[Wikimania-l] Comments

[Ray Saintonge]

Brian McNeil wrote:
> I suppose the key point to take from the gripes Majorly and I have posted is
> that you need input from people outwith the hosting country. People who have
> visited the country as tourists and can comment on where and how there will
> be attempts to take advantage of you.
>   

True enough, though I think that much of the problem related to an 
inattention to details.  Residents of a country tend to take their way 
of doing things for granted, and this includes any number of practices 
that are completely foreign to us foreigners.  It takes a great deal of 
foresight to anticipate the kinds of problems we foreigners may 
encounter.  The website  for the Cairo International Airport does 
include information to the effect that there are two commercial 
companies providing bus service to Alexandria, but says nothing about 
where in the airport one might find these services, not even in which of 
the two terminals.  This inattention to detail, or lack of specificity 
may be endemic in Egyptian society, and is not limited to our own 
organisers. What is needed is detailed specific instructions from the 
time we leave the airplane until we arrive safely in the hands of the 
conference organizers.

Some of us who may arrive a couple of days early to offset jetlag need 
to know where we can meet other earlybirds.  Setting up an early 
information desk to deal with this is very helpful.

Ec