I just wanted to clarify something here about the Berlin meeting, because I feel my initial email may have came across as a little harsh.  My understanding was that a lot of restrictions were put forward by the venue itself, rather than the chapter.  The meetings outside the venue had beer and sausages, which I found most agreeable :-).  I didn't make a fuss or complain, because I saw it as a case of "their house, their rules".  And we were blessed to be in an area of Berlin with plenty of restaurants, so I was able to go to a fish restaurant and a steak restaurant after the conference broke.

But what I said about not being able to please everyone, especially when they're a bunch as diverse as we are, stands.  It sounds like the Haifa crew are on the ball by making sure that there are alternatives available for those who have particular cultural or religious requirements.

Cheers,
Craig

On 22 July 2011 01:15, Deryck Chan <deryckchan@gmail.com> wrote:

I must agree with Craig here: that the chapters conference served only vegan food this year wasn't a popular decision among southeast Asian delegates either. You can't please everyone, and it is important to know whom to please. Avoiding Sabbath and Ramadan is probably a good culturally aware idea for a Wikimania in Israel; abstinence from pork for a Wikimania in Poland (there were vegetarian options) probably not.

On Jul 21, 2011 8:27 PM, "Craig Franklin" <craig@halo-17.net> wrote:
> The problem with what you're proposing is that everyone has something they
> don't want to see, and sooner or later you'll annoy someone by omitting
> something they need. Case in point: the recent Chapters conference in
> Berlin was vegan food only, which clashed with my cultural requirement to
> have fish on a Friday.
>
> You simply can't make everyone happy.
>
> On 21 July 2011 22:22, WereSpielChequers <werespielchequers@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> The reason why I suggested that we make a commitment that "future
>> Wikimanias won't clash with Ramadan or certain other "culturally
>> sensitive" dates", Is that as Harel pointed out it isn't just Islam
>> that has dates we should avoid (and I appreciate that Muslims are
>> exempt from their fast on their way to and from Wikimania). I accept
>> that it won't be easy to come up with dates that work for a culturally
>> sensitive global organisation, and I'm aware that this isn't the first
>> time we've clashed with Ramadan. Globalisation is hard, coming up with
>> a midyear date that doesn't clash with anything we don't want to clash
>> with will not be easy, but if we truly want to Globalise the pedia we
>> should at least try to do this.
>>
>> I don't observe Ramadan, or watch sport, and I'm happy to eat pork.
>> But if we want future Wikimanias to be open to a truly global
>> community then I believe that we should aim for Gdansk to be the last
>> Wikimania with Pork on the menu and Haifa the last that clashes with
>> any major religious event (I have no objection to a two hour break for
>> sports fans provided there is, as at Gdansk, an alternative for the
>> sportsphobic amongst us).
>>
>> WereSpielChequers
>>
>> On 20 July 2011 22:41, Casey Brown <lists@caseybrown.org> wrote:
>> > On Wed, Jul 20, 2011 at 4:11 PM, Manuel Schneider
>> > <manuel.schneider@wikimedia.ch> wrote:
>> >> We discussed that last year and someone came up with a sensible remark:
>> >>
>> >> If you are travelling during Ramadan, you are excempted from the fast.
>> >
>> > It should also be noted that Wikimania 2009 also took place during
>> > Ramadan, and Wikimania 2012 will miss it by only a few days.
>> >
>> > There's also already a page on wikimania2011wiki directed at the
>> > Muslim Ramadan-observing Wikimaniacs that has been up for almost an
>> > entire year (August 2010!).
>> > <http://wikimania2011.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ramadan>
>> >
>> > Having Wikimania during Ramadan isn't a showstopper... they can still
>> > partake in all of the normal Wikimania activities, and this year's
>> > Wikimania has already made plans to support them.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Casey Brown
>> > Cbrown1023
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Wikimania-l mailing list
>> > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org
>> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
>> >
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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