How close? :) *~Orsolya* *WM2012 Program Depurty Chair * 2012. április 18. 17:18 Sage Ross írta, <ragesoss+wikipedia(a)gmail.com>om>:

Op 19-4-2012 18:32, Samat schreef: This is not impatience. Organization is just very late. Last year the scholarships were announced end of March, four months in advance of Wikimania 2011. Now it's only 81 days left for Wikimania 2012. It's a bit like the hotels, "almost done" since the beginning of April. Maarten

Hello, I haven't received a feedback on my scholarship application status. best, [[user:stephenwanjau]] On 4/22/12, Sage Ross &lt;ragesoss+wikipedia(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: -- *"Better Late Than Never, But Never Late is Better"* <http://uwanja.wordpress.com> uwanja <https://twitter.com/#%21/uwanja>

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 I can't find anything ridiculous in organising a conference well; on the contrary, I think we all should try to reach the standards set by the Haifa team. I am absolutely /not/ surprised by the impatience shown on this list; the later people know about their accommodation options, the more it's going to cost them -- and we are talking about the Real Life Money(TM) here. - -- Tomasz Kozłowski a.k.a. [[user:odder]]

2012/4/22 Tomasz Kozłowski &lt;odder.wiki(a)gmail.com&gt;om>: Not necessarily. We pursued fixed rates and we have been working on this for months now. All the negotiating work is done and has been done. The issue is logistical—we have to wait for these hotels to set up the registration codes. It does seem like we're being mute about things, and I do regret that. But as a personal rule I don't like announcing things before they're done. You have a right to complete information and that is what you will get—once it is available. Here is a sneak peak. We have the "official hotel" which will run $189/night. It is a brief walk from the venue (or you could take a $6 taxi if you insist). It gets you some of the best free hotel wireless in DC as well as continental breakfast. We will also be making a deal with a $149/night hotel that is VERY close to the venue, but you have to purchase breakfast. We also got a couple of hotels thrown in at $149/night with free breakfast and wireless, but they are farther from the venue (but we can easily arrange for group transportation). These prices are before DC's ludicrous hotel tax. I'd also like to make some beds in the hostel available for general consumption, but between all the people receiving scholarships, I am not sure that can happen. If I had my druthers, we'd have cheaper hotel rates. However, the $189/night hotel is already at a steep discount (it normally sells for $240 in the summer) and the $149 rate is the best you will get in Washington, DC during the summer. It is worth noting that as a conference we are prioritizing hotels that are close to the venue (except for the two which are farther away, but those were too good an offer to pass up—they're NICE hotels). You are all free men and women and are welcome to book somewhere cheaply if you can find somewhere cheap, since we figured that those looking to save money are going to go to Priceline no matter what. I shouldn't be saying this, but you may be able to get a good rate on hotels if you book in Arlington; specifically, near the Rosslyn, Court House, or Clarendon metro stations. Those are all on the same line as the venue (located by the Foggy Bottom–GWU station), but are urbanized enough areas that you don't need a car. Additionally, since they are outside the city and in Virginia, the hotel tax is significantly cheaper. If you're of limited means, consider booking in Arlington. If you can afford the extra cost and would like to stay close to the venue, adjacent to our special events and to great neighborhoods in general, and in close proximity to other Wikipedians, please consider the hotels we'll be promoting on our website soon. I can't wait to see you all at Wikimania! Regards, James Hare

On Apr 22, 2012, at 5:14 PM, Thomas Dalton &lt;thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: I assume many people will want to share a room with another person, which cuts the cost per person in half Would a wiki page be helpful where people can indicate if they are seeking to share a hotel room? Katie

On Sun, Apr 22, 2012 at 11:28 AM, Thomas Dalton &lt;thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: The deals we're arranging have no extra charge for dual occupancy. Regards, James Hare

On Apr 22, 2012, at 8:11 PM, Delphine Ménard &lt;notafishz(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: You will get your choice of two beds or one large bed. Easily done. :) James

On Apr 22, 2012, at 8:35 PM, Nathan &lt;nawrich(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: I totally get your argument, but I also quoted the prices net of tax because it's what I do as a silly American. :p But yes. While full disclosure of prices is important, tax is common to all of these and it makes the true market value seem higher than in reality. So between my initial email and the follow-up explaining the 14.5% tax, we have now seen both sets of numbers. James

Primarily "sensible" tax policies :) It is a very annoying practice though. And pointless because rarely is there any indication of what the actual tax is until youve bought something. So you neither know how much your going to pay or have any idea to what to expect from the state. Seddon 2012/4/23 Delphine Ménard &lt;notafishz(a)gmail.com&gt;

At least there will be plenty of dorms available if I'm reading the bid<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2012/Bids/Washington,_D.C.#…ns>, for 24$ a bed with double occupancy. These were at least confirmed already *in the bid* so I guess we can have those up soon, a year later :) Because yeah, this amount per night is what I would ideally spend on a whole Wikimania for staying etc. Best, Lodewijk El 23 de abril de 2012 03:51, James Hare &lt;messedrocker(a)gmail.com&gt; escribió:

I don't really familiar with the tax rules in D.C, but foreign tourist are also need to pay hotel tax? I know that in Israel the foreign participated on Wikimania didn't have to pay vat for their stay, only the local. Itzik On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 7:43 AM, Samuel Klein &lt;meta.sj(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote:

Hi James, I would like to strongly suggest to communicate this to all people that registered. If 150 USD is going to be the cheapest you can provide (and for most people it is just way out of their range) it is only fair to tell them that now - because every day they will wait for you to come up with those great cheap hotel rates that were promised (but as we understand now, that is only for DC standards) the cheaper hotels get more expensive. There's probably not much more you can do at this point on cheap hotels, but letting them know well in time is only fair. Not everyone is on this mailing list (by far). Lodewijk El 22 de abril de 2012 16:39, James Hare &lt;messedrocker(a)gmail.com&gt; escribió:

Bad one, I was not selected this year. Good luck to you all! On Sun, Apr 22, 2012 at 10:09 AM, Maarten Dammers &lt;maarten(a)mdammers.nl&gt;wrote;wrote: -- _____________________________________________________ *M*ateus*N*obre Free knowledge, free software, free culture, open data. *Freedom, acessibility, autonomy, openess, independence, transparency. That's our way.* *And yours?* +55 (84) 8896 - 1628

I think what James means is that if you'll go regardless of whether you get a scholarship, please register now and you'll be reimbursed any price difference later. If you won't go in the case you don't get any scholarship, then obviously you don't need to register now, and the price will not go up later for those who are getting scholarship. Deryck On 18 April 2012 23:19, Thomas Dalton &lt;thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: