*Hello all,We wanted to share the latest news on Wikimania with you.We are
very excited to be hosted by Cape Town for Wikimania 2018 in July. As you
may know, Cape Town has been experiencing a drought for some time; the
Foundation and Wikimania organizers have been carefully monitoring the
situation. We have looked at a range of options and will continually assess
the situation to ensure that we both support the local community and manage
our ability to host an outstanding event. We have created a page on the
Wikimania wiki to track developments.[1] “Day Zero”—the day city water was
meant to run out—was pushed back by several months to reflect the
effectiveness of the ongoing campaign to save water, and has most recently
been indefinitely postponed thanks to efforts by the citizens of Cape Town.
To help conserve water we will be asked to: - Take short showers.
Visitors and residents alike are asked to limit their showers to two
minutes (120 seconds).- Flush only when necessary to dispose of solid
waste.- Use hand sanitizers instead of washing hands after bathroom
visits.- Don’t leave water running. For example, when brushing your teeth
use water in a cup to rinse.Although attendees will be asked to save water
as much as possible, the hotel assures us it has a secure water supply that
is both administered separately from the city's system and drawn from
multiple independent sources (including groundwater and desalination).
While the drought will impact our comfort, we will have plenty of water to
meet our needs for hydration and sanitation. We will strive to be cognizant
of the impact our presence has on the city’s water supply.It is clear that
the city is eager to have our presence.[2] Cape Town is highly dependent on
tourism, which will help fund the infrastructure the city needs to deal
with ongoing challenges of water conservation. Our presence will also have
a positive impact on other organizations hoping to hold their events there
as well. We will continue to closely monitor the situation, but at this
juncture we are committed to holding Wikimania in Cape Town. Holding
Wikimania in Cape Town provides us the opportunity to show we are truly a
global movement. The water crisis currently faced by Cape Town is an issue
that will soon affect cities and people around the world, so there are
valuable lessons even as we join the local community in their conservation
efforts. Perhaps most important is each person’s commitment to respect for
our host city, and eagerness to attend at this time in service to that
community. Wikimania is an exciting but stressful event and there are going
to be additional stressors, please consider that when making travel
decisions. For those accustomed to unrestricted water, this may challenge
you and we strongly suggest you make the decision whether to attend with
full information about the restrictions, and understanding about how they
may affect your visit.[2] We very much hope you will choose to join us, but
of course, no one is required to attend.If you have any questions regarding
Wikimania, please send them my way. We expect to announce the program by
early May.Best regards,Ellie YoungWikimedia Foundation Events Manager[1]
https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/Water_shortage
<https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/Water_shortage>[2]
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/africa/south-africa/…
<https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/africa/south-africa/…>
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-water-tourism/fearing-tourist-dr…
<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-water-tourism/fearing-tourist-dr…>
and
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/africa/south-africa/cape-to…
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/africa/south-africa/cape-to…>
*
If there are any chapters that are considering offering scholarships to
attend Wikimania '18 in Cape Town this year, can you please include
information about your program on the Wikimania Scholarship section at:
https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/Attend
Also if chapter wishes to have access to segments of the applicant pool
that applied to the Foundation for a scholarship, please get in touch with
me directly. We plan to announce the list of recipients in early April, but
will be getting in touch with everyone late this month regarding the status
of their application.
Thanks all!
Ellie
PS Don't forget to submit
<https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions> to Wikimania '18.
Deadline is coming up March 18th!
--
Ellie Young
Events Manager
Wikimedia Foundation
eyoung(a)wikimedia.org
Hello everyone,
Please would you make a colorful name tag for those people who do not want
to be photographed.
Thank you in advance. I appreciate it.
My best regards,
Geraldshields11
Past wiki event photographer
On Thu, Feb 8, 2018 at 7:00 AM <wikimania-l-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
wrote:
> Send Wikimania-l mailing list submissions to
> wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
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>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Wikimania-l digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Wikimania 2019 (Naureen)
> 2. Re: Wikimania 2019 (Itzik - Wikimedia Israel)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2018 00:27:04 +0000
> From: Naureen <msnora(a)gmail.com>
> To: "Wikimania general list (open subscription)"
> <wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Subject: Re: [Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2019
> Message-ID:
> <CAG_O8OrzX07=
> 2o9WZMyxpfDM5_MnE0xTcMKfvUAbTD_iG2DS-A(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Grattis! I’m in Sweden now! If any of you want help with planning, do let
> me know while I’m around attending school in Stockholm.
