[Foundation-l] A question for the Wikimania jury

[phoebe ayers]

On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 1:01 PM, Jason Safoutin
<jason.safoutin at wikinewsie.org> wrote:
>
>
>  foundation-l-request at lists.wikimedia.org wrote:
>
> > Additionally, "we" (as in "the community") did not choose who made up the
>  > jury. I don't know who chose it, why they were chosen, but for a group to
>  > act on "our" behalf in such a big way (big in my view) it surely deserves
>  > more accountability. Maybe something for another thread.
>  > --
>  > Alex (Majorly)
>  Good point. Who did choose the jury? If they are supposed to be working
>  in "our" interests, then someone needs to tell them that they are not
>  doing their job(s).

Please note that members of the jury read Foundation-l and
Wikimania-l, so any criticisms, compliments or suggestions made here
does indeed reach them. Therefore, you should probably address
yourself directly to the moderators and jury members if you think we
are doing a bad job. In addition, I will be glad to forward any
private messages to the jury email list. Constructive suggestions are
probably the most helpful, along with a more detailed explanation of
any criticisms.

In that vein, these are the basic questions that I am personally most
interested in hearing constructive, creative, and thoughtful answers
to:

* Is the bidding system the best way to identify possible Wikimania
locations? if not, what other system could be used to ensure an
enthusiastic and capable organizing team every year?
* If the bidding system is the best way, then how would you choose
from amongst bids in a timely manner that would ensure fairness,
consistency and community representation, while also providing
in-depth knowledge of the conference and representing the interests of
the Foundation? If the answer is a small-group jury, then how would
you pick the members of that jury?
* Is something wrong with the conference, or the conference location?
* If the conference location, then how would you define a better
location? How would you pick a location that does not unfairly
penalize any group of Wikimedia editors and community members? How
would you pick a location that is accessible to as many community
members as possible? What evidence would you base this decision on?
* How would you change the bidding criteria to ensure this better
location? Would you change the bidding criteria in other ways?
* How would you deal with the different criticisms of locations that
have been raised on this list -- considering that different criticisms
have been raised regarding all four conference locations (on four
continents) to date, and all of them have validity?
* How would you best support the passionate and dedicated community
members who have volunteered to make the huge personal sacrifice of
organizing the conference?
* Would you be willing and capable of organizing the conference (which
past experience says is a commitment of 10-30 hours a week for a year,
plus the responsibility of providing an excellent experience for the
community with very little reward and the responsibility of coming up
with your own funding, and motivating 10-20 volunteers to donate an
equivalent amount of time)? If not, how do you suggest we find people
who are?

-- Phoebe