Dear Anass,
Thank you for raising this important issue.
Your email highlights structural barriers and global injustices that affect our communities and challenge the values of equity and inclusion that Wikimedia Deutschland strives for. Whilst some of the underlying reasons for visa rejections are beyond our power, the Summit organizing team is relentlessly working in the constraints given upon us to create an event as inclusive as possible.
The ongoing and dynamic development of Covid regulations made it impossible for us to plan this year’s Summit with the desired lead time. Despite these circumstances, we were eager to finally make it possible for the organizational part of our movement to come together again, which is why we decided to hold the Summit on-site with a hybrid setting.
During the past months of preparing the Summit, we have been met with bureaucratic hurdles regarding visa support for our participants. Many participants have contacted us, stating their issues and concerns with the availability of appointments at the embassies.
We have supported them by providing additional supporting documents and contacting the Federal Foreign Office and respective embassies. While this was successful in some cases, unfortunately it did not work for all of the affected participants. It has also come to our attention that the booking system for visa appointments has been changed and fully digitized as of this year, which has further complicated the process for everyone and made it even harder for us to interfere
We will continue to examine possible ways to support future visa processes and share our learnings with the Movement in the event report.
Kind regards, Nicole
On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 at 22:55, Bobby Shabangu bobbyshabangu@gmail.com wrote:
Thanks for raising this important issue Anass. We've all been victims of this problem, and I need to say it's a waste of resources and time for everyone involved - administration that goes into flight and hotel reservations for a person who won't come because of a visa. Time consumed by the ups and downs one needs to do to sort out the visa.
I think we really need to have deep conversations as a movement where we outline the true advantages of in-person events vs online events.
Best, Bobby Shabangu
On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 at 21:00, Mike Peel email@mikepeel.net wrote:
Hi Risker,
I broadly agree - there are a lot of benefits from in-person meetings, mostly from spontaneous meetings, but not so much for the actual program!
Different people also work in very different ways. With your second point, internet connectivity problems, interface challenges, and finding it difficult to socalize --- but in person --- are also relevant for some (including myself ;-) ).
Perhaps the reverse approach would be better then? Really focus on those who have never had the opportunities, to solve their problems, and mix with others at the conference - and for most regular attendees, get them to attend online and not take up so much of the meeting resources?
"it is critical that we don't consider the presence of those who face greater challenges in attending in-person as non-essential." - I completely agree with this, but on the flip side, don't consider it essential that you have to attend in-person to participate equally. Particularly if you can't attend in-person for any reason (family commitments, travel restrictions, funding, medical issues, etc...).
Thanks, Mike
On 16/8/22 19:41:31, Risker wrote:
I see where you are coming from, Mike. At the same time, there is something fundamentally different about an in-person event. From my own experience, some of the most valuable learnings I have taken from in-person events have been completely unplanned; in particular, developing personal relationships with people from other parts of the world or from other projects. We should be doing our best to ensure that people from all over the world have the opportunity to have these experiences, as they have been fundamental to our growth as a movement. A lunchtime walk, a random encounter at breakfast, or a casual introduction has often turned into an action plan to collaborate. These things don't really happen during online meetings and conferences.
There are also plenty of issues with online meetings, too. Connectivity problems, software challenges, and the fact that it's much more difficult to socialize online are just the beginning.
Hybrid, yes. But it is critical that we don't consider the presence of those who face greater challenges in attending in-person as non-essential. Their ability to participate in the same way as someone from a country with easy access is, in some ways, even more important.
Risker/Anne
On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 at 13:51, Mike Peel <email@mikepeel.net mailto:email@mikepeel.net> wrote:
Hi, Rather than worrying about visa problems, why not use the experiences we've learnt over the last few years with virtual meetings? Make sure that the meeting is fully hybrid - with remote attendees being able to participate equally with those in person? Wouldn't that be a fairer approach to make sure that all who need to attend can do so? Thanks, Mike
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/... To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/... To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/... To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org