Hello everyone,
Is there any traditional/ethnic costume party or that kind of gathering
that is being planned already or people might be interested to join for? It
would be fun to showcase the diversity of the Wikimedia community?
To add some fun Wikimedian A can write/print the name of their costume
(preferably English Wikipedia entry) about the costume they would come
wearing, and find a buddy (B) who speaks a different language than theirs.
B can then create an entry on Wikipedia/Wikidata or expand the entry if
already existing, or even record how it is pronounced.
People can also gift their buddies small keepsakes.
This is still an idea_in_brewing_state. Would love to hear more thoughts.
Subhashish
Hi,
The main topic of discussion among the scholarship recipients from global
south this month is the high visa rejection rate by Canadian embassies from
these countries.
This year, we had 7 scholarship recipients from Bengali community, 4 from
India and 3 from Bangladesh. Already 3 out of 4 scholarship recipients from
Indian part of the communities got their visa rejected, others are waiting.
Although I am hoping for the best for all the scholarship recipients, but
may be news of more rejections are coming soon.
Wikimania should be organised in a visa friendly country, and not in those
countries where global south citizens are not allowed to enter even for a
6-days conference. Otherwise, a global community is not truly presented.
Best wishes,
Bodhisattwa
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kelly Doyle <kelly.doyle(a)mail.wvu.edu>
Date: Wed, Jun 21, 2017 at 2:47 PM
Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Wikiconference North America 2017, August 9th - 10th
in Montreal!
To: "wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org" <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Hi all,
We are excited to have this opportunity to host WikiConference North
America 2017<https://wikiconference.org/wiki/2017/Main_Page> (August 9th &
10th) this year ahead of Wikimania and we hope to see you there! As in
2016, the first day of WCNA is designated as our Wiki Culture Crawl Day and
the second day is fully programmed.
Wednesday, August 9th will be a Culture Crawl Day! This is a day-long event
where we collaborate with local museums, libraries, and cultural
institutions to host free backstage tours, edit-a-thons, and more. These
crawls are a fantastic opportunity for conference attendees to experience
the local culture, as well as collaborate with local institutions to
improve Wikipedia.
This year we have established relationships and are planning free access
and events with the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ)
and McGill University. At the BAnQ, we plan to have an edit-a-thon, where
Wikimedians utilize the Archive's resources to improve Wikipedia's coverage
of Montreal's people - and ending with an evening reception. A photo drive<
https://wikiconference.org/wiki/2017/Photo_Drive> will be occurring
throughout the day.
Thursday, August 10th will be a day of programming. If you are interested
in participating in programming at WCNA, such as a presentation, panel
discussion, or an unconference session (lightning talk, open space, etc.)
on Thursday, August 10th, please submit your proposal here<
https://wikiconference.org/wiki/2017/Submissions>.
We are seeking volunteers to help during the conference. Please sign up as
a volunteer<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfh4x1yzqiAuwbkHvy2BaIV
TLAxj6UP5DbXcfC-bUSdz67hyg/viewform?usp=sf_link> if you are interested.
For both days of WCNA 2017, you will need to register<https://
wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Registration> through the Wikimania
Eventbrite<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wikimania-
2017-registration-33032011636>. Please be sure you are registering for the
August 9 & 10, Wikiconference North America sessions. For those attending
the August 9th Cultural Crawl, there is a promo code available (wmcon2017);
note that if you use the promo code, you may not attend other
pre-conference events on August 9th. Only use the promo code if you plan on
only attending our Culture Crawl, as if you register for the incorrect
event with the promo code, you may be barred from entry to that
pre-conference event and/or session.
Best,
Kelly & the WCNA ’17 Planning Committee
/ Kelly Doyle
Wikipedian in Residence for Gender Equity
West Virginia University
(304) 293-0342
kelly.doyle(a)mail.wvu.edu
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
wiki/Wikimedia-l
New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
<mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
Hi all,
Reminder! Register today for Wikimania and for the conference hotel, if you
plan to stay there. The early registration deadline is July 10 and the
deadline for booking accommodation in the conference hotel (where the
sessions will be located) is June 30th: next week!
details:
https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Accommodationhttps://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Registration
best,
Phoebe
--
* I use this address for lists; send personal messages to phoebe.ayers <at>
gmail.com *
Esino Lario too.
There was a plan to transit people through Switzerland like second option using the Maastricht's agreement. As I know this option was not used.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------From: Stuart Prior <stuart.prior(a)wikimedia.org.uk> Date: 22/06/2017 13:24 (GMT+01:00) To: "Wikimania general list (open subscription)" <wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> Subject: Re: [Wikimania-l] Visa rejections
Lodewijk, AFAIK we've never kept track of rejections, but I could find out. My gut feeling is that there hasn't been a massive variation over the past 4 years, I think Mexico City was the most open to everybody (?)
Rexford, possibly (and yeah Wiki = Wikileaks is *always* a problem lol). But some visa systems are very closed and bureaucratic and it's hard to bring any influence or assistance to bear beyond supporting documentation, i.e you can't even talk to a human being about it.
To *truly assist* some of it would involve building political contacts beforehand to advocate for visas (i.e your local representative can help sometimes), that's a possibility but may create other problems, capacity for a start.
