Is this really a discussion about the name of a conference or is it more a
discussion about inclusion and exclusion with the underlying question if
this conference, which once was set up as a meeting for the organizations
within the Wikimedia movement, should be open for non-organized Wikimedians
as well. Which would probably be a different conference.
Alice.
On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 10:27 PM, Nathan <nawrich(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 4:13 PM, Bence Damokos
<bdamokos(a)gmail.com> wrote:
The name could be changed if the
participants/organisers want to change
it.
As I tried to point out, I don't see the name
as the underlying problem
people really have, and changing it will not solve the problem of
exclusion
people see.
We can make a conference that has a participants list that involves
people
that *should *or at least the people that really
*want* to be there, we
can
also rename the conference for the people that
*are *currently there and
forget about those that want and should be there. I'd rather focus on the
former.
Regardless, I do feel an emotional connection to the name and I expect
many
people that have participated or organised it
might feel this and I
appreciate that those who have not been there can see it as a minor thing
that can be changed without any cost. It might not be perfect, but it
does
have history and I do contend that the people
that first started using it
are Wikimedia, and they should not feel guilty about having come up with
the idea first. Indeed, at this time, resources have been invested into
the
name and confusion is ebbing around the
"Wikimedia Conference" name due
to
the years of history behind it.
But in closing, I will once again point to my statements that names are
symbolic and they can be changed. If the participants change the name
that
sends a totally different vibe than if the change
is imposed on the
participants, even if the end result is the same new name.
Best regards,
Bence
If the as-yet undetermined organizers choose to name it Wikimedia
Conference, then I suppose no one will act to force them to stop. But we
are Wikimedia as much as the organizers and participants are, as much as
hundreds of thousands of volunteers are. In a "Wikimedia Conference" you
might expect it to be open to those Wikimedians. With a narrower theme of
governance, I doubt the prediction of it morphing into a second Wikimania
would come true.
And while I accept your assertion that the name has history and meaning to
those who have participated there, I remain skeptical at the power the name
holds for you and others. It is, as you'll agree, a fairly generic name.
And less than a handful of events over as many years does not a venerable
tradition make. So I would hope that the organizers, whoever they turn out
to be, will make the simple gesture of adding a single word to the name of
the event. It is still Wikimedia; it's just aimed at affiliates, those who
organize and have attended the event up through now.
Indeed, the conference of affiliates that you've attended in the past is
valuable and worthy. I'd suggest you allow others interested to attend if
resources permit, but I wouldn't ask you to fundamentally alter the nature
of the event. Merely make it clear whom you represent, so that others don't
feel you claim to represent them when you do not -- as Ilario seemed to
with his "principle of delegation" comment.
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