[Wikimania-l] Announcement: Wikimania *2009*

[phoebe ayers]

I was so excited about sending the announcement that I forgot to
proofread the subject line! Oh well. Both *2008* AND *2009* should be
exciting conferences :)

On Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 8:44 AM, 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
>