Just to subscribe what Mike says. It has always been awkward to approach
academics or any potential extra-Wikimedia speaker/attendee and having to
explain that *despite its name* Wikimania tries to be a serious conference
(I remember for instance when we organized Wikimania 2009 in Buenos Aires,
but not only). I've always thought that it was too much of a subtle and
secondary topic to raise it, but seeing that many people share the same
concerns perhaps it's something the Wikimania Committee could consider.
Best,
Galileo
On Fri, Nov 4, 2016 at 8:00 PM, Michael Peel <email(a)mikepeel.net> wrote:
There is now the Wikimania Committee:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee
Perhaps a decision/formal consultation on a name change could come from
them, if they feel it's appropriate?
Personally, I've always been a bit uneasy with '-mania' for the reasons
that Gordon identified - plus getting academics to take you seriously when
you're saying you'll be attending a conference called 'Wikimania' is
always
a bit tricky (first there's the 'wiki' part, then the 'mania' part,
then
there's both combined!). So I think it's worth rethinking the name at some
point.
BTW, "periods of great excitement, euphoria, delusions, and overactivity"
probably describes quite a few Wikimedians!
Thanks,
Mike
On 4 Nov 2016, at 20:37, Asaf Bartov <abartov(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
A word on process:
quite apart from the fact we've had this conversation before (it's fine to
have it again, as Lodewijk says), what bothers me is that there is *no
clear way it could have a result*. There is no identified group or person
empowered with deciding on a name change, so however persuasive your
arguments might be, on either side, this conversation is doomed to end the
way all the others had: with zero change.
It seems to me that the only way the name would ever change is if some
year's *hosting team* were to decide to change it. They would be able to
de-facto determine the name of the conference and literally effect it, in
branding, merchandise, etc. It follows that if you want change, you should
focus on advocating to the Montreal team, or to a future year's team, once
determined.
A.
On Fri, Nov 4, 2016 at 2:40 PM Nicholas Michael Bashour <
nicholasbashour(a)gmail.com> wrote:
From Wikipedia article about Beatlemania:
"The use of the word mania to describe fandom pre-dates the Beatles by
more than 100 years. Beginning in 1841, fans of Hungarian pianist and
composer Franz Liszt showed a level of fanaticism similar to the Beatles.
Poet Heinrich Heine coined the word "Lisztomania" to describe this...The
term later became the name of various tribute bands dedicated to singing
the songs of the Beatles, many with impersonators of the group.[19][20] The
term has had a number of derivatives with the suffix "mania", usually
short-lived, to describe a similar phenomenon toward other bands, such as
"Rollermania"[21] in the early 1970s for the Scottish band Bay City
Rollers, "Menudomanía" in the 1980s to describe frenzy across Latin America
for the boyband Menudo, "Spicemania" in the 1990s[22][23] for the Spice
Girls and "Jedwardmania" in the 2010s for Jedward. More recently, the
"mania" suffix is often placed at the end of sports figures' names when
they acquire sudden popularity, such as Hulkamania during the professional
wrestling career of Hulk Hogan, or "Tebowmania" for football player Tim
Tebow in 2011. It is also used to describe the following of other public
figures, such as politician Jeremy Corbyn - Corbynmania - at the height of
his popularity, as well as actor Leonardo DiCaprio - Leomania - in the
period following his breakthrough performance in the hit film Titanic.[24]"
2016-11-04 17:37 GMT-04:00 Daniel Kinzler <daniel.kinzler(a)wikimedia.de>de>:
Am 04.11.2016 um 22:34 schrieb Nkansah Rexford:
Mania: "mental illness marked by periods of
great excitement, euphoria,
delusions, and overactivity."
Second meaning: "extreme enthusiasm for something that is usually shared
by many
people". --
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mania
Sounds about right to me...
--
Daniel Kinzler
Senior Software Developer
Wikimedia Deutschland
Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e.V.
_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list
Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list
Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list
Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list
Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l