I made a little post on why this is just as a ridiculous idea as Egypt.

http://wikinewsie.org/editors_blog/?p=53

I have been speaking against Wikimania since the decision was made to hold Wikimania 2008 in Alexandria, Egypt.

Now the decision has been made to hold Wikimania 2009 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. My opinion: Another flop.

In my opinion, Wikimania should be more about the people who contribute to the various Wikimedia Foundation projects and less about seeing what’s the classiest and or fanciest areas we can hold the event.

Lets be realistic for a second. Contributers, at least from my personal experience are not rich. Many of them are young adults and some are even older. But my point is not more than half of all contributers can’t afford to fork out thousands of thousands of dollars to travel, in some cases across several continents, to go to Wikimania. Not to mention that Wikimania should be held in a place where most contributers would feel safe or welcomed.

I would also like to see Wikinews get something out of this. Wikimania obviously gets some kind of press, so why is Wikinews not the first thing the Foundation goes to to release such information? Why have they not made an effort to see Wikinews is definitely part of Wikimania(s)?

See the link above for more.