Hi all,
reading back through my mailbox, I encountered huge amounts of announcements (mostly by Wikimedia Deutschland) about events taking place in breaks of Wikimania. Without wanting to form an opinion about that just yet, I would like to ask what you think about having many side events going on in the break/breakfast/evening.
I personally am a bit caught between wanting to do as much as possible in the limited time, and feeling that there was basically no break at all (contributing to the exhaustion), because every break people were basically asking you to attend break sessions. For some of them that is the only choice (they intend to be informal), others probably belong primarily in the schedule (assuming they were interesting).
Anyway, just a conversation starter to evaluate the concept of break events a bit more in general (I assume the chapters village etc in particular will be evaluated separately too).
Looking forward to your thoughts,
Best, Lodewijk
I had problem to find several "break" meetings due to lack of any off-line information regarding it. I mean a kind of "oldschool" blackboard or flipchart standing on Logo Square with information where and when there are meetings could easily solve this problem. I missed 2 meetings (EU policy and teahouse) and joined one just because I spotted Asaf talking to group of the people) just because there was no clear information where it is.
2013/8/14 Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org
Hi all,
reading back through my mailbox, I encountered huge amounts of announcements (mostly by Wikimedia Deutschland) about events taking place in breaks of Wikimania. Without wanting to form an opinion about that just yet, I would like to ask what you think about having many side events going on in the break/breakfast/evening.
I personally am a bit caught between wanting to do as much as possible in the limited time, and feeling that there was basically no break at all (contributing to the exhaustion), because every break people were basically asking you to attend break sessions. For some of them that is the only choice (they intend to be informal), others probably belong primarily in the schedule (assuming they were interesting).
Anyway, just a conversation starter to evaluate the concept of break events a bit more in general (I assume the chapters village etc in particular will be evaluated separately too).
Looking forward to your thoughts,
Best, Lodewijk
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Hey, remember Wikimania Gdansk. After each plenary session in the morning, the organisators asked all presentors to introduce their talk in about 1 min. A great way to get a quick overview of what's happening.
Regards, Maarten
2013/8/14 Tomasz Ganicz polimerek@gmail.com
I had problem to find several "break" meetings due to lack of any off-line information regarding it. I mean a kind of "oldschool" blackboard or flipchart standing on Logo Square with information where and when there are meetings could easily solve this problem. I missed 2 meetings (EU policy and teahouse) and joined one just because I spotted Asaf talking to group of the people) just because there was no clear information where it is.
2013/8/14 Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org
Hi all,
reading back through my mailbox, I encountered huge amounts of announcements (mostly by Wikimedia Deutschland) about events taking place in breaks of Wikimania. Without wanting to form an opinion about that just yet, I would like to ask what you think about having many side events going on in the break/breakfast/evening.
I personally am a bit caught between wanting to do as much as possible in the limited time, and feeling that there was basically no break at all (contributing to the exhaustion), because every break people were basically asking you to attend break sessions. For some of them that is the only choice (they intend to be informal), others probably belong primarily in the schedule (assuming they were interesting).
Anyway, just a conversation starter to evaluate the concept of break events a bit more in general (I assume the chapters village etc in particular will be evaluated separately too).
Looking forward to your thoughts,
Best, Lodewijk
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
-- Tomek "Polimerek" Ganicz http://pl.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Polimerek http://www.ganicz.pl/poli/ http://www.cbmm.lodz.pl/work.php?id=29&title=tomasz-ganicz
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Hi Maarten, Manuel,
all great suggestions/feedback, but I was wondering: what are your thoughts about the break events specifically? Did you visit any? Did they make your day more smooth or exhausted?
Lodewijk
2013/8/14 maarten deneckere maartendeneckere+wikimania@gmail.com
Hey, remember Wikimania Gdansk. After each plenary session in the morning, the organisators asked all presentors to introduce their talk in about 1 min. A great way to get a quick overview of what's happening.
