Creating a Wikimania Committee

List overview All Threads
Download

newer

older

Thanks for a very smooth...

what are your favorite wikimania...

James Forrester

23 Apr 2013 23 Apr '13

5:17 a.m.

Dear all, A small group of long-time Wikimaniacs have been working on the perrenial plan to produce a "Wikimania Committee" - a community group who would help steer Wikimania from year to year, advising each local hosting team and ensuring that the processes are open, transparent and community-led. Here are our drafts of what we think we'd want the committee to be like, a charter, and the resolution which we're submitting to the WMF Board: * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee/Charter * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_resolutions/Wikimania_Committee Comments are very welcome; we're trying to get this done fairly quickly, and of course we will iterate these plans as we get feedback and hopefully more forward on the oft-stalled next steps. J. -- James D. Forrester jdforrester(a)gmail.com [[Wikipedia:User:Jdforrester|James F.]] (speaking purely in a personal capacity)

Show replies by date

phoebe ayers

23 Apr 23 Apr

5:42 a.m.

On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 10:17 PM, James Forrester <jdforrester(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

I've been working on these documents as well, and am glad that we're once again moving forward on this idea. It's been discussed for a long time -- for at least the last five Wikimanias! And from the conversations I've been in over the years, I think there's been pretty broad consensus that having a community-driven oversight committee for Wikimania, as proposed here, is a good idea. The idea is that the committee would ensure continuity and planning from year to year as well as help provide oversight of annual conference planning; and it would be a more formal and representative mechanism than we've had in the past. After long discussions, I think we are finally (!) in a good position to make the committee happen now. Please add your feedback and questions, and help make this proposal better. I'm also happy to propose James as the initial chair of the committee, and also very happy that he's willing to do it :) He's been working hard at keeping the Wikimania process generally on track this year and for the past several years, has helped shepherd many ideas into this proposal, and is in my opinion the best person to get the committee off the ground. best, Phoebe

Butch Bustria

9:08 a.m.

Hi, I suggest "Wikimedia Conference Coordination Committee (WC3)" so that conferences similar to "*Regional Wikimanias*" or "*Thematic Wikimania*" be accommodated. Butch On Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 1:42 PM, phoebe ayers <phoebe.ayers(a)gmail.com>wrote;wrote:

...

On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 10:17 PM, James Forrester <jdforrester(a)gmail.com> wrote:

Board:

* https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee/Charter *

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_resolutions/Wikimania_Committee

Comments are very welcome; we're trying to get this done fairly quickly, and of course we will iterate these plans as we get feedback and hopefully more forward on the oft-stalled next steps. J. -- James D. Forrester jdforrester(a)gmail.com [[Wikipedia:User:Jdforrester|James F.]] (speaking purely in a personal

capacity) I've been working on these documents as well, and am glad that we're once again moving forward on this idea. It's been discussed for a long time -- for at least the last five Wikimanias! And from the conversations I've been in over the years, I think there's been pretty broad consensus that having a community-driven oversight committee for Wikimania, as proposed here, is a good idea. The idea is that the committee would ensure continuity and planning from year to year as well as help provide oversight of annual conference planning; and it would be a more formal and representative mechanism than we've had in the past. After long discussions, I think we are finally (!) in a good position to make the committee happen now. Please add your feedback and questions, and help make this proposal better. I'm also happy to propose James as the initial chair of the committee, and also very happy that he's willing to do it :) He's been working hard at keeping the Wikimania process generally on track this year and for the past several years, has helped shepherd many ideas into this proposal, and is in my opinion the best person to get the committee off the ground. best, Phoebe _______________________________________________ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l

-- Roman "Butch" Bustria Jr. Vice President (2012-2013) Wikimedia Philippines Inc. ------------------------------ The information contained in this message is privileged and intended only for the recipients named. If the reader is not a representative of the intended recipient, any review, dissemination or copying of this message or the information it contains is prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender, and delete the original message and attachments. Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Orsolya Gyenes

2:01 p.m.

Hi, It's already there: - Provide advice (on request) with regards to other large-scale Wikimedia events to the community and movement bodies. *~Orsolya* 2013/4/23 Butch Bustria <butch(a)wikimedia.org.ph>

...

On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 10:17 PM, James Forrester <jdforrester(a)gmail.com> wrote:

Board:

* https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee * https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee/Charter *

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_resolutions/Wikimania_Committee

James Forrester

2:30 p.m.

