[Foundation-l] A Wikimania for everyone?

[Nathan]

Practically everything related to Wikimedia produces a lot of debate. Even
the composition of the jury has been challenged - though no one has
objected to Buenos Aires directly (although one writer mentioned that it is
equivalently far away as Antarctica for him). I think we should thank the
jury for the work they do and refrain from challenging the decisions using
arguments that do not include a critical analysis of the bids and process.
The question of jury "accountability" seems like a non-starter - if they were
selected by Cary or the Board -- well, that is their job, lets let them do it.

The limit on Wikimanias is financial and logistical - as (and if) the
Foundation earns more funds it will become feasible to hold more Wikimania
events - although at that point we need to have a discussion about the
utility of these events in relation to the goals of the Foundation. All
other efforts being funded sufficiently I think it would be great to have
frequent Wikimanias all around the world - in a perfect world, one
on each inhabited continent each year.

Clearly the English Wikipedia is the largest project, and it draws its
editors and readers primarily (but by no means exclusively) from
the English speaking world. Still - en.wiki is obviously not the limit of
the Foundation's efforts, and it is the least in need of an event like
Wikimania to support it. Given that... It makes sense to entertain bids
from around the world without undue regard for locations in Europe
or North America. To those who object that using Wikimania to promote
Wikimedia projects and efforts is a misuse of the event... I can't disagree
more. If the Foundation is going to allocate funds to Wikimania as a major
annual expenditure, then those funds should be in support of the mission
of the Wikimedia Foundation - and not venues for "celebration" by the
current contributors of two continents.

That leads into the idea of Wikimania as a "user event." I can see how
it would have developed that way - many online communities have community
oriented meetups that have very little to do with the outside public and are
located conveniently to community members or event organizers.
Of course Wikimedia is much more than an online community, and the friendly
community-oriented aspects of a Wikimania event should be secondary to
its efforts towards collaboration, education and public relations.

Nathan