[Foundation-l] [Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2008 will happen in Alexandria, Egypt

Fri Oct 12 21:17:38 UTC 2007

on 10/12/07 5:01 PM, Ray Saintonge at saintonge at telus.net wrote:

> GerardM wrote:
>> Hoi,
>> Make a distinction. I have never seen a "confederate flag" at any of the
>> Wikimanias. So at the event everyone is very much welcome. The aim of a
>> Wikimania is to bring people from all over the world together to talk wiki,
>> wiki in any shape or form. It is a Wikimedia Foundation event so it is very
>> much MediaWiki and WMF projects that is on the agenda.
>> 
> The confederate flag issue is meaningless to most of us who do not live
> in the USA.
>> Yes, it is best if everyone feels comfortable in coming to a Wikimania. When
>> Wikimania goes to the Middle East, it has not gone to Africa proper. When
>> Anthere says in her speech that Africa should be on our agenda, it is a step
>> towards Africa. We do not talk explicitly about many things. The reason is
>> imho simple; it is not what we are there for. This is what others deal with.
>> 
> The difficulty with a Wikimania in "Africa proper" could be the lack of
> high-speed internet.  My observation from previous Wikimanias is that a
> significant portion of Wikipedians wander about wedded to their
> laptops.  Imagine the neurotic behaviour of all these Wikipedians pacing
> the floor when they are unable to access The Net. :'(
> 
> Ec

A "shrink's" nirvana. :-)

Marc