>
> Naureen
>
> On Wed, Feb 7, 2018 at 1:19 PM, Sailesh Patnaik <
> sailesh.patnaik007(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Congratulations to all Wikimedians from Sweden and Wikimedia Sverige :)
> >
> > On Wed, 7 Feb 2018 at 7:29 AM, Ellie Young <eyoung(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> *All,On behalf of the Wikimania Steering Committee and the Wikimedia
> >> Foundation, I am pleased to announce that we have decided to have
> Wikimania
> >> located in Sweden in 2019. The proposal
> >> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2019_bids/Sweden> from the
> >> Wikimedia Sweden chapter was accepted. The committee appreciates and
> values
> >> the long standing interest of Wikimania Sweden to host an event, and we
> >> believe that hosting Wikimania will be an opportunity to boost Wikimedia
> >> projects there with a specific focus on public art, a field in which the
> >> Swedish Sverige team has been particularly active. The exact location
> of
> >> the conference will be confirmed at a later date.The Wikimania Committee
> >> reviewed and discussed four very strong proposals
> >> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2019> to host Wikimania in
> 2019.
> >> We would also like to thank the proposers from Sweden, Armenia, Perth,
> and
> >> Prague for all their efforts in putting together materials for our
> >> consideration and their time spent discussing the possibilities. It is
> very
> >> encouraging to have so much interest from our community from individuals
> >> who wish to lead and contribute to Wikimania.Please join us in
> >> congratulating the Wikimedia Wikimedia Sverige!
> >> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Huvudsida>Sincerely,Ellie YoungWMF
> Events
> >> ManagerOn behalf of the Wikimania Steering Committee and Wikimedia
> >> Foundation*
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Wikimania-l mailing list
> >> Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
> >>
> > --
> > Sailesh
> > _______________________________________________
> > Wikimania-l mailing list
> > Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
> >
> --
> *Naureen Nayyar*
> Naureen.co
> +1.646.481.6672
> @norabean
>
*All,On behalf of the Wikimania Steering Committee and the Wikimedia
Foundation, I am pleased to announce that we have decided to have Wikimania
located in Sweden in 2019. The proposal
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2019_bids/Sweden> from the
Wikimedia Sweden chapter was accepted. The committee appreciates and values
the long standing interest of Wikimania Sweden to host an event, and we
believe that hosting Wikimania will be an opportunity to boost Wikimedia
projects there with a specific focus on public art, a field in which the
Swedish Sverige team has been particularly active. The exact location of
the conference will be confirmed at a later date.The Wikimania Committee
reviewed and discussed four very strong proposals
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2019> to host Wikimania in 2019.
We would also like to thank the proposers from Sweden, Armenia, Perth, and
Prague for all their efforts in putting together materials for our
consideration and their time spent discussing the possibilities. It is very
encouraging to have so much interest from our community from individuals
who wish to lead and contribute to Wikimania.Please join us in
congratulating the Wikimedia Wikimedia Sverige!
<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Huvudsida>Sincerely,Ellie YoungWMF Events
ManagerOn behalf of the Wikimania Steering Committee and Wikimedia
Foundation*
This is very exciting indeed. We are looking forward to welcoming you to
Sweden in 2019!
Thank you all for making it a reality.
On behalf of Wikimedia Sverige,
John Andersson
Executive Director
Den 7 feb. 2018 08:27 skrev <wikimania-l-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org>:
Send Wikimania-l mailing list submissions to
wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
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You can reach the person managing the list at
wikimania-l-owner(a)lists.wikimedia.org
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of Wikimania-l digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Wikimania 2019 (Ellie Young)
2. Re: Wikimania 2019 (Stryn)
3. Re: Wikimania 2019 (Rémy Gerbet)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2018 17:58:45 -0800
From: Ellie Young <eyoung(a)wikimedia.org>
To: "Wikimania general list (open subscription)"
<wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>, Wikimedia Mailing List
<wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>, Staff All
<wmfall(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Subject: [Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2019
Message-ID:
<CA+cWZG7O+4f9xobKS-V5Vi2H-Jh7LruW5xbaNuf3jRmi=xT-1w(a)mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
*All,On behalf of the Wikimania Steering Committee and the Wikimedia
Foundation, I am pleased to announce that we have decided to have Wikimania
located in Sweden in 2019. The proposal
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2019_bids/Sweden> from the
Wikimedia Sweden chapter was accepted. The committee appreciates and values
the long standing interest of Wikimania Sweden to host an event, and we
believe that hosting Wikimania will be an opportunity to boost Wikimedia
projects there with a specific focus on public art, a field in which the
Swedish Sverige team has been particularly active. The exact location of
the conference will be confirmed at a later date.The Wikimania Committee
reviewed and discussed four very strong proposals
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2019> to host Wikimania in 2019.
