[Wikimedia-l] Who will host Wikimedia Conference 2014? Bidding process is open!

[Anders Wennersten]

In 2008 I looked into hosting this meeting for 2009 in Stockholm.  I 
quickly learnt that the travel logistics/costs was heavy against such a 
place, being outside central Europe and not having a real international 
flighthub.

Berlin was a much better place in this respect and I believe also 
Amsterdam would be well placed and perhaps also Paris and Zurich, but 
other cities including London I think would mean a higher total travel 
cost (Milan was also well placed)

So why not simplify the choice of city with just asking WMNL and WMDE 
who wants to arrange it?

Anders


Katie Chan skrev 2013-09-18 16:59:
> On 18/09/2013 14:29, Nathan wrote:
>> Simple solution - until someone else volunteers to host the
>> conference, just have it in the same place every year. You can work
>> out distribution of funding independently from where it is actually
>> held. Since WMDE seems to be in the driver seat, having a backup plan
>> of a conference in Germany seems like a smart idea. That might
>> privilege people with easy travel to Germany, but well organized
>> affiliates can always propose a plan to host it elsewhere.
>>
>> It wouldn't be too bad to have a recurring conference in a fixed
>> location. The staff setting it up won't need to overcome issues
>> related to lack of experience, relationships with vendors and venues
>> can be normalized, attendees can depend on the quality and standards
>> of the event, and participants can expect a higher level of content
>> because other potential distractions are eliminated.
>>
>
> It *was* held in the same country (namely Germany) every year 
> previously, until Italy hosted it this year. I presume the idea of 
> changing was so we *don't* have it at the same place every year so 
> that affiliates far from Germany don't have to travel as far some 
> years (though Italy isn't necessarily that far away from Germany this 
> year). Also possibly funding issue as WMDE don't necessarily want to 
> bear the cost of the whole conference every year.
>
> Italy applied to the WMF Grants Program for fund to host this year 
> conference. Unless the WMF have agreed to guarantee funding for future 
> years conference (I haven't been following so not sure), then whoever 
> is hosting the conference will also need time to apply for funding 
> from Grants.
>
> KTC
>