Dear all
Please find below a message from the Wikimania committee regarding
Wikimania 2017. This message was written by our Chair, James Forrester,
according to the committee discussions and decisions during our last
meeting in Esino.
Our chair seems to be ''missing in action'' at the moment, hence my
sending the message because :
1) the meeting already occurred a month ago and it is best to publish
whilst it is not completely outdated...
2) time is running... the earlier we decide the location for Wikimania
2018, the better.
I will nevertheless add that this statement is only issued by the
Wikimania Committee and that Ellie is seeking input, feedback as well as
position from WMF at the moment.
Flo
------------
All,
At Wikimania 2016, the Wikimania Committee[0] met. The minutes of the
meeting are published on meta.[1]
We have listened to a lot of community members, both those present at
Wikimania 2016 and more widely, and decided overall that, given there
was strong desire for holding Wikimania every year, we should continue
to do so. This means that we need to pick a team and location for
hosting Wikimania in July/August 2018 soon.
The Committee would like to ensure that Wikimania is accessible across
the world for the Wikimedia movement’s editors. Because of this, we are
in favour of balancing events in North America and Europe, where many of
our communities are centred, with the rest of the world. We are not
planning to just “rotate” to venues chosen out of a hat, however. The
most important part of a successful Wikimania is a local, passionate
team of Wikimedians who want to make it a great event for the community.
We are now looking for proposals of teams and locations. This is not a
bidding process; we are keen for this to be a light-weight, simple
request for suggestions. You don’t need to have a venue locked down,
contracts drafted or sponsors lined up. You can have a quick look at the
“judging criteria” which were used for 2016,[2] but the key part is
commitment. In deciding where to hold conferences, we have to take into
account additional factors about potential sites such as cost,
accessibility, and security. If your team want to host Wikimania, please
send an e-mail to wikimania-com(a)wikimedia.org, or you can post a
proposal on meta if you prefer.[3]
There are a number of areas of the world where Wikimania has never been
hosted – Russia & Central Asia, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and
Oceania, depending on how you define areas, of course. Considering this,
the Committee has a mild preference for Sub-Saharan Africa for 2018, but
is of course willing to look at proposals for hosting Wikimania 2018 in
other locations. Right now, the Committee has an expression of interest
from Wikimedia South Africa for 2018, and we welcome further proposals.
Thank you in advance.
Yours,
James F.
Chair, Wikimania Committee
[0]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee/Minutes/2016-06-26
[2]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2016_judging_criteria
[3]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2018