[Foundation-l] Taipei chosen to host Wikimania 2007

[Arne Klempert]

On 9/25/06, phoebe ayers <phoebe.wiki at gmail.com> wrote:
> The Wikimania jury has met and are pleased to announce that
> Wikimania 2007 will be held in Taipei, Taiwan.

Congratulations to the Taipei bidding team!

> This was a very difficult decision.  Every one of the shortlisted bids
> this year were outstanding.  The Turin bid came in a close second; their
> team made a great effort to procure two strong locations and extensive
> government support, and gathered the Italian community together to
> develop an outstanding bid.

I must say that it really hurts me to see, that such a outstanding bid
didn't win. I don't want to say that Taipei didn't deserve to win. I'm
just wondering if it's wise to encourage Wikipedians all over the
world to work on bids like this for 2008.

Back in 2005, when I was member of the bidding team for the first
Wikimania 2005 in Frankfurt, we've made a very simple proposal (in
relation to this year). It took us a few days (net) of work. The Turin
bid probably took the team weeks, if not months. Taking into account
that we're not "just" talking about volunteer time, but also about
huge commitments of local sponsors (it's unlikely that these can be
used for any other Wikimedia event), I'm suggesting to change the
process for the Wikimania city selection.

We really have to find a way to avoid such inevitable (and probably
huge) frustration among teams and sponsors. Perhaps a list of
preferred continents could help, or a much earlier involvement of the
jury, whatever. Please don't encourage Wikipedians all over the world
to waste their time (and the good will of sponsors) again.

-- Arne