wikimania 2010 announcement - Wikimania-l

7 May 2009


      Dear Wikimedia,
The Wikimania venue selection committee is pleased to announce that we
have selected Gdańsk, Poland as the location for Wikimania 2010.
The three bids this year each had strong and weak points.  The jury
had a very difficult time deciding among them, a testament to the
quality of the bids.  Any of the three would have hosted a fine
conference, and we thank the bid teams for their detailed
presentations.  The jury narrowed the field to Gdańsk and Amsterdam
before making the final decision.
The most debated criteria were:
* Conference venue details
* Location accessibility, cost, and budget
* Accommodation options and simplicity
* Opportunities for outreach
* Local teamwork and planning
We were impressed by Gdańsk's organized team, roomy venue options, low
cost for attendees, creative outing plans, and outreach potential to
Eastern Europe.
A summary of our bid review is included below.  Putting together a
great Wikimania bid is a major undertaking, and we are grateful to all
the bid teams for doing so with style.
With respect and thanks,
Phoebe Ayers
On behalf of the Wikimania 2010 venue selection committee
Voting members:
Ting Chen
Austin Hair
Mohamed Ibrahim
Samuel Klein
Teemu Leinonen
Delphine Ménard
Frank Schulenburg
Non-voting advisors:
Sue Gardner
Michael Snow
==Feedback points==
* Conference venue
The Oxford Town Hall seemed suited to Wikimania, with no major
drawbacks.  Gdańsk's venue options were flexible and varied. We also
appreciated Gdańsk's plans for social space, inside and out, on the
island and at the venue. We were intrigued by the Tuschinski theater
venue in Amsterdam, and appreciate that the theater's staff has
experience organizing conferences, but we were concerned that there
were few small rooms and flexible spaces, and no social spaces on site
with after-hours access.
* Overall accessibility and cost
Amsterdam was the most physically accessible bidding city for
international attendees, due to being a major travel hub for many
airlines. Gdańsk and Oxford were a bit less accessible, Oxford because
of the transfer from Heathrow.  Amsterdam's budget was high, even with
its confirmed sponsorship. Oxford's was lowest, thanks to venue
sponsorship, but lacked detail. It also had the highest cost of living
and lodging for attendees. Gdańsk's budget was in between but included
various services.  The extra cost for travel for an attendee to Gdańsk
was partly offset by the low cost of living and lodging.
* Accommodation
Amsterdam's proposal for accommodation was superior in its combination
of reasonable price and close location for a single hostel that most
attendees could stay in.  Gdańsk's hostel options were cheap but
scattered. Oxford's dorm options were potentially close but expensive.
* Outreach
Oxford and Amsterdam were considered to have good inherent options for
global press and publicity, but neither proposal offered related
details.  Gdańsk offered good outreach to and from Eastern Europe,
where Wikimedia projects are well known but the communities not as
well to all of us, and engaged in the most press work over the course
of the bid.
* Teamwork and planning
The Gdańsk bid excelled in team planning, with a clear breakdown of
team member roles and responsibilities in the bid and a separate
public planning wiki. Oxford added something similar at the end of the
bid period, but the overall bid was a bit less detailed than the
others.  The Amsterdam team was particularly responsive to questions,
with a strong background in planning similar events, but lacked a
detailed team organization plan.  All teams had fine party plans, and
Gdańsk had creative plans for conference activities and environmental
issues.