2009/3/19 joseph seddon life_is_bitter_sweet@hotmail.co.uk:
As many of you may be aware, from saturday onwards I will be off the coast of scotland with no likely internet access, poor 3G and irregular mobile signal.
You lucky man!
I need to know who has had experience with events like wikimania, who has attened wikimania or similar free knowledge/open source before, technical knowledge on running events, press experience, accounting etc etc. With this information a section can be drafted up about the abilities of the local team etc. If replies are simply posted here with a brief outline that will be most helpful
Although I'm not particularly active here in WikimediaUK I am monitoring. I'd like to highlight my experience with events like this. I'm not about to start volunteering time here, I am unable to do so due to other commitments. However, if there is something quick I can do for you, feel free to ask.
I am member of the Conference Planning Committee over at the Apache Software Foundation. This means I've been involved with putting on major, multi-stream conferences. This year I am the co-lead on ApacheCon Europe (which starts next week in Amsterdam if anyone is interested - see http//www.apachecon.com). I have also been involved to a lesser extent in previous years events.
My experience is one of coordination rather than doing. We have specialists handling all the important stuff like production, press, accounting, local engagement etc. The role of the conference committee is to make sure they all play nicely together and to make decisions about content at the event.
The most important thing to understand is, even with all the professional support we have, running a major international conference is a *huge* undertaking. I'm sure you know this already, but the more times it is said the more aware of it we are.
Good luck and don't hesitate to ask if there if you think I may be able to help in some speficic way.
Ross