[Wikipedia-l] A WikiJamSession Fantasy

Wed Jul 21 21:48:29 UTC 2004

In Berlin, I was chatting with Tim Pritlove about the annual
Choas Communication Congress which is held in Berlin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_Communication_Congress

This event attracts 2,500 and 3,500 participants (according to
Wikipedia) and a central feature is the "hack center" which gives
access to around 600 people for whatever.

Not described in the Wikipedia article, but attested to by Tim
Pritlove, it's a rocking good time.

So, I had this idea for something we could do as a part of a drive
towards 1.0.  We could get permission from a library or libraries in
some densely populated centers around the world to gain admission
during a holiday or weekend that they would normally be closed.  We'd
set up a wireless broadband network and bring together as many people
as possible to work together day and night in a fun atmosphere to fact
check articles and process them for final publication in a CD-ROM,
with an eye towards print as well of course.

Since we'd be talking about en for this first round, logical cities
for this would be New York and London, with L.A. and Chicago and
Sydney also possible, if there are enough people interested to make
that happen.

We'd strive to have as many people as possible in one location, and to
attract maximum media attention to what we're doing.  So the selection
of a location would involve deliberations about keeping the cost low,
both travel costs and hotel costs for participants travelling some
distance.

For example, although this is too soon, the New York Public Library
will be closed September 4 through September 6, for "Labor Day
Weekend".  There are many other holidays like that one which would
provide a similar opportunity.

Imagine (go with me on this fantasy here) 1000 people working around
the clock with timeouts just to sleep and eat, for 3 full days, to
fact check, copyedit, and approve as many articles as possible.

--Jimbo