We would also like to thank the proposers from Sweden, Armenia, Perth, and
Prague for all their efforts in putting together materials for our
consideration and their time spent discussing the possibilities. It is very
encouraging to have so much interest from our community from individuals
who wish to lead and contribute to Wikimania.Please join us in
congratulating the Wikimedia Wikimedia Sverige!
<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Huvudsida>Sincerely,Ellie YoungWMF Events
ManagerOn behalf of the Wikimania Steering Committee and Wikimedia
Foundation*
Dear Wikimedia community,
We are pleased to announce that Wikimania 2018 is now accepting proposals
for workshops, discussions, presentations, or research posters to give
during the conference. To read the full instructions visit the event wiki
and click on the link provided there to make your proposal:
https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions
The deadline for submissions is 23:59 UTC on *Sunday March 18, 2018*.
This is approximately 6 weeks away. Whether you are a community member of
one of the Wikimedia projects, or a fellow open content creator or
consumer, we welcome your proposal for a session.
*Theme*
This year, the conference will be taking place in Cape Town, South Africa,
where the organisers are giving this Wikimania a unique flavor — an
explicit theme based in African philosophy:
“Bridging knowledge gaps, the *ubuntu* way forward.”
Read more about this theme, why it was chosen, and what it means for the
conference program at the Wikimedia blog:
*https://blog.wikimedia.org/2018/02/05/wikimania-cape-town-ubuntu/
<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2018/02/05/wikimania-cape-town-ubuntu/>*
Throughout the conference program, this theme will be tightly held, but
loosely defined - in order to encourage a diverse range of responses to the
theme. It is our hope that this theme will give us the opportunity to
further our goal of creating the “sum of human knowledge”, by encouraging
greater diversity and inclusion in who participates and what we discuss at
Wikimania.
To learn more, and to make a proposal for the conference, please visit:
https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions
Please forward this announcement to other lists and groups across the
Wikimedia movement.
<https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions>
We look forward to reading your submissions. Sincerely,
*Program committee co-chairs Emna Mizouni, Felix Nartey, and Liam Wyatt.*
Hi all,
We wanted to inform you that scholarship applications for Wikimania 2018 which is being held in Cape Town, South Africa on July 18–22, 2018 are now being accepted. Applications are open until Monday, 22 January 2018 23:59 UTC.
Applicants will be able to apply for a partial or full scholarship. A full scholarship will cover the cost of an individual's round-trip travel, shared accommodation, and conference registration fees as arranged by the Wikimedia Foundation. A partial scholarship will cover conference registration fees and shared accommodation.
Applicants will be rated using a pre-determined selection process and selection criteria established by the Scholarship Committee and the Wikimedia Foundation, who will determine which applications are successful.
To learn more about Wikimania 2018 scholarships, please visit: https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships
To apply for a scholarship, fill out the multi-language application form on:https://scholarships.wikimedia.org/apply
It is highly recommended that applicants review all the material on the Scholarships page and the associated FAQ ( https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships/FAQ ) before submitting an application.
If you have any questions, please contact: wikimania-scholarships(a)wikimedia.org or leave a message at: https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Scholarships.
Please help us spread the word and translate pages!
Best regards,
David Richfield and Martin Rulsch
for the Scholarship Committee
https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarship_committee
There have been a number of articles in the news recently about the
drought/water situation in Cape Town. Here is information we have
obtained from the Cape Town Visitors and Convention Services Bureau.
“The City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Provincial Government are doing
everything in their powers to mitigate the challenges faced by the ongoing
drought in the region.
