2008/7/7 Tom Holden <thomas.holden(a)gmail.com>:
> OK well I'm not going to fight too much for Oxford if I'm the only one
> who thinks London isn't that great an idea, but before I shut up I'll just
> make a few points:
>
>
>
> · Wikimania has been in cities other than the capital or largest
> one more often than not (Frankfurt not Berlin, Cambridge not DC or NY,
> Alexandria not Cairo).
>
> · We have tried London before. Many times. Even with very active
> bid leaders (Alison, Gary) we had no luck.
>
> · London is spread out over a massive area. This either means
> significant journeys from accommodation to conferences to restaurants, or
> doing basically everything in one of the university's campuses, making us
> very dependent on that university for everything and giving a rather
> claustrophobic feel.
>
> · London is expensive and is globally perceived as being even more
> expensive than it actually is. Being firmly rooted in a university campus
> would ameliorate this, but it's always going to be an issue when it comes to
> evaluating bids.
>
> · The transport advantages are illusionary. Getting into the
> centre of London from Heathrow does not take significantly more time than
> getting into the centre of Oxford (there are shuttle busses). (Oxford is of
> course not unique in this: Reading, Guildford, Cambridge etc. all have
> similar services I'd imagine).
>
>
>
> The strongest arguments for Oxford in particular are:
>
>
>
> · The presence of the Oxford Internet Institute. A ready source of
> speakers and a unique selling point (would be particularly useful in
> ensuring serious press coverage).
>
> · Oxford's popularity as a tourist destination.
>
> · Its compact city-centre.
>
> · Fairly high tech population. 3 games companies off the top of my
> head, major web design companies. Regular "geek nights" meetings.
>
>
>
> Do we have any contacts in UCL/LSE/Imperial anymore? If not then my
> contacts in Oxford university would be another advantage.
>
>
>
> Tom
>
Tom - it's not in London for the sake of it because it's the capital - I'd
much rather it was in Manchester. Heck, I'm going to a university in
Manchester that could easily hold it. But the fact is, London is better in
the point of view of foreigners. As Thomas said above, most flights go
through London. When I was looking at flights to Manchester from various
places, the majority go through London. It's just extra expense that isn't
needed.
We've only tried London once, for the 2007 bid when Alison was the contact.
Other times we dropped out, and didn't make it to the stage where the jury
voted. I think it's worth another try.
London is big, granted, but that's irrelevant. I don't live in London, nor
have I strong connections there, but thinking practically, it is the best
location.
--
Al Tally
(User:Majorly)