I think the centralized place on meta is a great
idea so we could put
tips, samples, and maybe even an 'advice line' for people who might be able
to help someone in a particular region. If someone wants to start this
I'd be happy to add, edit, etc.
Ellie
On Sat, Jun 24, 2017 at 5:47 AM, Amir Ladsgroup <ladsgroup(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
As a person who missed three events because of
rejection of visa (one
Wikimania, one Wikimedia Hackathon, one WikiArabia) and missed two other
because couldn't event get an appointment with the embassy (DevSummits) I
want to share my experience here. There is three parties involved in this
case:
- Participants:
-- If you are going to another country that has strict visa rules, you
should be prepared and know what can go wrong. Usually make a group of
people who are more experienced in Wikimedia events and ask them for help.
This helped me in some events to get visa without trouble. One case I
remember was when the invitation letter was from WMF and not the local
chapter. It caused rejection of visa before me and once I knew it, I fixed
it.
-- Be prepared for other options. For example, for Esino Lario one of
my friends missed the event because he couldn't get appointment with the
embassy, when I knew this is a problem, I tried the German embassy and got
the visa ready in time. (Per Schengen laws, you need to make requests to
the country you will stay the most, so I stayed in Germany for 11 days and
Italy for 8 days to make things legal)
-- If you have an interview to justify your visa, definitely mention
Wikipedia. People don't know what WMF is but all know Wikipedia and have
positive feelings.
-- I know it's hard but let go sometimes: I decided not to go at this
year's Wikimania just because the visa process is horrible and I need to
travel to Turkey at least twice. Even though I know I miss a great event
but let's hope to meet them soon.
-WMF:
-- I know WMF is busy but I mentioned this several times to legal,
support and safety and some other teams. People like me have problem going
to events and there should be support for them. Two things were always said
and I don't know why it's not being done, 1- Prepare a centralized place
(probably in meta) so people share experience to help newbies to get visa
documents right. I have seen lots of problems in the documents my friends
need to prepare for the visa and helped them to get it right before it gets
rejected but I had to meet them in person and it's an exclusive club of
people I know. I want to open this knowledge to others.
-- The other option I always mentioning is support for getting one
multiple entries visa instead of getting one visa for each event, This is
very true for European events. This would make life of lots of people way
easier.
Local chapters:
-- When there is a Wikimania, a local chapter will be handling process
of visa for lots of countries with different issues. Sometimes they handle
it perfectly and other problems might be the reason for rejection but
sometimes I need to come back to them and ask for more documents which
increases the chance of rejection or visa not being issued in time. They
usually consult with an immigration lawyer before the process, this needs
to be increased and WMF needs to make sure these consults happen.
Sorry for the long email. I hope this would be helpful for you.
Best
On Sat, Jun 24, 2017 at 1:51 PM Ilario valdelli <
ilario.valdelli(a)wikimedia.ch> wrote:
> On 24/06/2017 02:00, Ellie Young wrote:
>
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 23, 2017 at 2:10 PM, Gabriel Thullen <gabriel(a)thullen.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I have a few comments:
>> 1)
>> We do not know how the Montreal venue was selected for Wikimania.
>> Jean-Philippe said:
>> "A "Wikimania Montreal Committee", now defunct, was behind the
>> request to WMF to have Wikimania in Montreal and they did not coordinate
>> with the chapter in doing this."
>> The situation there is obviously more complicated than what is being
>> said so I will not dwell on that. What disturbs me is that the Montreal bid
>> was accepted in absence of the local chapter support. That is not
>> acceptable. Looking back on the success of the Esino Lario event, I believe
>> that strong local chapter and volunteer support is vital for a Wikimania
>> event.
>>
>
> Let us just say that there was confusion and communication issues
> with the original proposers to host. The Steering Committee (including
> yours truly) thought that Wikimedia Canada was involved. I think
> everyone can agree how important it is for having the local chapters
> involved--- most recently Esino Lario and Mexico City and of course South
> Africa coming up.
>
>
> Hi Ellie,
> This is an interesting point. I know that recently there has been a
> decision to have Wikimania's organization notified two years in advance,
> but this model can only work if there is a "local group" with a mature
> organization. Two years are too many for a local "extemporary"
> committee.
>
> A chapter (with at least a small staff) is something that can assure a
> commitment for two years and can support efficiently a local group (and
> perhaps to save the organization in case of withdrawal).
>
> Basically the two year model cannot be disconnected from a *mature*
> local organization as a chapter, otherwise the model will not work.
>
> But at this point is also interesting to know how big may be the
> impact on a chapter. The organization of an event like Wikimania is
> something fascinating, but at the same time it's more than a "stress
test"
> for a chapter.
>
> Kind regards
>
> --
> Ilario Valdelli
> Wikimedia CH
> Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens
> Association pour l’avancement des connaissances libre
> Associazione per il sostegno alla conoscenza libera
> Switzerland - 8008 Zürich
> Tel: +41764821371 <+41%2076%20482%2013%2071>http://www.wikimedia.ch
>
>
>
>
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--
Ellie Young
Events Manager
Wikimedia Foundation
eyoung(a)wikimedia.org
c. 510 701 8649 <(510)%20701-8649>
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