Regards, Maarten
2013/8/14 Tomasz Ganicz polimerek@gmail.com
I had problem to find several "break" meetings due to lack of any off-line information regarding it. I mean a kind of "oldschool" blackboard or flipchart standing on Logo Square with information where and when there are meetings could easily solve this problem. I missed 2 meetings (EU policy and teahouse) and joined one just because I spotted Asaf talking to group of the people) just because there was no clear information where it is.
2013/8/14 Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org
Hi all,
reading back through my mailbox, I encountered huge amounts of announcements (mostly by Wikimedia Deutschland) about events taking place in breaks of Wikimania. Without wanting to form an opinion about that just yet, I would like to ask what you think about having many side events going on in the break/breakfast/evening.
I personally am a bit caught between wanting to do as much as possible in the limited time, and feeling that there was basically no break at all (contributing to the exhaustion), because every break people were basically asking you to attend break sessions. For some of them that is the only choice (they intend to be informal), others probably belong primarily in the schedule (assuming they were interesting).
Anyway, just a conversation starter to evaluate the concept of break events a bit more in general (I assume the chapters village etc in particular will be evaluated separately too).
Looking forward to your thoughts,
Best, Lodewijk
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
-- Tomek "Polimerek" Ganicz http://pl.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Polimerek http://www.ganicz.pl/poli/ http://www.cbmm.lodz.pl/work.php?id=29&title=tomasz-ganicz
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Am 14.08.2013 10:10, schrieb Lodewijk:
Hi Maarten, Manuel,
all great suggestions/feedback, but I was wondering: what are your thoughts about the break events specifically? Did you visit any? Did they make your day more smooth or exhausted?
yes I did visit them, almost every day. I think they are one of the most valuable things to do at Wikimania, therefore I'd be happy if there were a more dedicated space (and time) for that and not making me miss lunch every so often.
/Manuel
OK, so if I understand correctly you feel it should not happen in breaks, but rather as part of the regular schedule? Do you think that they should be replaced in the breaks by other events, or should the breaks remain event free in general?
Lodewijk
2013/8/14 Manuel Schneider manuel.schneider@wikimedia.ch
Am 14.08.2013 10:10, schrieb Lodewijk:
Hi Maarten, Manuel,
all great suggestions/feedback, but I was wondering: what are your thoughts about the break events specifically? Did you visit any? Did they make your day more smooth or exhausted?
yes I did visit them, almost every day. I think they are one of the most valuable things to do at Wikimania, therefore I'd be happy if there were a more dedicated space (and time) for that and not making me miss lunch every so often.
/Manuel
Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Lausanne, +41 (21) 34066-22 - www.wikimedia.ch
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Am 14.08.2013 10:24, schrieb Lodewijk:
OK, so if I understand correctly you feel it should not happen in breaks, but rather as part of the regular schedule? Do you think that they should be replaced in the breaks by other events, or should the breaks remain event free in general?
breaks should be breaks, that's why we have them. Please ready the concept I have explained in my first response to this thread, that should make my suggestion clear.
It is okay to have less breaks, in order to make up for the time we spend in longer sessions, but then let breaks be real breaks. So that's the deal: real sessions, with enough time to do something, a real track for spontaneous meetings, less sessions, less breaks but doing both of them right, not short sessions in a hurry and breaks not being breaks because of all the other stuff going on, with people not concentrating on that other stuff because they are hungry, tired etc.
/Manuel
Just what I wanted to say: breaks should be breaks. Having all breaks covered by sessions is a great thing for people who never eat or rest.
Also, a great session can be rendered completely useless by hurry. I saw one of those this year and it wasn't pretty. You have to give people time.
Raul
On Wed, Aug 14, 2013 at 11:28 AM, Manuel Schneider < manuel.schneider@wikimedia.ch> wrote:
Am 14.08.2013 10:24, schrieb Lodewijk:
OK, so if I understand correctly you feel it should not happen in breaks, but rather as part of the regular schedule? Do you think that they should be replaced in the breaks by other events, or should the breaks remain event free in general?
breaks should be breaks, that's why we have them. Please ready the concept I have explained in my first response to this thread, that should make my suggestion clear.