The logistics of organising travel/accomm for hundreds of people from hundreds of locations is already onerous, adding an intensive visa support process into that it when some visa systems feel like a lottery would be easy to overpromise and underdeliver.
What strikes me here is that visas are a problem for people from our developing communities, but they are one of many factors in deciding a Wikimania location.
One country that might be visa-friendly to one, is prohibitively expensive to get to/stay in for another.
So while Australia might be relaxed in terms of visas (I'm not confident of this btw) it's also objectively remote/expensive.
Whether a location has achieved that balance is always a question, and I can't think of one Wikimania where everyone's agreed it has ;-)
Stuart
On 22 June 2017 at 12:12, Nkansah Rexford <nkansahrexford(a)gmail.com> wrote:
It is easy to conclude the location hinders visa application acceptance. As much as it appears to be so, I strongly believe if there's good enough Visa support and assistance from the Wikimania Team/WMF, rejected cases could be low.
Obviously, an applicant should have documents intact and good, and submit all the necessary details the embassy wants, including the invitation letter. However, in some countries, that ain't enough.
In 2012, the invitation letter I submitted to the consular at the US embassy here in Ghana, she didn't read, and I could see from her face how nonsense it looked to her. Heck, anybody anywhere could conjure such a sheet of paper with black ink on, any time any day. Plus, the consular had NO idea what Wikimedia was. There was no way I could explain what Wikimedia is in the few seconds I had in front of the teller-like counter.
Wiki? WikiLeaks? Duh!
As much a mere letter of invitation is formal to some extent, to what extent is the WMF also willing to support visa applications outside just the letter?
Not saying WMF should do exactly same, but I know other organizations that pick up the phone, and call the local embassy of the invitee way ahead of time to initialize conversations and to explain to *what extent* whoever they've invited fits in the about-to-happen event.
The embassy in many cases, asks questions they won't otherwise ask the applicant, but would, to the inviting organization.
This visa issue, until the WMF *truly assist*, some countries will still struggle getting accepted visa.
It is not easy, and it ain't something just a letter wipes away.
rex
PS: I know cases where rejected visa are reconsidered and approved just because the inviting organization literally stepped in, and got serious with the embassy.
On Thursday, June 22, 2017, Bodhisattwa Mandal <bodhisattwa.rgkmc(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Hi,
The main topic of discussion among the scholarship recipients from global south this month is the high visa rejection rate by Canadian embassies from these countries.
This year, we had 7 scholarship recipients from Bengali community, 4 from India and 3 from Bangladesh. Already 3 out of 4 scholarship recipients from Indian part of the communities got their visa rejected, others are waiting. Although I am hoping for the best for all the scholarship recipients, but may be news of more rejections are coming soon.
Wikimania should be organised in a visa friendly country, and not in those countries where global south citizens are not allowed to enter even for a 6-days conference. Otherwise, a global community is not truly presented.
Best wishes,
Bodhisattwa
_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list
Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Hello Wikimanians,
In just two months, from the 9th to the 13th of August 2017, Wikimania
will happen in Montréal. Like every year, Wikimania can’t be a success
without the help of many volunteers. Do you want to be part of that great
team of dedicated volunteers that work behind the scenes to ensure a
successful event? You will also have time to attend sessions and take part
in social activities planned.
If you are curious as to what being a volunteer in Wikimania 2017
means, you can visit: https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Volunteers
If you are available, send an email to abeaubien(a)wikimedia.ca, and I
will work with you on next steps for your participation.
Best Regards,
Antoine Beaubien
--
*Responsable des bénévoles* et président du comité Wikimania de Wikimédia CA
Wikimédia Canada, section nationale de la Fondation Wikimédia
*Volunteers Coordinator* & Chair of the Wikimania Committee of Wikimedia CA
Wikimedia Canada, local chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimania 2017 — Montréal — https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/
535 avenue Viger E, Montréal (Québec) H2L 2P3
https://ca.wikimedia.org
Tél.: (514) 875-9985 <514-875-9985>, x690
Attention Everyone (and please spread the word):
Early Bird Registration is Open for Wikimania 2017. This discount pricing
ends on July 10th so don’t delay!
https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Registration
Draft Program for the Conference is Now Up!
https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Programme
Deadline for Accommodation at the Headquarters hotel is June 22. See below!
Wikimania 2017 will be held August 9-13, 2017 in and around the Le Centre
Sheraton Montréal <https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Venue>, in
Montréal,
Canada <https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Montr%C3%A9al> The venue
will host most of the conference, hackathon, meetups, and pre-events. Most
of the WMF personnel and scholarship recipients will be housed there as
well. Those that submitted accepted talks for the program have been
notified and the agenda will be finalized in the next few weeks.
We would like to encourage all speakers and attendees to register early and
book their flight and travel as soon as possible. It is going to be a
very popular, busy summer in Canada this year because of the 150th
Anniversary
of Canada and the 375th Anniversary of Montréal.
If you wish to stay at the headquarters hotel and take advantage of our
discounted rate, the deadline is June 22. After that prices will be higher
and availability throughout the city limited. There is also a secondary
property close by that is holding rooms for us as well. See:
https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Accommodation
If you have any questions with regard to the conference, please contact :
wikimania-info(a)wikimedia.org
We h
ope you can join us in Montréal this summer!
Ellie Young, WMF Events Manager
on behalf of the Wikimania ‘17 Organizing Team