New subject: [Wikimedia-l] Creating a Wikimania Committee

On 23 April 2013 07:01, Orsolya Gyenes <gyenes.orsolya(a)wiki.media.hu> wrote:

...

2013/4/23 Butch Bustria <butch(a)wikimedia.org.ph>

Hi, I suggest "Wikimedia Conference Coordination Committee (WC3)" so that conferences similar to "*Regional Wikimanias*" or "*Thematic Wikimania*" be accommodated.

Hi, It's already there: - Provide advice (on request) with regards to other large-scale Wikimedia events to the community and movement bodies.

Indeed - the point is that the Committee shouldn't just declare itself in charge of all events that happen around the world that are related to Wikimedia. It is about Wikimania (including, potentially, regional Wikimanias) and should advise but not direct other events. J. -- James D. Forrester jdforrester(a)gmail.com [[Wikipedia:User:Jdforrester|James F.]] (speaking purely in a personal capacity)

Gordon Joly

1 May 1 May

8:41 p.m.

A parallel came to mind when reading the comments about the scale and budget of the bids for Wikimania 2014 (which will be in London). The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics 2008 was a tough act to follow, and the Olympics in London 2012 was opened and closed with some panache on a much smaller budget than Beijing. Wherever Wikimania 2015 lands, it can be a fine event, that is community driven, with all that you would expect. Gordo

James Forrester

23 Apr 23 Apr

2:51 p.m.

On 22 April 2013 22:17, James Forrester <jdforrester(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

Some comments based on private questions that I think should be answered publicly: [Conflicts of Interest] There would be a relatively strong Conflict of Interest policy that would mean that people running a current conference (or bidding for one) would not be able to sit on the committee, and would have to resign if they were going to start doing so. [Timing] The July timing is if anything too slow - from my point of view, we really should be commissioning Wikimania 2015 by 1 August 2013 to give the host team two clear years to organise (so the call for bids should go out as soon as possible). However, life isn't perfect, and I doubt we'll manage to get the committee up and running (and redrafting its charter and procedures for the Board to approve) before then. We can, of course, always change things later when they're not working. :-) I'm sure we could discuss the initial protocols in-person with high effectiveness, at a cost to the movement of US$15k or similar, but we could work from some drafts and discuss in meetings and on-wiki for 'free', and also involve the community much more rather than some ivory-tower pronouncement of what we think works. The hope is that the committee will be in a place to start advising HK right away, though we'll see if that's achievable. [Things the committee could do] * Provide a template for bids that focusses them onto the issues that criteria related, rather than too much opportunity for tourist-like generic information that takes a great deal of effort from the bidding team and provide less valuable information for the selection judgement. * Meet with bidding teams via video-conference rather than IRC to open things up more. (Though this makes things harder for people with non-native English skills - not the entire bidding team will necessarily be fluent.) * Run a "stakeholder" meeting for interested parties at Wikimania 2013 - https://wikimania2013.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/The_Growth_and_Future_… * Possibly also run focussed in-person workshops at Wikimania (or beforehand?) as well. [Appetite to be part of a committee] Recently we have had issues providing enough volunteers for the jury process. However, just because only a few people offered to be part of a secretive and unclear process doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to open up this into the community properly, and be transparent and open as much as we can. [Elections to the committee?] I am (extremely) strongly against making this yet another elected position - it's hugely expensive in terms of volunteer time and resources (not just those running the election, and the candidates, but also in the minds of all 200,000 people that dismiss the "you can vote!" banners), and the important thing is having expertise on the committee and being as open as possible, not electioneering. Yours, -- James D. Forrester jdforrester(a)gmail.com [[Wikipedia:User:Jdforrester|James F.]] (speaking purely in a personal capacity)

WereSpielChequers

3 May 3 May

12:20 a.m.

A Wikimania committee would be good, but even better would be some continuing organiser resource. There are lots of really suitable potential venues out there if we could only reduce the minimal role of the local organisation. The ideal Wikimania venue is in a country a medium or longhaul flight from the last two years venues, where there are few or no visa barriers to entry, tolerance of the various diverse sorts of people who attend Wikimania and which is relatively cheap when you aggregate the costs of transport, venue and simply being there. If you add sufficient local Wikimedians to put a viable bid together then you have to make compromises. In the 80s I used to go to an annual conference that wandered round the UK, most of the organisation of which was done by the same people regardless of where the event was held. I think that would be a good model for Wikimania. Yes of course it would be nice to have a local team, to have one thread of discussions in the local language, to have local volunteers check out some of the venues and arrange some local speakers. But people who edit an encyclopaedia are not necessarily people who want to print visitor badges and bargain with hotel chains and airlines. I suspect that if the WMF employed a conference organiser to organise Wikimania it would be an investment that paid for itself in opening up cheaper venues and reducing community burnout. WSC On 23 April 2013 06:17, James Forrester <jdforrester(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

Manuel Schneider

4:02 p.m.