It is okay to have less breaks, in order to make up for the time we spend in longer sessions, but then let breaks be real breaks. So that's the deal: real sessions, with enough time to do something, a real track for spontaneous meetings, less sessions, less breaks but doing both of them right, not short sessions in a hurry and breaks not being breaks because of all the other stuff going on, with people not concentrating on that other stuff because they are hungry, tired etc.
/Manuel
Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Lausanne, +41 (21) 34066-22 - www.wikimedia.ch
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Hi all,
I agree with Manuel and Raul!
Susana
2013/8/14 Raul Veede raul.veede@gmail.com
Just what I wanted to say: breaks should be breaks. Having all breaks covered by sessions is a great thing for people who never eat or rest.
Also, a great session can be rendered completely useless by hurry. I saw one of those this year and it wasn't pretty. You have to give people time.
Raul
On Wed, Aug 14, 2013 at 11:28 AM, Manuel Schneider < manuel.schneider@wikimedia.ch> wrote:
Am 14.08.2013 10:24, schrieb Lodewijk:
OK, so if I understand correctly you feel it should not happen in breaks, but rather as part of the regular schedule? Do you think that they should be replaced in the breaks by other events, or should the breaks remain event free in general?
breaks should be breaks, that's why we have them. Please ready the concept I have explained in my first response to this thread, that should make my suggestion clear.
It is okay to have less breaks, in order to make up for the time we spend in longer sessions, but then let breaks be real breaks. So that's the deal: real sessions, with enough time to do something, a real track for spontaneous meetings, less sessions, less breaks but doing both of them right, not short sessions in a hurry and breaks not being breaks because of all the other stuff going on, with people not concentrating on that other stuff because they are hungry, tired etc.
/Manuel
Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Lausanne, +41 (21) 34066-22 - www.wikimedia.ch
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
I liked this in Gdańsk, but for an event the scale of HK it would take a lot of time!
Agree that some kind of central display of the formal and informal schedules would be very useful. And a big clock :)
Perhaps if we have another big screen, an occasional "everything happening now/in an hour" display?
A. On 14 Aug 2013 08:59, "maarten deneckere" < maartendeneckere+wikimania@gmail.com> wrote:
Hey, remember Wikimania Gdansk. After each plenary session in the morning, the organisators asked all presentors to introduce their talk in about 1 min. A great way to get a quick overview of what's happening.
Regards, Maarten
2013/8/14 Tomasz Ganicz polimerek@gmail.com
I had problem to find several "break" meetings due to lack of any off-line information regarding it. I mean a kind of "oldschool" blackboard or flipchart standing on Logo Square with information where and when there are meetings could easily solve this problem. I missed 2 meetings (EU policy and teahouse) and joined one just because I spotted Asaf talking to group of the people) just because there was no clear information where it is.
2013/8/14 Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org
Hi all,
reading back through my mailbox, I encountered huge amounts of announcements (mostly by Wikimedia Deutschland) about events taking place in breaks of Wikimania. Without wanting to form an opinion about that just yet, I would like to ask what you think about having many side events going on in the break/breakfast/evening.
I personally am a bit caught between wanting to do as much as possible in the limited time, and feeling that there was basically no break at all (contributing to the exhaustion), because every break people were basically asking you to attend break sessions. For some of them that is the only choice (they intend to be informal), others probably belong primarily in the schedule (assuming they were interesting).
Anyway, just a conversation starter to evaluate the concept of break events a bit more in general (I assume the chapters village etc in particular will be evaluated separately too).
Looking forward to your thoughts,
Best, Lodewijk
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
-- Tomek "Polimerek" Ganicz http://pl.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Polimerek http://www.ganicz.pl/poli/ http://www.cbmm.lodz.pl/work.php?id=29&title=tomasz-ganicz
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Thanks Lodewijk for bringing this up.
