Hoi, Given the arithmetic of Danny, with THEM being 42% of the people who are on this committee, they surely have a strong influence on the decision. They are not there to twiddle their thumbs. Now did they have any other role on the committee the the other 58%, were they less involved that you have to discriminate THEIR involvement? Are there complaints about THEM having been on the committee? Thanks, GerardM On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 11:35 PM, SlimVirgin <slimvirgin(a)gmail.com> wrote:

As a reminder, here is the judging criteria: * Accommodations * Funding * General location * Internet access * Local laws, customs, attitudes, and culture * Press * Organizing team * Rotation of location * Social areas * Cost * Venue * Visa/immigration issues http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2008/Judging_criteria The quality of the organizing team (their track record), rotation of location, costs, and venue are key advantages to their bid. The venue is being provided to us for free, which means keeping the costs down. The quality of the venue is also high, being a modern facility, good size, etc. Rotation of locations is also key. At the last Wikimania in Taipei, some people travelled great distances to come to Wikimania, though a large contingent of the attendees come from the local area or region. This summer is an opportunity to help address systematic bias, by involving people from the local region in Egypt, Jordan, and other areas of the Middle East and Africa at Wikimania. I think rotating the locations like this is a good and important thing, given the mission of the Foundation (even if it means going some places with much different culture). As far as security is concerned, I think attendees will find that Egypt is one of safest places, with violent crime rare. Tourism is a very important component of the Egyptian economy, and I know they do take security very seriously and provide added protection for tourists, for conferences and such events. I think you will also find kind hospitality of people there. The fact that they have a track record is also very important, and it means the local people in Alexandria are all the more used to foreigners and people of all race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc. The visa/immigration issues are a negative for holding Wikimania in the United States (in Atlanta). I would say the bids were on par, with the exception of the "local laws, customs, ..." issue with is a weak point but not enough so to say we can't have Wikimania there. Also, remember they big for Wikimania 2007 and lost out to Taipei. They were professional about that, and came back to bid again. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2007/Bids http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2007/Alexandria#Major_Conferences_… For 2009, it will be good to have Wikimania in a different type of place, in a different part of the world, so as to afford the opportunity to attend to others. For this summer, I very much look forward to coming to Alexandria, meeting new people and seeing some of the same folks again. I don't think my gender and other personal factors will be a problem at all. Cheers. -Aude

Aude wrote: Egypt is far less prone to hurricanes than Taiwan, but some might enjoy the experience of a desert sandstorm. One point that would be helpful to most of us foreigners would be step-by-step instructions for getting from the Cairo International Airport, where most foreign flights arrive, to the conference site in Alexandria. Ec