David Strauss wrote: hello I will have only three comments. I am very happy to see Alexandria as the next host city of Wikimania, the Wikimedia Foundation annual conference. Others already explained why it is a really great choice, so I will not comment any further on this. Second, I was part of the jury with others. We looked carefully at many different criteria, and also offered our "gut feeling", and took into consideration comments provided on the meta talk and during the irc open meeting. Nothing was left aside. Aside from cold "voting", most jury members sent details comments to explain why they voted in a certain way. They provided figures AND votes. As Cary very well explained, the three bids were good bids. The three of them had some important strenghts and the three also had some weaknesses. We'll work on the weaknesses, and we'll surf on the strengths. Some people will always see some strengthes as stronger than the jury did, and the weaknesses are worse than the stronger did. As in ANY decision, there will be people happy and other unhappy. I still believe the process was fair, but no decision can make everyone happy. This has to be recognised. You are unhappy, you have arguments for being unhappy, you are free to provide this argument and that's okay. I am just sorry you are unhappy. But there is not a good choice on one hand and two bad choices. There is a preferred choice, which is probably a best choice. The third point is that, however unhappy you are, I would urge you not to make attacks on people. It is not because you disagree with the jury that the jury did a bad job. I urge you to believe in our good faith and to believe that we did the best we could. You just simply disagree with us. I would not disagree with you that Egypt is not the most agreeable country in the world with regards to LGBT rights, I would not disagree with you that Egypt might be sometimes, in certain circonstances not the safer country as well; however, I do not think that having Wikimania in Egypt constitute in any way a support of this country political system (just as it was not either a support of the political system of Germany in 2005, the United States of America in 2006 and Taipei in 2007). Also, there are also great people in Egypt, just as everywhere else; and they do not deserve to be belittle, isolated or generally marginalized (which is what you propose) simply because they happen not to live in a country most agreeable to your personal beliefs. Best Anthere

On 10/9/07, David Strauss <david(a)fourkitchens.com> wrote: David, thanks for opening this discussion; it's an important and necessary one. I was not on the Wikimania jury, but I endorse its decision. To me, WMF is first and foremost about spreading knowledge, across boundaries of language & culture. This means we should not isolate countries that violate human rights through reactionary policies. We need to engage them on a higher level, and confront them with the open & diverse culture of sharing that we are building. I understand that this means that many LGBT people may not wish to attend Wikimania 2008 for reasons of personal safety or principles. I hope some of them will change their mind, as we need courageous voices to influence those who can be influenced. I have always been supportive of Wikimedia taking an official stance against censorship in particular. Knowledge cannot flow across boundaries where there are gatekeepers who wish to control it. It is my belief that education, including education about different lifestyles, is absolutely critical for social progress anywhere, including Egypt. This is what Wikimedia, as an international charity, is all about. If we truly are the "Red Cross of Knowledge", as Jimmy once called it, then we need to be everywhere, and primarily challenge policies when they stop us from doing what we do: giving people free access to education. This, not simply globe-hopping, is my motivation to support this location, the first Wikimania in Africa. -- Toward Peace, Love & Progress: Erik DISCLAIMER: This message does not represent an official position of the Wikimedia Foundation or its Board of Trustees.