Hi everyone,
This probably comes WAY too late, but better late than never. This was my first Wikimania, definitely and hopefully not my last. I enjoyed the sessions and meeting everyone although I had to leave on the morning of the last day. I would also like to add my thanks to the organizing team and Bibliotheca Alexandrina staff for the efforts put into this.
I tried to quickly read all of the post-conference mailing list discussion on the good and the bad of the conference, opinions on Alexandrina, Egypt, personal experiences and all that's related, and would just like to add my personal view to what I feel is a healthy and constructive discussion in which I was glad to see a diversity of opinion, openness in sharing personal views and experiences as well as a reasoned analysis on how this Wikimania relates to previous and future Wikimanias. Again, I am dropping in rather late into this discussion and I do believe that most of whatever I would have liked to add or share has already been said, and which I am in agreement with, so the need to reiterate many of the points discussed wanes, as what I might think of as personal opinion might read as perennial paraphrase.
That said, the impulse to share with you my personal take on some specific points remains, so you will have to forgive me :). In the interest of being as brief as possible, I will resist the temptation of writing a drawn-out essay on everything I would like to address with a "personal take" (I tend to do that sometimes:)).
The issues in question are those related to the views shared by some here about their experiences in Egypt. By "experiences in Egypt" I am discounting judgments on the organization of the conference, as I already saw that such issues (of the organizational efficiency of the conference, that is) were duly addressed by many contributers, and will continue to be addressed during the lead-up to the 2010. What I am going to address- or rather comment on – is the issue of "openness". Yes, it is wildly general term but it is also one that you are all very familiar with: open media, open culture, open access are all topics discussed at this and previous wikimanias, and which form a discourse that will continue to be addressed in future wikimanias and other conferences. Most important to the context of this discussion, these are issues that you all have an interest in by the mere virtue of being wikipedians.
Caveat lector: Similar to all experiences and opinions expressed here, my own commentary on these issues is naturally and unavoidably influenced by my own personal experiences, views and background, and this is starting to read like it is going to be a drawn-out treatise as opposed to "brief personal take", so grab some coffee.
(Just kidding)
I as I started catching up on reading the mailing list messages, I came across what Majorly wrote on his experience in Egypt. I was not surprised at the "only negative" experience described, as I am aware of where it comes from, I acknowledge many of the unfortunate situations that conspired to construct such a negative experience (which definitely saddens me as a native of Egypt), and surely understand that the extent to which we can step outside our personal "comfort zones" - formed by our own cultures, communities and environments – is liable to a very wide spectrum of variation. However, what I have difficulty coming to terms with - and I do believe some would concur given the majority of opinions expressed here- is how some would be so absolutist in their conclusions in such a way to express things with such finality (to which they are entitled to in every way of course, but that is not the point). For example, Majorly has made up his mind that he "never want[s] to go to Egypt again, nor the next Wikimania", he adds that "there is no way I'd consider going to Buenos Aires". Wow.
Now, before the point I am attempting to get across gets misinterpreted, let me get this out of the way: It's a free world! (well, some of it, at least). Where Majorly – and others – decide to go or not go is entirely their own business. Nevertheless, since we (by "we" I mean people who have at least a somewhat expanded understanding of the general notion of "openness", and given the context of our general collective interests being in the realm of freedom of knowledge, information and expression) are sharing experiences and views, and then expressing opinions on such experiences and views, I feel compelled to share how I feel about such a sentiment.
I have been fortunate enough to do a fair share of continent-hopping over the course of the past few years, and I am glad I was able to see a pretty good chunk of the world at a relatively young age. I am not going to wax lyrical on the merits and virtues of travel, as chances are that many or most of you are already avid travelers. What I would like to emphasize, however, is the one thing that fascinates me most about going somewhere new: the different. I say the "different" minus any value judgment which we inevitably, oftentimes validly and sometimes inaccurately make consciously or unconscionably on what is, or what initially appears to be, alien to us, because I do think that the different – be it positive or negative - holds intrinsic value insofar as it can add to (or change) us as individuals, and the subsequent aggregate – and hopefully positive - effect on our understanding of others.
What you make of this value is up to you, but to me it is often a form of incremental personal enlightenment, on a very small level, that must be valued and embraced, rather than shunned and avoided. We, as wikipedians and self-proclaimed "advocates of openness", took up a slightly larger share of an oft-discussed but frequently practically abandoned global responsibility to value and promote diversity, cultural awareness and sensitivity, and receptivity to the new and different even if it means that we have to forsake – for even the shortest of times – our respective comfort zones. What I took the liberty to very generically term as "openness" here has multiple, varied but still connected and related definitions. To me, it can border on the hypocritical to claim that I am an advocate of open knowledge if I am myself not open or receptive to a different culture that might starkly contrast to my own.
Those of you in the "First world" are living where innovation, access and decent standards of living are already existent, and most politicians are already doing a pretty good job of messing up the world, so what openness do you speak of if cultural bridges are not built at the grassroots level? Why would we let our personal biases, ethnocentrism and fears of the different or uncomfortable cloud our visions of amazing opportunities for the promotion of potential platforms of global understanding? You can edit and read wikipedia all you like, you can be an open knowledge activist, or an arm chair promoter of openness, but if you shy away from going out and bumping your head against another culture/people/environment, dealing with, absorbing and learning from whatever is different in the process, then you should ask yourself if whatever you are doing is really meaningful. It is very simple really, you either go or you don't, but you will never really know unless you go. The way I see it, talk all you like about promotion of openness, freedom and access in conferences in the "First World", but if you're serious about it, go where it really matters now, go to the South/Third World/developing world...whatever you would like to call it. If you feel that uncomfortable with it, that is understandable and you should stay home or go somewhere similar to home, just don't call yourself and advocate of openness. To you, it is probably just it's just a hobby :), which is still fine by me.
Chaos, unpredictability, poor hygiene are constants when you travel in developing countries. Dishonest people, dangerous areas and general travel-related risks are constants anywhere you travel. Degrees of these hazards vary, but if you can't deal with it, stay home. It is that simple. It is just unfortunate, though, that you are going to miss quiet a lot in what little time you've got on this Earth.
I said I tend to write more than I
originally intended to and I did just that, but I also did forewarn
:), and apologies if I digressed or lacked clarity, but I do hope I
was able to get my thoughts across.