I had several discussions in the past, mostly when it was about the future of Wikimania, when I told people that Wikimania should have less parallel sessions, longer sessions with more time between the sessions and an "open space" as an additional track.
We implemented this idea last year at the WikiCon and I think it worked well. The concept is simple:
* there are only 45 minutes sessions (with only one topic) plus a 15 minutes time buffer for sessions not ending on time, people changing rooms, grabbing coffee on their way etc.
* this makes a schedule with a simple 1 hour grid
* due to the 15 minutes allowance in each session we skip any coffee breaks - there is coffee break available at all times, from breakfast to dinner
* instead, to give people some time to rest we added a 30 minutes break where no sessions were going on half way between lunch and dinner. This was not just a coffee break, it was meant to allow people to go outside, catch some fresh air, have a nap or similar.
* there were only three tracks of talks (okay, for Wikimania I would do up to five - but no more) plus workshops (real hands on sessions, partly in labs) which were longer (~ half a day)
* there was one room near the coffee table with a pin board and an empty schedule in front, where people could pick a card, write down a topic and pin it on the schedule, to reserve the open space for a spontaneous meeting - like the break sessions we were having at Wikimania
Example: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiCon_2012/Programm/Programmraster
I know that my ideas are not welcomed so much, I have been told so many times that it would be inefficient use of everyone's time to reduce the program so much, that there were so many great submissions we really must put into the schedule and that we need many, many parallel tracks just to make sure we have small enough groups in each sessions to be realistic. Still, I am not convinced by these arguments.
* How many people could not attend sessions they wanted to attend, just because they were in parallel / they couldn't make it due to something else that kept them away?
* How many sessions were too short and the time was up when they just felt that they were starting to be effective?
I am a strong believer that less is actually more. I would like to have a less stressful but more effictive Wikimania.
Thanks,
Manuel
Am 14.08.2013 09:39, schrieb Lodewijk:
reading back through my mailbox, I encountered huge amounts of announcements (mostly by Wikimedia Deutschland) about events taking place in breaks of Wikimania. Without wanting to form an opinion about that just yet, I would like to ask what you think about having many side events going on in the break/breakfast/evening.
I personally am a bit caught between wanting to do as much as possible in the limited time, and feeling that there was basically no break at all (contributing to the exhaustion), because every break people were basically asking you to attend break sessions. For some of them that is the only choice (they intend to be informal), others probably belong primarily in the schedule (assuming they were interesting).
Anyway, just a conversation starter to evaluate the concept of break events a bit more in general (I assume the chapters village etc in particular will be evaluated separately too).
Looking forward to your thoughts,
On Wed, Aug 14, 2013 at 12:58 AM, Manuel Schneider < manuel.schneider@wikimedia.ch> wrote:
Thanks Lodewijk for bringing this up.
I had several discussions in the past, mostly when it was about the future of Wikimania, when I told people that Wikimania should have less parallel sessions, longer sessions with more time between the sessions and an "open space" as an additional track.
We implemented this idea last year at the WikiCon and I think it worked well. The concept is simple:
- there are only 45 minutes sessions (with only one topic) plus a 15
minutes time buffer for sessions not ending on time, people changing rooms, grabbing coffee on their way etc.
this makes a schedule with a simple 1 hour grid
due to the 15 minutes allowance in each session we skip any coffee
breaks - there is coffee break available at all times, from breakfast to dinner
- instead, to give people some time to rest we added a 30 minutes break
where no sessions were going on half way between lunch and dinner. This was not just a coffee break, it was meant to allow people to go outside, catch some fresh air, have a nap or similar.
- there were only three tracks of talks (okay, for Wikimania I would do
up to five - but no more) plus workshops (real hands on sessions, partly in labs) which were longer (~ half a day)
- there was one room near the coffee table with a pin board and an empty
schedule in front, where people could pick a card, write down a topic and pin it on the schedule, to reserve the open space for a spontaneous meeting - like the break sessions we were having at Wikimania
Example: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiCon_2012/Programm/Programmraster
I know that my ideas are not welcomed so much, I have been told so many times that it would be inefficient use of everyone's time to reduce the program so much, that there were so many great submissions we really must put into the schedule and that we need many, many parallel tracks just to make sure we have small enough groups in each sessions to be realistic. Still, I am not convinced by these arguments.
