the organizers of Wikimania 2011, and the volunteers involved. I would like to thank for their concern about safety, effort and hard work. The event management was great. We didn't have to worry about anything at all and things were much better than I had ever thought it would be. In overall Wikimania 2011 was a great success!. At the airport everyone knew about Wikimania and even in the passport control, during security checking the staffs knew that we were from Wikimania by just looking at our T-shirts and badges inside our luggage and gave us special preferences, took off from long queues and put at the front row, had less trouble getting in and out just because I had the Wikimania badges, tags and the T-shirt. :) Thank you Wikimania 2011 team and all the best for Wikimania 2012 team. > On Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 6:47 PM, KIZU Naoko <aphaia(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > +1 > > > +1 indeed. Wikimania 2011 was an awesome conference. Everything the > organizers could control came close to perfection; they did a great > job. The only thing you guys couldn't do was avoid the Wikimania Heat > Curse, but that's hardly your fault :) > > In particular, the high-profile Israeli speakers you attracted were > great. I forget their names, but the talks from Prof. Benkler (sp? I > mean the Harvard prof) and the Knesset committee chair were very good. > > (I hear Washington is gonna be about as hot as Haifa, albeit with less > humidity. Wikimania 2013 in Reykjavik? Maybe we can make peace with > the volcano that way too. :D) > > > You the team rocks. Not only the conference in general I mean here - > > you guys could have ignored some petty minor requests and inquires > > just saying "it's out of our business" "we're busy". Sometimes I even > > felt guilty to see your team's quick responses to the list and > > elsewhere. > I experienced the same thing: after asserting on identi.ca and Twitter > that WM11 would have streaming, I got 3 or 4 replies from different > organizers correcting me and apologizing for the lack of streaming, > all in a few hours. Special thanks in this category to Danny B, who > gave me the impression he had made it his personal mission to look > after me, getting me water when I was presenting and polaroid pictures > at the party, even though I'm sure he was plenty busy with other > things. > > I wish the WM11 team lots of recovery sleep after what I'm sure has > been an exhausting week, and the WM12 team the best of luck trying to > live up to this excellent example. > > Roan > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2011 15:35:04 +0300 > From: James Hare <messedrocker(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [Wikimania-l] Thank you Wikimedia Israel! > To: "Wikimania general list (open subscription)" > <wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> > Message-ID: <A50E8285-2E57-437A-BCC4-3EF078720904(a)gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > Washington is about as hot as Haifa but *more* humid. > > Sent from my iPhone (sorry for top posting) > > On Aug 8, 2011, at 1:54 PM, Roan Kattouw <roan.kattouw(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > On Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 6:47 PM, KIZU Naoko <aphaia(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> +1 > >> > > +1 indeed. Wikimania 2011 was an awesome conference. Everything the > > organizers could control came close to perfection; they did a great > > job. The only thing you guys couldn't do was avoid the Wikimania Heat > > Curse, but that's hardly your fault :) > > > > In particular, the high-profile Israeli speakers you attracted were > > great. I forget their names, but the talks from Prof. Benkler (sp? I > > mean the Harvard prof) and the Knesset committee chair were very good. > > > > (I hear Washington is gonna be about as hot as Haifa, albeit with less > > humidity. Wikimania 2013 in Reykjavik? Maybe we can make peace with > > the volcano that way too. :D) > > > >> You the team rocks. Not only the conference in general I mean here - > >> you guys could have ignored some petty minor requests and inquires > >> just saying "it's out of our business" "we're busy". Sometimes I even > >> felt guilty to see your team's quick responses to the list and > >> elsewhere. > > I experienced the same thing: after asserting on identi.ca and Twitter > > that WM11 would have streaming, I got 3 or 4 replies from different > > organizers correcting me and apologizing for the lack of streaming, > > all in a few hours. Special thanks in this category to Danny B, who > > gave me the impression he had made it his personal mission to look > > after me, getting me water when I was presenting and polaroid pictures > > at the party, even though I'm sure he was plenty busy with other > > things. > > > > I wish the WM11 team lots of recovery sleep after what I'm sure has > > been an exhausting week, and the WM12 team the best of luck trying to > > live up to this excellent example. > > > > Roan > > -- Rajesh Pandey

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