Hoi,
What we differ on is the basic question:
- What is WIkimania there for
Of primary importance is its value to spread and spread our message.
You do
spread the message most effectively by stimulating the countries, the
languages where we have an emerging presence. Taipei was brilliant
because
it not only gave us a lot of publicity in Asia, it was also
instrumental in
building a chapter for Taiwan.
This is exactly what the Alexandria conference is likely to do in
Egypt. It
is likely to stimulate the ar.wikipedia enormously.
By going to countries like Egypt we will meet other cultures other
points of
view. When you are not willing to reach out, when the only thing you
can
consider is the comfort of easy locations like Frankfurt, Boston our
POV
will not be tested against the opinions, the attitudes of other
cultures and
we will not be the challenging innovative organisation that we have
been so
far. There is a risk that other cultures will change us, challenge
us but
that is exactly what we have always taken pride in.
Thanks,
GerardM
On Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 3:37 PM, Dan Rosenthal <swatjester(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
If you and I disagree on what is obvious, and
other people on this
list do as well, you can hardly make generalizations about Alexandria
as being a "brilliant" location, that extend anywhere beyond your own
opinion. Alexandria was not a "brilliant" choice, in fact many people
believe it was a very poor choice. Notice I'm not saying "it is a
poor
choice". The difference is in being able to differentiate one's
subjective opinion from the objective facts, something I think you
find it very difficult to do when you make statements like "It is for
this reason that places like Taipei and Alexandria are brilliant."
That is your subjective opinion that Alexandria is a "brilliant"
location. Others think that it is a very poor location. It's
"brilliance", if any, extends only to your own opinion. "So when you
think the risk is too big, you do not go." Again, this is your own
opinion. Others think different actions are appropriate to take when
they see a risk. Your opinion only extends in this case to your own
behavior, not anyone else's.
-Dan
On Mar 7, 2008, at 9:24 AM, Gerard Meijssen wrote:
> Hoi,
> We disagree on what is obvious. For me it is obvious that we need to
> spread
> the message of our projects and about our way as wide as possible.
> This
> means that we should go where we are weak but are building a
> presence. Going
> to the places that you where we are already doing well is missing
> important
> opportunities. It is for this reason that places like Taipei and
> Alexandria
> are brilliant.
> Thanks,
> GerardM
>
> On Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 3:13 PM, Dan Rosenthal <swatjester(a)gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>
>> On Mar 7, 2008, at 4:49 AM, Gerard Meijssen wrote:
>>
>>> Considering that the
>>> number of articles is slowly becoming more balanced and
>>> considering
>>> that
>>> even the English Wikipedia has contributors all over the world,
>>> there is no
>>> such thing as an "obvious" location to choose from.
>>> Thanks,
>>> GerardM
>>
>>
>> Being that there is no "obvious location", Gerard, then there is no
>> reason to pick a location that has significant drawbacks. There are
>> many European, North American, even Asian locations that are
>> accessible to the vast majority of the world, in some cases
>> probably
>> less expensively than Alexandria, (since places that are major
>> international airport hubs usually have the cheapest airfares, and
>> generally do not require a connecting flight ticket), that are more
>> free and open societies, without as intense worries about
>> censorship,
>> terrorism, or implicitly supporting human rights violations.
>> Toronto,
>> DC, New York, Berlin, Paris, London, Tokyo, Seoul, San Francisco,
>> Moscow, Vienna, Prague, etc. If there is no "obvious location" to
>> choose from, why not any of these places that are safer, do not
>> require out attendees to pretend they are not gay or jewish, do not
>> discriminate against women, etc.
>>
>> -Dan
>>
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