- How many people could not attend sessions they wanted to attend, just
because they were in parallel / they couldn't make it due to something else that kept them away?
- How many sessions were too short and the time was up when they just
felt that they were starting to be effective?
I am a strong believer that less is actually more. I would like to have a less stressful but more effictive Wikimania.
Your ideas are welcomed by me :) I've been wanting fewer sessions at Wikimania for a long time. I know I kind of pioneered the "busy" program schedule in 2006, and that there are many competing interests (including wanting to include all the great presentation ideas)... but at this point I would much rather leave a lot of informal time and see what kind of meetups pop up over the course of the week. Another idea would be to focus on groups of lightning talks -- the 'activating africa' panel was a good model for this, with 8 or 9 talks in the course of the session. I think everyone feels a bit overscheduled at Wikimania and it might be nice to have more experiences in common -- which would mean fewer tracks.
In answer to Lodewijk's question: no, I didn't go to any break sessions, but it's largely because I stood around talking to people instead, and spent two of the lunches preparing with my panel groups. You will be happy to know that this year I did actually go to quite a few talks and sessions, however! :)
-- phoebe
-- Phoebe Ayers Wikimedia Foundation | UC Davis Libraries http://phoebeayers.info
Wikimania should have less parallel sessions,
< longer sessions with more time between the sessions
and an "open space" as an additional track.
<>
We implemented this idea last year at the WikiCon...
<> I am a strong believer that less is actually more. I would like to have
a less stressful but more effictive Wikimania.
Your ideas are welcomed by me :) I've been wanting fewer sessions at Wikimania for a long time.
I agree totally. We can rethink the traditional program entirely.
Imagine a Wikimania where * the only "talks" or presentations are Plenary sessions * all other sessions ** have their documents/drawings/slides/tools published 2 weeks in advance, for others to read / comment / link ** have Q&A handled online in advance of the event (via comments and discussion) ** are group discussions or collaborations around a topic, not one-way presentations ** are moderated by someone who is good at moderation (this may or may not be the primary author of works being discussed) ** update the latest documentation about those ideas/projects/tools live, during the session (via a designated facilitator/editor)
SJ
SJ, that sounds like a great idea and makes me wanna go straight back again to experience something like what you're suggesting.
/ sophie
2013/8/15 Samuel Klein meta.sj@gmail.com
Wikimania should have less parallel sessions,
< longer sessions with more time between the sessions
and an "open space" as an additional track.
<>
We implemented this idea last year at the WikiCon...
<> I am a strong believer that less is actually more. I would like to have
a less stressful but more effictive Wikimania.
Your ideas are welcomed by me :) I've been wanting fewer sessions at Wikimania for a long time.
I agree totally. We can rethink the traditional program entirely.
Imagine a Wikimania where
- the only "talks" or presentations are Plenary sessions
- all other sessions
** have their documents/drawings/slides/tools published 2 weeks in advance, for others to read / comment / link ** have Q&A handled online in advance of the event (via comments and discussion) ** are group discussions or collaborations around a topic, not one-way presentations ** are moderated by someone who is good at moderation (this may or may not be the primary author of works being discussed) ** update the latest documentation about those ideas/projects/tools live, during the session (via a designated facilitator/editor)
SJ
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
On 15 August 2013 00:03, Samuel Klein meta.sj@gmail.com wrote:
Wikimania should have less parallel sessions,
< longer sessions with more time between the sessions
and an "open space" as an additional track.
<>
We implemented this idea last year at the WikiCon...
<> I am a strong believer that less is actually more. I would like to have
a less stressful but more effictive Wikimania.
Your ideas are welcomed by me :) I've been wanting fewer sessions at Wikimania for a long time.
