I agree with Nichalp and Aksi. We need some time to start the India chapter and get ourselves organised. As such, 2009 would be a bit too early IMO. We should conduct a few other ventures before we organise such a grand event as Wikimania. Right now, we should focus on setting up the chapter as soon as possible.

Deepu

On Dec 17, 2007 9:12 AM, Akash <akash.great@gmail.com> wrote:
Toronto had been a very serious bidder since 2 years and has dropped for 2008 bidding to focus on 2009. I think they are most likely to win the bid. The only thing that could go against them would be the rotation policy of Wikimania. Though I don't think there is a written rule. So I agree with Nichalp that we should try and bid for the 2010 edition.

My experience from Taiwan says that we do not need lots of active Wikimedians to host Wikimania, but a large number of internet savvy volunteers. Almost all the volunteers at Taipei were from a local college who were all active on some internet forum. We could do something similar taking the help on FOSS.IN and other open source organisations. But care must also be taken that we do not let them hijack the event. For this the core of the team must be from the Wikimedian community (most likely the board members of the India chapter).

If anyone still thinks that we should bid for 2009, I'll help you in any way I can. But I think Nichalp is right in that we should concentrate all our energies on the starting the chapter within the next few months and then we can seriously start planning for Wikimania in India.

Akash




On Dec 15, 2007 11:24 AM, Nicholas <nichalp.wiki@gmail.com > wrote:
Personally, I think we delay it for a year. To organize something of such a magnitude (we're talking about 2000-3000 people attending if the numbers escalate.) we need to market wikipedia in India properly and have a good infrastructure. My personal opinion would be to first form the India chapter, rope in more volunteers, and use it to promote wikipedia in India. This would give us a stable platform to pitch in with a serious bid and win it.
 
If there is no strong local base in India, the idea of Wikimania being hosted in India would be reduced to a fair attended by an eclectic mix of local and international participants. There has to be more of a wikipedia presence in India, which at the moment is sorely lacking.

Regards,
--Nicholas
 
 
On Dec 14, 2007 9:22 PM, Eukesh Ranjit <eukeshranjit@yahoo.com> wrote:
Hi all,
I think it is a really nice idea. Forming and running the wikimedia India chapter will take some time. So, it might be a bit hard for the India chapter to organize wikimania by itself. 
I would like to suggest that the Wikimedia India chapter collaborate with some of the established educational institutions like IIT or maybe work with organizations pertaining to Indian language promotion as it would be much easier to organize as well as much cheaper in terms of cost.
We here in Nepal are trying to form a Nepal chapter (maybe by 2010 or later) and help from various language organizations, colleges, open source organizations, radio stations etc. has been very helpful for spreading words and recruiting new volunteers.
Regards,
Eukesh     


Anirudh <anirudhsbh@gmail.com> wrote:
Sounds really interesting, and I would be fully supportive of this, provided we could get enough enthusiasts. New Delhi would be a great choice, IMO. But then again, there is the ubiquitous question of sponsors.

On 12/12/07, Akash <akash.great@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi all.

Bids for Wikimania 2009 are going to open on Saturday. There is already an unofficial India bid made at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2009/India . Should we bid for Wikimania? By that time we should (hopefully) have an active India chapter and more people too. Take a look at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2009 for more details. For all those who are not aware - Wikimania is the annual conference of the Wikimedia foundation. Wikimania 2007 was held in Taipei, Taiwan and was attended by close to 500 people. Wikimania 2008 is going to be held in Alexandria, Egypt (home to the first library in the world).

Do think and write your suggestions regarding Wikimania in India. We can then decide a city and make the official bid.

Akash

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