CEE/Newsletter/Newsroom/CEEM 2024 Host Selection
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- By: Barbara Klen (CEE Hub)
This year, the selection of the next CEE meeting (CEEM) host was coordinated by the CEE Hub. The goal of this article is to explain how this was organised and which processes were taking place to reach the final decision.
In June 2023, the CEE Hub staff created a CEEM 2024 Meta page with information about the CEE Meeting, bid criteria and described tasks of the CEEM host. This information was shared via mailing lists and Telegram with all CEE communities asking them to show interest in hosting 2024 CEEM. The deadline for submitting bids was August 31st 2023. The idea behind this open call was to give everyone an equal chance to host the CEEM and to ensure a transparent CEEM 2024 selection process.
Although the CEE Hub staff received several inquiries from possibly interested CEE communities there were only two which submitted their bid before the official deadline: Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group proposing Prizren and Wikimedia Community User Group Turkey proposing Istanbul. Both user groups submitted well described and detailed proposals for hosting the CEEM 2024 which meant that deciding about the preferred host would require an additional work process.
During the CEE Meeting in Tbilisi, the CEE Hub facilitated creation of the CEEM 2024 Selection Committee, and it was one week after the Tbilisi meeting that the Selection Committee composed of six members was established. This Committee was composed of six Wikimedians with relevant experience related to event and team management. The CEE Hub coordinator facilitated the work of the CEE Meeting 2024 Selection Committee but had no vote in the final decision.
The following criteria were defined as the criteria to take into consideration during the 2024 CEE Meeting evaluation process:
- Safety of the location
- Visa requirements
- Ease of access
- Experience of the organising team
- Proposed venue
- Proposed accommodation
The Selection Committee met online with both bidding teams to ask clarification questions on their respective bid. Both groups were also asked to submit additional information (mostly about accommodation, budget and volunteer involvement).
- Decision
The Selection Committee reached their final decision during an online meeting, based on the completed applications for both proposed cities. It was decided that the 2024 CEE Meeting will take place in Istanbul and it will be organised by Wikimedia Community User Group Turkey (WMTR).
- Rationale
Both Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group and Wikimedia Community User Group Turkey submitted well described, detailed and mature proposals for hosting the 2024 CEE Meeting. The working group used the same criteria to assess both proposals and both bids came very close in all criteria but one: Ease of access.
Istanbul is more practical to access from the region, with two airports internationally connected. The fact that a majority of the CEE Meeting participants will have to spend much less time on travel played the most important role in making a decision in favour of Turkey as a host country. The Selection Committee also pointed out that the fact that Prizren (Kosovo) is less accessible does not mean that more remote locations can never be chosen as a host. Based on the previous two CEE Meeting locations (Ohrid and Tbilisi) this time a location that kept travel time to a minimum thanks to good connections with the rest of the CEE was given a preference.
- Final remarks
Both the Selection Committee and the CEE Hub want to thank the Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group and Wikimedia Community User Group Turkey for their participation in this process. We know how much time and effort it took to prepare this kind of proposal and to invest additional time to answer all follow up questions. It was important and helpful to have the information that enabled making the final decision. We strongly believe that both user groups would have been a great host, and we hope that Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group will consider applying to host the CEE Meeting in the future.