Let me just point out in response to Ray: the "one stop shop" contact person on the Foundation staff will be answerable to Foundation-related questions (funding, sponsorship, program, scholarships) etc. Of course things which are local by nature such as entertainment programs, catering, venue, local government relations etc. are better answered by the local team (we can learn from others' experience, but the solution is local by nature). It's just that as a local team we're not too sure who to ask about the Foundation-related issues, and we need a better address for that.
Harel
On Sun, Jun 20, 2010 at 3:00 PM, Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net wrote:
phoebe ayers wrote:
Yes. Let me be extremely clear: this committee would not organize Wikimania. Full stop. That is, and has always been, the job of the local team that gets appointed to run the bid.
What Harel is saying that there isn't a formal point of contact within the WMF, which is true. Yes, every person who has been named in this thread so far has worked on Wikimania in the past, and/or has a specific area of expertise. What a *committee* would be good for is making sure that all of these connections are made. For instance, Kul works on sponsorships. He is one direct point of contact within WMF for Wikimania-related funding issues. But he doesn't -- shouldn't -- answer all of your questions about Wikimania. Conversely, Delphine, me, Samuel, and a bunch of other people know the history of Wikimania and roughly what is going on -- but I don't think any of us want to keep volunteering to be on the organization committee year after year. And if Delphine or I are unavailable for some reason, that shouldn't mean the local team can't get their questions answered. Having a group rather than just one or two people makes it more failsafe.
So yes, keeping a general eye on progress is what I would go for here. The "actions" of the committee would only consist in that -- getting reports, making sure questions are answered. All other organizational actions -- the ones that Moushira are fondly remembering ;) -- would be done by the local team, as ever.
Speaking in general support for this proposal, I too think that it's important for the organization of particular Wikimanias to remain with the local community. Pulling together the documentation and the planning guide will be an important ongoing task for this group, but the committee should be able to draw on a variety of experiences as and when necessity arises, and local committees discover a deficiency. For this year it was important that Austin was able to step in when it was discovered that registration was not being organized. It's one thing to respond when a local groip asks for help, but it's equally important to be aware that lack of experience may mean that those local groups may not know they're in trouble until it's too late. Thus, the planning guide should also include a timeline for when things must be done. If registration needs to be open two months before the event, and has an impact on the ability of attendees to obtain visas, the committee needs to be in a position to act quickly when things are not being done.
Harel said:
I'm more confident, thought, that we're missing one or more "formal" "one-stop-shop" points of contact, people who can answer us in an on-going and interactive manner not only based on their accumulated experience, but rather with full authority about their answers.
The problem with that approach is that the committee may not be familiar with local circumstances, and different committee members may be the best ones to ask depending on the nature of the problem. No committee could have come up with the kind of excellent attendee's party that we experienced in Alexandria, or could have come up with the museum venue that we had in Boston. Harel's suggestion carries the risk of undue dependance on the committee or WMF staff.
When the selection committee chooses a site it is expressing a degree of confidence that the local group will be able to carry through with its mandate. If it has no confidence in any of the applicants it is free to reject them all, though the consequences of that would be uncertain. By the time of its decision it should also be aware of potential difficulties where additional help may be needed.
Ray
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