[Wikimania-l] CD

Mon Aug 22 08:51:22 UTC 2011

Having Wikimania during Ramadan doesn't prevent people from attending.
Out of memory, i can recall at least seven Muslim people, at least two
of them from Israel, who attended Wikimania 2011. There were probably
more. They had special requirements related to Islam and Ramadan and
we fulfilled them. (Also, the driver of the tour bus on the Nazareth
tour was Muslim and didn't eat or drink. It didn't seem like a big
deal.)

That said, it is probably nice to try to plan Wikimania not to fall on
the Ramadan, but it's far from being the biggest problem.

There was at least one person from Iran (strangely enough i didn't
meet him myself, but other people on the team did). There were
practicing Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews on Wikimania 2011, even
though it fell on the [[The Three Weeks]]. At least two of them even
attended some of the activities on Sabbath.

All in all, it is mostly a matter of motivation. Despite our best
efforts, there were very few unfortunate cases when people didn't get
visas or permits for Wikimania 2011 (not only from Muslim countries).
Nearly all the people who asked to attend, did.

And please let me use this opportunity to personally salute the people
who wanted to come and came in spite of the high cost, the political
hurdles, the Israeli bureaucracy and their own country's bureaucracy.
(The surprisingly weird bureaucracy of *commercial* travel agencies in
some countries deserves its own parentheses.) This good kind of
stubbornness is in our spirit.

2011/8/22 Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijssen at gmail.com>:
> Hoi,
> Having Wikimania during Ramadan will prevent people from attending. The
> dates for Wikimania next year are also likely during Ramadan.
>
> One way of looking at the absence of the Muslim world is that in Alexandria
> there was a sizable group from Israel. In the end it is about taking the
> opportunity. The opportunity for most was there with the exception from for
> instance our Iranian friends who are expressly forbidden to come.
> Thanks,
>        Gerard
>
> 2011/8/21 WereSpielChequers <werespielchequers at gmail.com>
>>
>> I flew home on Friday. Unfortunately I had been unable to find anyone
>> capable of printing a Tshirt with "Do I look like the sort of person who
>> packs my own luggage?", or at least not on a Tshirt in my size (walrus). And
>> as promised I hadn't made a Wikimania CD.
>> It took me 40 minutes to get through security, check in and passport
>> control, and unlike in Heathrow I didn't have to remove my shoes or belt, or
>> even discard my water. After I said that I had received a gift while I was
>> in Israel they were a little interested in my Wikimania bag, and I had to
>> dig it out of my backpack and let it be cursorily inspected. Maybe next year
>> we can make the bag from Hemp and include in it some sparklers or small
>> fireworks for the closing party with perhaps a blade or some scissors for
>> people wanting to customise their badges.
>> As one of those who argued against holding Wikimania in Israel, I must say
>> that  I was very impressed at how well the whole thing was done.  I think
>> that the organisers did a brilliant job, I liked the food, and they even had
>> sufficient WiFi. The music at two of the parties was a bit loud  for
>> socialising, but that's probably me showing my age. However I don't think
>> this was really a completely Global Wikimania. As some of us feared it would
>> be, this was a Wikimania that largely missed the Muslim world. I don't think
>> that this is the fault of the organisers,  but clearly holding our annual
>> conference in Israel during Ramadan was not the best way to encourage people
>> from Islamic countries to attend. I hope that in future we can make sure
>> that Wikimania is more inclusive than that.
>> WSC
>>
>>
>>
>> 2011/8/18 Harel Cain <harel.cain at gmail.com>
>>>
>>> I don't suggest taking the train from Jerusalem to the airport - it takes
>>> a very long time - the train to Jerusalem is very slow and is more of a
>>> tourist attraction than anything else.
>>>
>>> It's much, much easier to call a sherut taxi called Nesher which will
>>> pick you up from home/hotel and take you to the airport for NIS 58. No
>>> security process involved....
>>>
>>>
>>> Harel
>>>
>>> 2011/8/17 KIZU Naoko <aphaia at gmail.com>
>>>>
>>>> @ TLV T3 Departure floor
>>>>
>>>> In addition to the previous mails, I'd recommend who plans railway
>>>> trip to arrive your departure station enough earlier than your train,
>>>> specially if you are in Jerusalem or perhaps a place easy-to-reach
>>>> from the West Bank.
>>>>
>>>> Security check at Malha Jerusalem Station would be as serious as at
>>>> the airport. Though they keep being polite but the check on me took
>>>> over 10 minutes. I was asked by two officers respectively to show them
>>>> my passport, open every bag, what I bought in the Old City, and then
>>>> again explain what almost each item in the bags was, and which places
>>>> I had visited during my ongoing trip, specially in the West Bank,
>>>> which Arab countries I had visited both in this particular trip and in
>>>> the past and finally if I carried weapons. Finally they had me go
>>>> through with smiles and best wishes on trip, so generally there was no
>>>> problem at all, but if my schedule had been tight, it might have
>>>> caused problems.
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 10:21 AM, Federico Leva (Nemo)
>>>> <nemowiki at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> > Federico Leva (Nemo), 17/08/2011 08:59:
>>>> >>> PS: I didn't find them very good-looking either, like someone
>>>> >>> claimed.
>>>> >>
>>>> >> Uh? :-? By the way I agree, but looking at some of the lots of the
>>>> >> trainees the situation might improve in the future. :-p
>>>> >
>>>> > Oh, and I forgot to say that one of them was also even drawing
>>>> > (smilies
>>>> > etc.) together with a traveler on her to-be-embarked laptop box.
>>>> > Perhaps
>>>> > she had enough books for her next layover.
>>>> >
>>>> > Nemo
>>>> >
>>>> > _______________________________________________
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>>>> >
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> KIZU Naoko / 木津尚子
>>>> member of Wikimedians in Kansai  / 関西ウィキメディアユーザ会
>>>> http://kansai.wikimedia.jp
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Wikimania-l mailing list
>>>> Wikimania-l at lists.wikimedia.org
>>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.
>>>
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>>
>>
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