[Wikimediaau-l] Wikimania 2010?

[Craig Franklin]

I've just been contacted by one of our sponsors for Brisbane's Wikimania 2009 bid, wondering if and when we're thinking of beginning a bid.  Obviously, it would be good if we could wait until Incorporation is finalised and we have a fully functional board, but I strongly feel that if we want to have a good chance, we should start now.

Obviously, I'm eager to commence a bidding process for Brisbane again.  Advantages of doing Brisbane, rather than some other Australian city:

- We have the facilities and the size to cope with a conference of this size
- We already have interested sponsors, so interested that they are contacting me about when we're going to get started!
- Obviously, from the last bid, we have a base of contacts that we have built up.  If we start in any other city, these will have to be built up from scratch.
- We already have a conference plan for '09 that can hopefully be adjusted somewhat to fit 2010, so we will not have to waste time going through the early stages of planning what will happen when.
- Brisbane presents no real obstacles as far as accessability or size that other major east coast cities don't also provide.

In summary, if there are no plans for another city in Australia to launch a bid, we can start a Brisbane bid right now.  The extra time between now and the judging will hopefully allow us to get a veritable horde of supporters, sponsors, and backers in.  If this hasn't been decided, we can hold off, as I think we agreed last time this came up that it would be no good for two competing Australian bids to be going on at the same time, but as above, I think that Brisbane is the clear choice at this point.  In addition, if there is a choice to be made, it needs to be made quickly, while our existing sponsors are still interested.  As with last time, I am very willing to coordinate and do the legwork on this.

Regards,
Craig Franklin
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