Dear WSC, Am 03.05.2013 02:20, schrieb WereSpielChequers:

...

I agree partly, my suggestion is to divide Wikimania into several roles: * Program Evaluation - should be an online committee that organises itself - very much like it already is, maybe a bit more independant, similar to the jury * Venue / Accommodation - clearly locally * VISAs and managing scholarships - online committee with WMF staff and volunteers - should be kind of a secretariat for the Scholarship Evaluation committee * Scholarship Evaluation - online committee of volunteers - very much like it already is, maybe a bit more independant, similar to the jury * Sponsorships - clearly locally but should get WMF staff support, eg. sponsorship concepts that can be re-used * Technics - a global team of people which organise online but also need to work locally a week prior the event ** I'd volunteer for that as I also wrote most of the technical specs on the Wikimania Team wiki * Oversight / Financial Controlling - an online committee with WMF staff support - similar to GAC/FDC I am afraid that I just created too many teams and committees for one event only. Maybe these teams / committees could also be used in regional conferences - when asked by the local team to help. That may be single teams or all which may support local events, depending on the demand. I hope that by splitting the duties this way we can have a fair amount of expertise - people only having to deal with what they are good at / interested in - and less pressure on each individual. The teams / committees should manage themselves, meaning that they look for new volunteers, report publicly, make sure they are being guided by the community where possible. That might result in the content of the Wikimania Team wiki being moved into several working spaces (one per team) on Meta and the Team wiki being closed thereafter. /Manuel -- Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Lausanne, +41 (21) 34066-22 - www.wikimedia.ch

WereSpielChequers

5 May 5 May

8:52 a.m.

I like this, though program evaluation needs to allow for the possibility that the local bid team might want to organise a national language track. What I think we should be trying to do is reduce the competing bid elements of Wikimania and building on the cooperative elements. It would be hard to think of any other aspect of the movement where we have rival teams competing against each other and all but the winning teams efforts end on the discard pile. Jonathan On 3 May 2013 17:02, Manuel Schneider <manuel.schneider(a)wikimedia.ch> wrote:

...

Dear WSC, Am 03.05.2013 02:20, schrieb WereSpielChequers:

Manuel Schneider

9:05 a.m.

Am 05.05.2013 10:52, schrieb WereSpielChequers:

...

I like this, though program evaluation needs to allow for the possibility that the local bid team might want to organise a national language track.

totally agree!

...

What I think we should be trying to do is reduce the competing bid elements of Wikimania and building on the cooperative elements. It would be hard to think of any other aspect of the movement where we have rival teams competing against each other and all but the winning teams efforts end on the discard pile.

Yes! 1) the different teams and committees which are nod defined as "local" here will do their work continously. There will be change in persons but there won't be a completely new team each year for each Wikimania. I expect the change to be more organic. This means that many aspects of Wikimania are then away from the local team. Not completely taken away, of course we aim for cooperation, but they don't have to worry about these things. That should also making bidding easier: * you don't have to have such a big team and prove that they are all active and experts * you don't have to have a complete technical concept for Wifi etc. because the tech team will bring it in * you don't have to worry so much about sponsoring because you will get professional support from WMF (you will still have to look for some local sponsors but the global ones will be arranged with the WMF) * you don't have to worry about VISA coordination, invitation letters etc. because there is a team that will handle it 2) I already wrote that a few weeks ago: We should provide a bidding template on Meta. I am not interested in the touristic highlights of the host city, nor the food specialties etc. (I am, of course, but I don't want to read it in the bid). The bids should contain basic facts: * a venue * accommodation * programmatic ideas (national language track, keynote speakers, outreach, events around Wikimania...) * a basic outline of the infrastructure (where is the next international airport, how is local transport going to happen...) This should make bidding much easier. Maybe we even want to make it a requirement that the local team should have organised a local / regional event first? It would give them experience and open doors for venues and accommodation. In my idea the support teams for Wikimania can also be asked to help with local conferences where needed (if capacity allows). Regards, Manuel -- Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Lausanne, +41 (21) 34066-22 - www.wikimedia.ch

Jeromy Chan

9:17 a.m.