I agree totally. We can rethink the traditional program entirely.
Imagine a Wikimania where
- the only "talks" or presentations are Plenary sessions
- all other sessions
** have their documents/drawings/slides/tools published 2 weeks in advance, for others to read / comment / link ** have Q&A handled online in advance of the event (via comments and discussion) ** are group discussions or collaborations around a topic, not one-way presentations ** are moderated by someone who is good at moderation (this may or may not be the primary author of works being discussed) ** update the latest documentation about those ideas/projects/tools live, during the session (via a designated facilitator/editor)
I dunno. That sounds fundamentally unwiki, and an awful lot like the professional annual meetings that everyone hates attending. It weighs heavily in favour of "professional" presenters and those who think that the powerpoint is more important than the presentation. I wouldn't spring for a plane ticket for something like this.
As it is, I know for a fact that most of the sessions presented this year were finalized no more than a week before their presentation, and quite a few included "up to the minute" information and data. This is particularly important in an environment that is constantly changing.
What I'd like to see is live-streaming of sessions with moderation that could include online questions for the sessions.
Wikimania is primarily a social event - and that includes the "developer days" at the beginning. Some sessions are of professional quality, some others gain their energy from the presentation itself or the perceived importance of the topic, and others simply by being presented by sincere and caring community members. The best session I saw this year was one that would never meet the bars described above - it was about the Javanese Wikipedia, and it was the one that was so full of hope and joy at the prospect of sharing knowledge freely that the few of us who were in the room walked away with a refreshed sense of what our movement is all about.
You can't capture that with slides or plenary sessions or expert moderation. You need to be in the room.
Risker
On Thu, Aug 15, 2013 at 2:51 AM, Risker risker.wp@gmail.com wrote:
On 15 August 2013 00:03, Samuel Klein meta.sj@gmail.com wrote:
Wikimania should have less parallel sessions,
< longer sessions with more time between the sessions
and an "open space" as an additional track.
I've been wanting fewer sessions at Wikimania for a long time.
I agree totally. We can rethink the traditional program entirely.
Imagine a Wikimania where
- the only "talks" or presentations are Plenary sessions
- all other sessions [ share docs in advance, have discussion in advance,
<< are group discussions + interactions, have a facilitator, produce output ]
I dunno. That sounds fundamentally unwiki, and an awful lot like the professional annual meetings that everyone hates attending.
You may be reading something else into my suggestion.
The only docs shared in advance would be those that the presenter would otherwise 'broadcast' to the audience. A session that was already designed as a discussion might not have anything more than the talk-abstract to share.
This should not privilege experienced presenters. It does encourage people to start conversations and provide knowledge-dumps online. That way the time spent together can focus on collaboration, and developing new ideas together.
quite a few [sessions] included "up to the minute" information and data.
Yes. The presenter and any interested parties could update the wiki page of materials with the latest data, up until it starts (or even during the session).
What I'd like to see is live-streaming of sessions with moderation that could include online questions for the sessions.
This is important, and one of the reasons to have moderators.
Some sessions are of professional quality, some others gain their energy from the presentation itself or the perceived importance of the topic, and others simply by being presented by sincere and caring community members.
True. Presenters should be welcome to give a half-hour speech if that's what they want -- it can be fun and energizing -- but this does not need to be the default. Many sessions would benefit from spending the bulk of their time in discussion rather than broadcasting.
< The best session I saw this year... was about the Javanese Wikipedia, and it was
the one that was so full of hope and joy at the prospect of sharing knowledge freely that the few of us who were in the room walked away with a refreshed sense of what our movement is all about.
You can't capture that with slides or plenary sessions or expert moderation. You need to be in the room.
This sort of hope and joy is indeed the heart and soul of Wikimania. I think Sophie picked up on the hope in my suggestion: that we find a different way to amplify and share such joy, and help more people have this experience.
