It can actually get even more complex than this. The question is, “Outreach to whom?” If we’re talking outreach to emerging economies, then your answer is spot on. But if it’s outreach to a certain sector, such as GLAM or higher ed, then it may make sense to have it where there are a critical mass of those folks.

For example, we’ve rarely considered co-locating Wikimania with other like-minded institutions, or adjacent to existing conferences, which might in fact be in Western hub cities. That is another style of outreach.

This is something a year-by-year bidding process struggles at doing well, whereas a committee can help facilitate a community process that designs things several years in advance. That’s why even though I supported the community bidding process early in Wikimania’s history, we have seen its many downsides. I support a different approach today that can help engineer more optimal outcomes.

Agree, and through the committee, this is something we can help get input from the community and help steer, so that different years might emphasize different parts of this checklist.

-Andrew