On 20 July 2011 18:26, Nathan nawrich@gmail.com wrote:
On Wed, Jul 20, 2011 at 1:09 PM, WereSpielChequers werespielchequers@gmail.com wrote:
There have also been threads on Meta http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimania_2011/Bids/Haifa
However rather than rehashing the decision to hold Wikimania in Israel during Ramadan, or even trying to send out some last minute invitations, may I suggest that we start focussing in on some of the lessons to be learned from this?
I'd particularly like to see a commitment that future Wikimanias won't clash with Ramadan or certain other "culturally sensitive" dates. It will be difficult to list which ones we can't clash with and which we can accommodate by having two hours break in a sports bar (Gdansk clashed with some sort of sporting event). But we should at least try.
Oh and I think there is still time to get more virtual involvement.
WereSpielChequers
It was the World Cup. Like anything, decisions have to be made about which accommodations are reasonable and which are not. Ramadan for a Wikimania in the Middle East might make sense... Ramadan for a Wikimania in North America or Western Europe may not (it is, after all, not 2 hours but a full month). Wikimanias are typically held in July and August, and Ramadan will conflict with that timeframe for at least several more years.
(I suspect WereSpielChequers knew it was the World Cup and was being facetious. ;-) )
I agree, avoiding Ramadan isn't really feasible. Wikimania is always held in the summer, and I don't think we should change that. Holding it in the summer but not in Ramadan gives us very little flexibility (at least for the next few years - as you say, Ramadan will have moved out of the usual Wikimania period after that).