Hey all -
Thanks everyone who came to the meet-up on Saturday. It was a really positive
experience and great to meet others of similar mind and with a similar
experience of working together on Wikipedia and other projects. I know there
were many more who sent their apologies and I hope even more can make it next
time around (see further down)!
I think what came out the most was just how down-to-earth the whole thing was. I
think there was initially a bit of nervousness about revealing our "real"
identities. (I know secretly that's how I felt.) In fact, it quickly became
obvious that the meet-up was simply a coming together of people who already
collaborated over the internet and see the limitations of only working together
online as well as the benefits of occasionally meeting up in person.
It was great just to sit around a table to talk about common efforts, to get
others' perspective on this-or-that and to throw about ideas for collaboration
in the future. The informal nature of the whole thing was definitely a plus.
After a few minutes of polite conversation the "meet-up" felt like work-mates
sitting 'round a bar table talking shop. And it was great that everyone was so
natural and enthusiastic.
There's no way that I can remember everything we talked about but (as examples)
here's a few conversation points that I can remember coming up:
* The problems of incivility/poor collaboration on WikiProject Ireland-related
articles and the benefits that face-to-face meetings can have in promoting a
better culture amongst Irish collaborators (by simply knowing other contributors
are "real" and not just as a screen name).
* How off-line networks can help collaboration (e.g. photo requests) and
examples of how editors have collaborated like this in the past by simply
emailing each other.
* What benefit would a Wikimedia chapter in Ireland bring and whether to set
the establishment of Wikimedia Ireland as a definite goal. There was consensus
to set Wikimedia Ireland as a goal but no time-line was made.
* The possibility of regular social occasions, perhaps combined with a charity
fund-raising element.
The "meet-up" part of the day lasted around two hours in the restaurant of the
Kingston Hotel until about 4:00 then Clement kindly gave us a personal tour of
the National Maritime Museum. (The museum is not officially open yet, so we felt
particularly privileged to be given genuinely exceptional access.)
Before we left the hotel, we discussed a future meet up. It was universally
agreed that this one was so beneficial that we really should schedule regular
ones. The consensus was to keep a similar format: a private meet-up around some
tables in an public place like a bar or hotel lobby followed by an "event". Don
generously volunteered to host the next meet-up at the start of December and to
provide free entrance to a gig as the "event". It was generally thought that
Dublin was the most convenient location for the greatest number of people but
meet-ups outside of Dublin were certainly not ruled out.
Oliver
________________________________
From: Colm King <cargoking(a)live.com>
To: wikimediaie(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Sent: Sun, 26 September, 2010 11:41:19
Subject: [Wikimedia IE] Meet-up
So how did it go? What was discussed? How many people attended?
Colm