[Foundation-l] [Wikimania-l] Announcement: Wikimania 2008

[Chad]

Congrats to all the teams who bid for their city to host 2009.
Buenos Aires has always been on my list of places to see,
so I might just try to make it down there next summer.

-Chad

On Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 11:55 AM, Mark (Markie)
<newsmarkie at googlemail.com> wrote:
> congrats Buenos Aires!!  thanks to jury for the hard work and decision
>  (finally :-p).
>
>  just a minor point, but please read the subject "Announcement: Wikimania
>  2008" as 200*9* :-p
>
>  many thanks
>
>  mark
>
>
>
>  On Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 3:44 PM, phoebe ayers <phoebe.wiki at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>  > All,
>  >
>  > We are pleased to announce that Buenos Aires has been selected as the
>  > location for Wikimania 2009.
>  >
>  > The jury was particularly excited by a few parts of the Buenos Aires bid:
>  > * A strong, organized team, with division of labor already underway
>  > and support from Wikimedia Argentina. Many people contributed to the
>  > bid, with obvious enthusiasm for organizing the conference and quick
>  > responses to inquiries.
>  > * A detailed budget proposal and planning schedule.  Many major
>  > expenses are being covered by the provider. The total budget is
>  > similar to Wikimania 2007's, including a larger travel scholarship
>  > fund, and they have provided detailed charts ahead of time.
>  > * A significant number of sponsors already lined up, with some already
>  > confirmed.  They hope to cover half the accommodation and $60k in
>  > travel scholarships, which will help to ease travel costs for
>  > participants from far away.
>  > * A solid venue : as with Toronto, this was situated within a
>  > well-maintained cultural center in a major international city, near an
>  > airline hub; culturally open, and an international melting pot.
>  > * Relaxed visa rules, and easy entry from South American countries.
>  > * Good Spanish-language media contacts, with the promise of outreach
>  > to and the opportunity to work with the Spanish-language Wikimedia
>  > communities.
>  >
>  > Toronto, the runner up, also provided a great bid. The jury was
>  > especially excited by:
>  > * Strong English-language press in the area, and media experience
>  > among the bid team
>  > * A very accessible venue, especially for US/European attendees.
>  > * An excellent venue : a university campus, with dorms directly at the
>  > venue.  As with Buenos Aires, it was situated within a well-maintained
>  > cultural center in a major international city, near an airline hub;
>  > culturally open, and an international melting pot.
>  > * Extensive budget accommodation in the dorms; with many options for
>  > casual social space.
>  > * A dedicated bid team, with the hope of Wikimedia Canada being formed
>  > in time to help coordinate.
>  >
>  > However, the jury felt that Buenos Aires' bid showed stronger
>  > organization overall. Additionally, much of the information in the
>  > Toronto bid was carried over from previous bids, and it was unclear
>  > how much of a commitment for the University of Toronto facilities
>  > there was specifically for 2009.
>  >
>  > Brisbane and Karlsruhe also provided good bids. Brisbane in particular
>  > had an enthusiastic bid team and a strong proposal, with particularly
>  > good local sponsorship opportunities; though this was offset by the
>  > high travel costs for out-of-country attendees. The jury felt both
>  > bids needed more detail (including specifics about accommodation
>  > options, and more detailed budget information) to be compelling.
>  >
>  > As in previous years, the relative accessibility of locations was
>  > extensively discussed. The jury believes that it's important for
>  > Wikimania to be accessible to as wide an audience as possible,
>  > particularly to members of the Wikimedia community; the relatively
>  > high cost of travel to South America from Europe and North America was
>  > one of the most significant drawbacks we identified in the Buenos
>  > Aires bid—especially coming on the heels of Taipei and Alexandria.
>  > Having said that, the jury believes that the Buenos Aires bid overcame
>  > this drawback with its numerous advantages, among those the
>  > opportunity to hold the conference in a Spanish-speaking locale, on a
>  > new continent.  We hope to receive strong bids from easily accessible
>  > locations for 2010.
>  >
>  > Congratulations to the Buenos Aires team!  Wikimania 2009 promises to
>  > be an exciting and successful conference.
>  >
>  > -- Phoebe Ayers, Cary Bass, James Forrester (non-voting jury
>  > moderators), on behalf of the Wikimania 2009 Jury
>  > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2009/Jury
>  >
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