[Wikipedia-l] A WikiJamSession Fantasy

Tue Jul 27 18:28:14 UTC 2004

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 14:48:29 -0700, Jimmy (Jimbo) Wales
<jwales at wikia.com> wrote:
> 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.

After the negative response from Birmingham University Library, there
was some good news from Birmingham Central Library who are interested
in hosting such an event:

>> Sounds fascinating, and I'd like us to be involved. I'm sure we can come to
>> some arrangement with you, precisely what might depend on how many people,
>> how much space, what you want, time of year etc. For example we have large
>> meeting rooms, which could be used, or we could close off an area of the
>> library rather than going for a closed day (since these are only Sundays);
>> the cost would depend on the solution, but we wouldn't be expensive!
>> Catering can be arranged too, depending on how we structure the sessions.
>> Do you want to give me a call, but you can take it as a yes in principle?

As was suggested on the mailing list previously, we could hold a
number of smaller sessions for Wikipedians to improve articles before
the final drive to 1.0 next summer. I've started a page where people
can arrange these meet-ups at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Editing_Weekend. Please see
that page to sign up for the UK meeting, or to arrange meetings in
other locations.

Whilst the idea was initially related to the print version of the
English Wikipedia, it may increase media awareness if the event was
being held simultaneously in non-English speaking countries as well. I
think this could be beneficial even for those Wikipedias not planning
a print edition in the near future. See
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Editing_Weekend.

Angela.