Kia ora, Wikimedia Aotearoa-New Zealand chiming in here!Absolutely agree with the
comments about more regional conferences and fewer global ones, from a sustainability
perspective (huge amount of airline travel involved in global events) and also
accessibility. For us down here, it's a 24-36 hour one way journey to Europe and not
one that many people are able to participate in - it's a minimum of a week to 10 days
away from work and life for a 2-3 day event when travel and recovery time are factored
in. The recent events in Sydney and upcoming in Singapore are a welcome change from the
Northern Hemisphere-centric calendar of in-person events.Heather
On Tuesday, 21 March 2023 at 08:41:12 am NZDT, Evelin Heidel
<scannopolis(a)gmail.com> wrote:
+1 to what Philip & Jan-Bart shared. Maybe we should have a Wikimania every 2 years
instead of every year, particularly given that we do have some more specialized
conferences (Wiki Education, GLAM Wiki, Wiki+Libraries, among others) alongside with the
regional meetings, that allow for a continued conversation.
El lun, 20 mar 2023 a las 16:05, Philip Kopetzky (<philip.kopetzky(a)gmail.com>)
escribió:
I can only second what Jan-Bart has written. There already seems to be a change in the way
people attend Wikimania. Many communities from Europe won't send anyone to Singapore,
but will probably attend Krakow.
Wouldn't it be time to acknowledge the change in format towards a regional conference
with an international focus, rather than a global event where we fly a few hundred people
in for a few days, in times where pandemics and global climate emergencies don't seem
as far off as they did even 5 years ago?
Best regards, Philip
On Mon, 20 Mar 2023 at 18:58, Jan-Bart de Vreede <jan-bart(a)wikimedia.nl> wrote:
Hi All
Thanks Phoebe and the Wikimania Steering Committee for organising the selection process
and of course congratulations to the team in Poland who are going to organise a great
Wikimania.
(Disclaimer: I have been privileged enough to have been able to attend many a WIkimania,
and am perhaps one of the worst people in the world to write the text below)
Reading your comment on hopefully announcing the Wikimania hosts for 2025 and 2026 soon
makes me wonder if we are not overlooking a fundamental discussion with regards to the
continued existence of Wikimania as it currently takes place. Are we going to continue to
annually organise a global event, flying people from all over the world to a location
which limits physical participation to those that are able to do so (regardless of the few
scholarships we manage to distribute for volunteers)?
Would it not be a good idea to start with revisiting our goals (for example: reconnecting,
exchanging experiences and sharing cool projects) and start thinking of alternatives to
the current Wikimania set up? It would also be interesting to match these goals with the
increase in regional engagement which is taking place across our movement.
I have the feeling I might have missed some earlier discusion on this, but I am not
seeing much change in the Wikimania concept in a time that probably demands change both
from a sustainability as well as an equity perspective.
And again I am probably not the best person to point this out (coming from an incredibly
privileged position) and I love wikimania and I love seeing all of you on a regular basis…
but at the same time I have noticed that we are all trying to adjust to a changing
world…and it would seem that a movement as unique as ours should be able to come up with a
better alternative?
I hope that people take this mail in the spirit that it is intended and if I can
contribute to facilitating this discussion I am of course more than willing to do so!
Jan-Bart de Vreede(Views expressed in this email are my personal views)
On 20 Mar 2023, at 16:32, phoebe ayers <phoebe.wiki(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Hello everyone,
I am very excited to share that Wikimania 2024 will be hosted in the city of Kraków in
Poland! [1] Kraków had a strong submission with a collaborative design and an experienced,
enthusiastic team supporting it [2]. At the crossroads of history, culture, and
technology, we are confident that the impact of Wikimania will be great for our projects,
the movement in general, and especially, local communities in the Central and Eastern
European (CEE) region. Read more on Diff [3].
Bringing our movement’s beloved event to life is not simple and we took many criteria into
consideration. We were grateful for the expressions of interest received for hosting
Wikimania in 2024, 2025, and beyond [4]. Announcing host cities this far in advance is a
new approach to organizing Wikimania we are exploring [5]. In addition to the support we
provide as the stewards of Wikimania, together with the Foundation’s Movement
Communications team, we see great value in facilitating more time for organizers so they
can learn from each other in practice and strengthen their capacity [6], [7]. We hope to
announce the hosts of Wikimania in 2025 and 2026 in the coming months or at Wikimania 2023
in Singapore.
Once again, wholehearted congratulations to the 2024 Wikimania team. We know you will do
an excellent job welcoming our global family to your timeless city. And to our global
family, we hope that you are as excited as we are returning to the vibrant CEE region
after 14 years. Looking forward to collaborating with you all on wiki and in person.
My best wishes for all, Phoebe (Wikimania Steering Committee)
On behalf of the Wikimania Steering Committee and the Wikimedia Foundation Movement
Communications teamTranslations available on Diff
[1] Kraków is a hybrid gem of history and modernity:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w [2] Kraków expression of interest:
https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2024:Expressions_of_Interest/Central_E… [3]
Read more about this announcement on Diff:
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/03/20/announcing-the-host-of-wikimania-in-2… [4] 11
expressions of interest received:
https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikimania_2024_expressions_of… [5]
The call for hosting Wikimania in 2024, 2025 and beyond:
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/10/27/wikimania-welcoming-expressions-of-in… [6]
The Wikimania Steering Committee:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee [7]
The Wikimedia Foundation Movement Communications team
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Communications/Movement_Communications
--
* I use this address for lists; send personal messages to phoebe.ayers <at>
gmail.com *_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list -- wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
To unsubscribe send an email to wikimania-l-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list -- wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
To unsubscribe send an email to wikimania-l-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list -- wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
To unsubscribe send an email to wikimania-l-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list -- wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
To unsubscribe send an email to wikimania-l-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org