I do have some conversation on this With Ellie Young, the conference coordinator in WMF Especially some repetitive labour on sponsor every year And sort of pool of general sponsor and brand of Wikimania stuff Actually I am not sure if everybody happy with these ideas, however if we need to continue without too much worries and repetitive labour These connections need to maintained either by Commitee or staff Sent from my iPhone On 5 May, 2013, at 17:05, Manuel Schneider <manuel.schneider(a)wikimedia.ch> wrote:

...

Am 05.05.2013 10:52, schrieb WereSpielChequers:

I like this, though program evaluation needs to allow for the possibility that the local bid team might want to organise a national language track.

totally agree!

Manuel Schneider

9:32 a.m.

Am 05.05.2013 11:17, schrieb Jeromy Chan:

...

I had a long discussion with Ellie on Saturday. I think she will be a great help and value for further Wikimania organisation. The organisation though should be as much as possible done by volunteers, with staff *support*. This is what Wikimania is and how our movement works. That's why I ended up with so many teams / committees, because we need to split up the work in different expertise groups. I suggested that sponsoring should be locally with WMF staff support (so no committee) before I had the discussion with her but she basically confirmed me in the idea: The staff has the best abilities to maintain connections to the high-profile global sponsors. I can't imagine a committe of volunteers doing that.

...

Actually I am not sure if everybody happy with these ideas, however if

we need to continue without too much worries and repetitive labour I think you are touching a general problem here which I also mentioned in our discussion: The support should be in a "non-intrusive" way (I hope I picked the right wording here), the local team should feel supported, reliefed, helped, not dominated or patronized. This is the major risk I see with the new setup and I want to avoid that - been there, done that. I have worked on many projects and event teams, with volunteers, staff and without, with support from big Wikimedia entities and without and I know how things can turn out sometimes. I don't expect everyone to love my ideas. They are a first draft fromthe back of my head. They should be discussed, adjusted or maybe completely thrown out and replaced by something better. We once briefly discussed the idea of having a real-life Wikimania workshop. I think this discussion is hard to do - at least to come up with a final result - on a mailinglist. I think all interested parties - don't need to be those who volunteer to sit on such a committee only - should come together, discuss, argue, brainstorm, put together the pieces and ideas into a complete concept. That done we could start cleanly into the next Wikimania bidding (or whatever decided then) process, making it aso clear for the next teams what they can expect, what we will expect and how the processes will be going. For Wikimania Hong Kong it will be an exceptional sitation because you are way into planning and you are getting additional support. You shouldn't be influenced by this whole planning for new concepts at all. You are definitely invited to participate in the discussions and be involved in the new processes, though. /Manuel -- Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Lausanne, +41 (21) 34066-22 - www.wikimedia.ch

Jeromy Chan

9:51 a.m.

I think I just put some helpful comment (which i think) to the future And for the Hong Kong planning I think the strategy is pretty settled Only things I need to think about Is the reaction to sudden changes to situations Which I don't think I can actually think about it, as I don't know what to expect as no one can lol Sent from my iPhone On 5 May, 2013, at 17:32, Manuel Schneider <manuel.schneider(a)wikimedia.ch> wrote:

...

Am 05.05.2013 11:17, schrieb Jeromy Chan:

Actually I am not sure if everybody happy with these ideas, however if

Lodewijk

10:30 a.m.

2013/5/5 Manuel Schneider <manuel.schneider(a)wikimedia.ch>

...

We once briefly discussed the idea of having a real-life Wikimania workshop. I think this discussion is hard to do - at least to come up with a final result - on a mailinglist. I think all interested parties - don't need to be those who volunteer to sit on such a committee only - should come together, discuss, argue, brainstorm, put together the pieces and ideas into a complete concept.

I read through most of your thoughts, and the first thing that pops in to my head is 'overhead', 'bureaucracy' and 'little kingdoms'. However, this part I can totally agree with, because I suspect I simply have trouble seperating the basic ideas from the exact workout, and I'm unsure how much of this overhead, bureaucracy and the creation of little kingdoms (if at all) would be caused by the core principles of your thoughts, or by the way they are worked out. With a proper real life discussion (be it at Wikimania, or elsewhere) we could go more to the bottom of it, and figure out an approach which has a positive impact on the overhead etc (for example, by indeed reducing the work for the bidding teams - something always stated as a goal, but so far only the reverse has been the practice) and on the outcome (a more effective wikimania). However, there is one thing we could perhaps start discussing first, and that is defining what we want to achieve exactly with Wikimania. What are the goals? For example, if maturing the local team organization is one of the main goals, then a different approach might be required (focused on training rather than taking over work) than if the only goal is to have a big wiki-meetup. If we want to have tangible outcomes, the whole structure might have to be different than if we want to have a big networking event. Etcetera. Lets figure out where we want to go with Wikimania, set up this Wikimania committee, and work from there on a more detailed structure (for example, during a dedicated session(s) at Wikimania 2013). I'm afraid that if we jump to what kind of teams we need etc, we're skipping some very important steps. And taking a step back is often much harder than going a bit slower in the beginning. Best, Lodewijk

Simon Shek

10:59 a.m.

