[Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2009: Call for Participation

[Casey Brown]

Apologies in advanced for the cross-posting. :-)

Please circulate this call among Wikimedia communities, researchers
and other people that may be interested! This call is also online at
http://wikimania2009.wikimedia.org/wiki/Call_for_Participation

== Call for Participation ==
Wikimania is an annual global event devoted to Wikimedia projects
around the globe (including Wikipedia, Wikibooks, Wikisource,
Wikinews, Wiktionary, Wikiversity, Wikiquote, Wikispecies, and
Wikimedia Commons). The conference is a community gathering, giving
the editors and users of Wikimedia projects an opportunity to meet
each other, exchange ideas, report on research and projects, and
collaborate on the future of the projects. The conference is open to
the public, and is a chance for educators, researchers, programmers
and free culture activists who are interested in the Wikimedia
projects to learn more and share ideas about the Wikimedia projects.

This year's conference will be held from '''August 26-28''' in Buenos
Aires, Argentina at '''San Martín Cultural Center'''.

For more information, please visit the official Wikimania 2009 site at
http://wikimania2009.wikimedia.org.

We are accepting submissions for presentations, workshops, panels,
posters, open space discussions, and artistic works related to the
Wikimedia projects or free content topics in general. Please carefully
follow the submission guidelines below.

=== Important dates ===
* '''Submissions will open on:''' March 1
* '''Deadline for submitting workshop, panel, and presentation
submissions:''' April 15
* '''Deadline for submitting posters, open space discussions, and
artistic works:''' April 30
* '''Notification of acceptance of workshops, panels, presentations:''' May 15
* '''Notification of acceptance of posters, discussions, and artistic
works:''' May 31
* '''Conference dates:''' August 26-28

=== Themes and tracks  ===
There are two tracks for submission: the '''Casual Track''', for
members of wiki communities and interested observers to share their
own experiences and thoughts and to present new ideas; and the
'''Academic Track''', for research based on the methods of scientific
studies exploring the social, content or technical aspects of
Wikipedia, the other Wikimedia projects, or other massively
collaborative works, as well as open and free content creation and
community dynamics more generally.

Submissions to either track should address one or more of the following themes:

* '''"Wikimedia Communities,"''' including the topics of conflict
resolution and community dynamics; reputation and identity;
multi-lingualism and languages and cultures.
* '''"Free Knowledge,"''' including open access to information; ways
to gather and distribute free knowledge, use of the Wikimedia projects
in education, journalism, research; ways to improve content quality
and usability.
* '''"Latin American challenges,"''' centering on efforts and
limitations for expanding the reach of Wikimedia projects in Latin
America; promotion of projects in Native American languages; specific
problems of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Wikimedia communities.
* '''"Technical infrastructure,"''' including issues related to
MediaWiki development and extensions; Wikimedia's technical
infrastructure; and new ideas for development.

Papers should be of interest to members of the Wikimedia communities,
and fit within one of the themes above.

=== Types of Submissions ===
We are seeking submissions for:
* '''Presentations''' (10–30 minute talks with discussion afterwards)
:* This type of submission is appropriate for presenting substantial
research or community projects

* '''Workshops''' (60–120 minute session with a discussion leader and
more audience involvement)
:* This type of submission is appropriate for sessions designed to
teach a specific subject or explore it in depth

* '''Panels''' (group of 2-5 speakers to discuss aspects of a topic
with audience questions, 45-90 minute sessions)
:* This type of submission is appropriate for discussions on a topic
of wide interest among community members, with several participants
who may be presenting their work. For less formal discussions of
limited interest, consider an open space discussion instead.

* '''Open space discussions''' (informal discussion on a specific
topic; the discussion leader helps moderate the conversation but the
session is open to anyone interested to join in)
:* This type of submission is good for a topic that several
participants want to discuss or brainstorm about in an informal
setting

* '''Posters''' (printed visual displays that can stand on their own,
with no associated presentation)
:* This type of submission is good for presenting research in
progress, or smaller community projects

* '''Artistic works''' (plays, competitions, comedy, visualizations,
displays or other representations of some aspect of the projects)
:* This type of submission is good for showing creativity or
showcasing beautiful work about the projects.

In addition there will be the chance to give lightning talks, which
are 5-minute short presentations. Lightning talk sessions will be
organized on the Wikimania 2009 wiki shortly before the conference
begins, without any need to submit them via the submission system.
These talks are best for those who want to quickly present an idea or
project without giving a formal presentation. These are informal talks
that are open to everyone to participate in.

=== Submission Guidelines ===

Wikimania is organized by volunteers, so please help us minimize
wasted effort by submitting via the submission system and following
these guidelines. All submissions MUST include the following:

# '''Event title:''' an English or Spanish title.
# '''Abstract:''' a short English or Spanish abstract of your event in
50 to 100 words. The abstract will be used for the public schedule.
# '''Themes and track:''' list the track you wish to submit to (Casual
or Academic) and the single theme you think your submission fits in
best (Wikimedia Communities, Free Knowledge, Latin American
challenges, Technical infrastructure). Note that posters and artistic
works have their own track in the submission system.
# '''Information about the speaker:''' full name, email, and a short biography.
# '''Submission file:''' A plain text, PDF or OpenDocument file, in
English or Spanish, containing:
#* '''A long description of the submission''', in English or Spanish
that can be used for reviewing, not to exceed 1000 words. Please give
an overview of the areas to be covered or taught. State clearly the
relevance to the Wikimedia projects and whether submission concerns a
specific wiki project. You can also include links, Include graphics an
diagrams if they do not exceed one page.
#* '''Event type:''' please state if the event is a presentation,
workshop, panel, open space discussion, poster, or artistic work; if a
presentation or panel, whether the presentation is expected to be a
certain length.
#* '''For panel submissions only:''' name of a suggested moderator and
short biographies of each suggested panelist
#* '''Language:''' list the language you plan to present in. The
conference will be bilingual in English and Spanish.
#* '''Special requirements:''' list any special requirements,
including any equipment.

In the "Comments for conference director" field you should tell us
whether you will attend to Wikimania (a) surely, (b) probably, (c)
only if your submission is accepted, or (d) only if we provide travel
and/or accommodation. You can also add yourself to the public list of
attendees at the Wikimania 2009 wiki:
http://wikimania2009.wikimedia.org/wiki/Attendees

Please note that all submissions must be dual licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License version 1.2 or later ''and'' the Creative
Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 3.0! By submitting for Wikimania
2009 you agree to this condition.

===Submissions===
Once you are sure you have included all of the required information,
please send your submission before the respective deadline through our
'''submission system''':
http://wikimania2009.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submission

If you have further questions, email wikimania-program at wikimedia.org
(in English or Spanish).