Our community moderators did a great job this year; they aren't "experts" : just people who enjoy that role. The presenter need not be responsible for tracking live, online, and wiki questions, unless they want to be. They should be focused on sharing their ideas, and responding to feedback. It is enough to ask one participant in each session to take on the role of moderator; and another to take on the role of the recorder - capturing the outcome of the session and posting it online.
Sam.
I've been to three Wikimanias but not the last two, so my comments may be out of date. But the format where you have multiple concurrent threads each with three talks run one after another between breaks quickly gets out of sync. It really needs a strong session moderator in each room who can end things on schedule, otherwise it can be very unfair to the third presenter who sometimes finds that the first two have each taken a third of their time. Also it is impossible to plan your day to attend multiple sessions across threads, especially if between two breaks you want to see the first session in thread 1 the second session of thread two and the third of thread 3.
I think that a radical change would be to cut back on the plenaries a bit, and have more breaks and maybe more threads. A format where we had a break after each session, or at worst each pair of sessions, would mean no presenter was in that awkward third slot, and it would increase the all important break time, but with more presentations overrunning into breaks.
On 15 August 2013 07:51, Risker risker.wp@gmail.com wrote:
On 15 August 2013 00:03, Samuel Klein meta.sj@gmail.com wrote:
Wikimania should have less parallel sessions,
< longer sessions with more time between the sessions
and an "open space" as an additional track.
<>
We implemented this idea last year at the WikiCon...
<> I am a strong believer that less is actually more. I would like to have
a less stressful but more effictive Wikimania.
Your ideas are welcomed by me :) I've been wanting fewer sessions at Wikimania for a long time.
I agree totally. We can rethink the traditional program entirely.
Imagine a Wikimania where
- the only "talks" or presentations are Plenary sessions
- all other sessions
** have their documents/drawings/slides/tools published 2 weeks in advance, for others to read / comment / link ** have Q&A handled online in advance of the event (via comments and discussion) ** are group discussions or collaborations around a topic, not one-way presentations ** are moderated by someone who is good at moderation (this may or may not be the primary author of works being discussed) ** update the latest documentation about those ideas/projects/tools live, during the session (via a designated facilitator/editor)
I dunno. That sounds fundamentally unwiki, and an awful lot like the professional annual meetings that everyone hates attending. It weighs heavily in favour of "professional" presenters and those who think that the powerpoint is more important than the presentation. I wouldn't spring for a plane ticket for something like this.
As it is, I know for a fact that most of the sessions presented this year were finalized no more than a week before their presentation, and quite a few included "up to the minute" information and data. This is particularly important in an environment that is constantly changing.
What I'd like to see is live-streaming of sessions with moderation that could include online questions for the sessions.
Wikimania is primarily a social event - and that includes the "developer days" at the beginning. Some sessions are of professional quality, some others gain their energy from the presentation itself or the perceived importance of the topic, and others simply by being presented by sincere and caring community members. The best session I saw this year was one that would never meet the bars described above - it was about the Javanese Wikipedia, and it was the one that was so full of hope and joy at the prospect of sharing knowledge freely that the few of us who were in the room walked away with a refreshed sense of what our movement is all about.
You can't capture that with slides or plenary sessions or expert moderation. You need to be in the room.
Risker
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On Aug 15, 2013 8:20 PM, "WereSpielChequers" werespielchequers@gmail.com wrote:
I've been to three Wikimanias but not the last two, so my comments may be
out of date. But the format where you have multiple concurrent threads each with three talks run one after another between breaks quickly gets out of sync. It really needs a strong session moderator in each room who can end things on schedule, otherwise it can be very unfair to the third presenter who sometimes finds that the first two have each taken a third of their time. Also it is impossible to plan your day to attend multiple sessions across threads, especially if between two breaks you want to see the first session in thread 1 the second session of thread two and the third of thread 3.
This one actually had explicitly scheduled talks. There were still 90-minute slots with 2 or 3 talks in them, but the schedule indicated visually whether this was divided 60-30 or 45-45 or what have you.
I think this was an improvement over the 2011 model, and Deryck, who made the printed schedule, agreed.
Roan
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