On Sat, May 4, 2013 at 12:02 AM, Manuel Schneider < manuel.schneider(a)wikimedia.ch> wrote: [...]

...

* Program Evaluation - should be an online committee that organises itself - very much like it already is, maybe a bit more independant, similar to the jury

No change needed.

...

* VISAs and managing scholarships - online committee with WMF staff and volunteers - should be kind of a secretariat for the Scholarship Evaluation committee

It sort of work like this right now. But I think WMF should take up more and follow-up on scholarship program. Visa should be a local thing. * Scholarship Evaluation - online committee of volunteers - very much

...

like it already is, maybe a bit more independant, similar to the jury

No change needed. It is independent from WMF. Scholarship committee should be just reviewing applicants. Following up the scholarship program should be handled by WMF (like a chapter). [...]

...

* Technics - a global team of people which organise online but also need to work locally a week prior the event ** I'd volunteer for that as I also wrote most of the technical specs on the Wikimania Team wiki

Would it be possible that WMF helps local team to host Wikimania registration/scholarship system? -- Simon Shek Community coordinator, Wikimania 2013 / Wikimedia Hong Kong

Ellie Young

5:47 p.m.

On May 5, 2013, at 3:59 AM, Simon Shek <simon.shek(a)wikimedia.hk> wrote:

...

On Sat, May 4, 2013 at 12:02 AM, Manuel Schneider <manuel.schneider(a)wikimedia.ch> wrote: [...] * Program Evaluation - should be an online committee that organises itself - very much like it already is, maybe a bit more independant, similar to the jury No change needed. * VISAs and managing scholarships - online committee with WMF staff and volunteers - should be kind of a secretariat for the Scholarship Evaluation committee It sort of work like this right now. But I think WMF should take up more and follow-up on scholarship program. Visa should be a local thing.

Simon: I thought it went pretty smoothly this year, and agree about WMF taking up more of the followup. I want to get your and Jessie's feedback on how we can improve things for next year.

...

* Scholarship Evaluation - online committee of volunteers - very much like it already is, maybe a bit more independant, similar to the jury No change needed. It is independent from WMF. Scholarship committee should be just reviewing applicants. Following up the scholarship program should be handled by WMF (like a chapter). [...] * Technics - a global team of people which organise online but also need to work locally a week prior the event ** I'd volunteer for that as I also wrote most of the technical specs on the Wikimania Team wiki Would it be possible that WMF helps local team to host Wikimania registration/scholarship system?

Yes.

...

-- Simon Shek Community coordinator, Wikimania 2013 / Wikimedia Hong Kong _______________________________________________ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l

phoebe ayers

9 May 9 May

5:59 p.m.

New subject: [Wikimedia-l] Creating a Wikimania Committee

On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 10:17 PM, James Forrester <jdforrester(a)gmail.com>wrote;wrote:

...

Hi folks, All this discussion is great, but I just want to remind you to leave any last comments on the proposal for a wikimania committee above if you have them. So far there has only been a small amount of discussion on the charter about staggered terms, which I tried to incorporate. It seems like most of the discussion that's happening now is about the structure of Wikimania which is bigger than the proposal to create an oversight committee? I think it would be good to try and get this proposal wrapped up fairly soon and sent off to the Board for their consideration, so if you do have any specific comments on the charter proposal or the resolution please do leave them on the talk page. Thanks! -- phoebe -- * I use this address for lists; send personal messages to phoebe.ayers <at> gmail.com *

4005

days inactive

4021

days old

wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org

Manage subscription

17 comments

13 participants

tags (0)

participants (13)

Butch Bustria
Ellie Young
Gordon Joly
James Forrester
James Forrester
Jeromy Chan
Lodewijk
Manuel Schneider
Orsolya Gyenes
phoebe ayers
phoebe ayers
Simon Shek
WereSpielChequers