[Foundation-l] Concern for the safety of Wikimedians at Wikimania in Alex...

[Andrew Whitworth]

On Tue, Mar 4, 2008 at 5:55 PM, Lars Aronsson <lars at aronsson.se> wrote:
> Andrew Whitworth wrote:
>
>  > A single murder, or a single rape, or a single instance of any
>  > other violent crime would have a massive chilling effect on
>  > Wikimania, and possibly all of Wikimedia. We should never run
>  > this risk, even if that means we have to abandon Wikimania
>  > entirely.
>
>  I think you are being ridiculous.  A single murder at Wikimania in
>  Boston or Frankfurt wouldn't have this all-chilling effect, and
>  neither will a single murder in Alexandria.

You're saying that a murder of a prominent wikimedian at a wikimania
wouldn't have significant negative consequences. I may not be
completely accurate here, but I doubt this possibility is
"rediculous".

>  But still, let's make a thought experiment:  We abandon Wikimania
>  and instead we have regional conferences.
>  ...
>  How does this change your view of Wikimania 2008?  Does it in fact
>  change a single thing?

No, it doesn't change a thing. The location doesn't matter. We can
have a conference in Alexandria, and it can be a safe and successful
one. All I'm asking, and few people seem to understand, is that I want
safety and security issues to be given the proper consideration, and I
want people's concerns to be taken seriously.

--Andrew Whitworth