another criticism is that it should be equalized for all Wikimedia-
sponsored trips... last time, I believe it was Sue who mentioned
that this would simply result in much less travel and participation.
Less travel need not mean less participation. Take the money you were
going to spend on jet fuel and hotel salaries, and invest it in
videoconf infrastructure (some mix of software, better cameras and
mics, and even timeshare access to video meeting rooms in hundreds of
cities around the world). The whole movement would benefit from that,
not only those with time to fly.
Wikimedia CH already set up a videoconference tools for the movement, we use it during the Education meeting in Milan and it works well.
Like all videoconf system, the bottleneck is the bandwidth of each participant.
Manuel already publish a list of the material needed for a perfect videoconf, but actually you only need a computer, a webcam and an headset (a mobile phone bluetooth headset make a perfect wireless mic).
The tools wkimedia CH choose is intend for on line teaching, it means that we have recording possibility, that box , desktop sharing (need java browser) and presentation display (open format or pdf are the most efficient)
It would be really easy to broadcast any talks or workshop during wikimania, we only need at the minimum:
-one volunteer per conf/workshop to broadcast with a computer, a mic and a webcam (not a built in, not convenient).
If there is a real demand for broadcasting the Wikimania , Wikimedia CH can coordinate the effort.
As a side note, wikimedia CH is asking from any recipient of a scholarship to provide a report about their "Wikimania" in order to share the experience with those who not attend. I think that in the future it may be fair to ask to all scholarship recipient to participate to a joint effort to make wikimania available for everyone in the wikimedia movement (broadcasting or taking minutes on ether pad)
Cheers
Charles
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