Importantly, at the current dam levels, the City of Cape Town has assured
us that Cape Town will not run out of water until March next year and by
then several of the City’s initiatives will have come on line to push that
day out even further. By working together with businesses, through a
variety of initiatives, the aim of the local and provincial governments is
to ensure that the taps do not run dry at any point.
>From a tourist perspective, it is important to realise that despite Cape
Town being a popular destination, foreign tourists only make up on average
1% of the population of the Western Cape Province at any given time, and
total tourists (foreign and local) constitute only 3,4% of the total
provincial population on the busiest days.
There is thus no need for tourists to change their plans or to consider
alternate destinations.
That said, visitors are asked to be aware of the current water crisis
facing the city and province and to adopt the approach launched by the City
to ‘Save like a Local’.
For useful resources and water saving tips please visit:
https://www.capetown.gov.za/Family%20and%20home/
residential-utility-services/residential-water-and-sanitation-services/make-
water-saving-a-way-of-life
We do not believe this is an issue that should cause people to 'panic' or
not attend.
On behalf of the Wikimania '18 organizing team,
Ellie
--
Ellie Young
Events Manager
Wikimedia Foundation
eyoung(a)wikimedia.org
Dear Wikimaniacs,
I write with sadness to inform you about the recent death of Austin Hair,
an avid Wikimania guru and listadmin of wikimania-l.
Please direct all condolences and memories to
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Austin/Memorial .
--Deryck
Dear Wikimaniacs,
we are now calling for the Scholarship Committee.
The Scholarship Committee is an important and diverse group of volunteers
who help to run the scholarship program. We encourage people from all
Wikimedia wikis to apply for this position so that the committee can handle
applications in many different languages.
The main duties of the committee members prior to Wikimania 2018 are:
* Participation in periodic online meetings with scholarships program
manager and other committee members.
* Review and edit communications material (e.g. application questions).
* Assistance in determination of scholarship applicant requirements.
* Assurance of due consideration and speedy response time to Wikimania
scholarship applications in multiple languages.
For further information please visit
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Handbook#Scholarships and
https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships.
We are looking for Wikimedians from all over the world, who are:
* fluent in written English and have good communication skills, or can name
local community member(s) who help them with English translations.
* discreet and able to handle confidential applicant information, and
objectively assess candidates.
* willing to review scholarship applications remotely in early 2018,
estimated time is 30 hours. A review guide can be found on
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:TPS/Wikimania_scholars/Reviewer%27s_…
.
* having either or both:
** previously attended Wikimania,
** strong knowledge of the cross-project Wikimedia community.
Scholarship Committee members may not apply for a scholarship themselves
but there is a small budget for supporting committee members to attend
Wikimania. Please tell us if you need financial support in case you’ll be
selected.
If you're interested in serving on the Scholarship Committee, please send
us an email to wikimania-scholarships(a)wikimedia.org. If you have any
questions, please don't hesitate to contact us there as well.
Deadline to apply is Sunday, December 10, 2017. The organizers will contact
all candidates and publish the list of scholarship committee members right
afterwards.
Proposed timeline
* Nov 30–Dec 10: Call for Scholarship Committee
* mid-December: Selection of the Scholarship Committee and start of the
submission time
* 5–26 February (estimated time frame): main review time
Before the start of the submission time, we are adapting the application
process to take recent activities more into account than the years before,
as proposed on wikimania-l. On the one hand we want to encourage returning
Wikimania participants to share their knowledge, on the other newcomers to
Wikimania to apply for a scholarship at all. Former scholarship recipients
can help us with the latter by sharing their successful applications on
MetaWiki:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:TPS/Wikimania_scholars#2017_WMF_Wiki….
In case you don’t have your text at hand, you can send us a confirmation
mail to wikimania-scholarships(a)wikimedia.org where you allow us to publish
it for you.
Above all, we want to support African community members with applying for
scholarships. To achieve that, we are especially looking for volunteers who
want help us with encouraging people, assisting with the application form,
finding the right level of presenting one’s activities, etc. Please reach
out to us if you'd like to help.
Many thanks,
David Richfield
<https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Slashme> and Martin
Rulsch <https://wikimania2018.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:DerHexer>
Wikimania 2018 Scholarship Committee co-organizers