Hi.
I believe Harel idea is an important issue to discuss. I've participated of the last two Wikimanias. A good idea wikimedians from South American chapters had was of local meetings - it was during that meeting of regional chapters.
Maybe having regional Wikimanias one year and global Wikimania another could be good. The regional meeting could be used for strenghening ties among some places where Wikimedia Foundation is trying to expand its projects, for example, developing countries such as India and Brazil.
The best ideas and *actions* created on these regional meeting could even serve for selecting who would go to the global meeting, on the next year.
Even having more meetings on the year of regional meeting, maybe the travel expenses would be reduced and the meetings more useful for expanding Wikemedia Foundation aims.
Regards,
Tom