CWMC 2006/Background
Chinese Wikimedia Conference 2006 (acronym: CWMC 2006, Chinese: 2006中文維基年會) is a regional conference organized by the Chinese community of Wikimedia Foundation and devoted to the Wikimedia projects in Chinese. It serves as the first regional meet-up for contributors of Chinese Wikimedia projects across Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other areas; it also provides a forum for discussions and promotion of Chinese Wikimedia projects in the region. The Conference will be held on August 26th and 27th, 2006 in Hong Kong, three weeks after the Wikimania 2006 in Boston.
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| General Information |
| Background |
| Host city |
| Venue |
| Program and Events |
| Program |
| Participation |
| Registration |
| Visa |
| Arrival |
| Lodging |
| Acknowledgment |
| Co-organizers |
| Sponsors |
| Donations |
| Volunteering |
| Contacts |
Background
editWikimedia Foundation is an international non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free, multilingual content, and to providing the full content of these wiki-based projects to the public free of charge.
Wikipedia is the largest, multilingual, Web-based, free-content encyclopedia. It is operated by Wikimedia Foundation, and the Chinese project was launched in October 2002. Wikipedia exists as a wiki, which is written collaboratively by volunteers around the world, and most articles can be edited by anyone. In March 2006, the Chinese Wikipedia welcomed its 60,000th article, and over 100 articles are being added every day. Neutral point of view, "free" copyright license, encyclopedism, civility, and ability to allow anyone to edit are the five fundamental policies of Wikipedia.
Besides its flagship project Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation operates seven other open-content, wiki-based projects: Wiktionary, a wiki-based, open-content dictionary; Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection; Wikinews, the free news source you can write; Wikisource, the free library; Wikispecies, a free directory of life; Wikiquotes, a free online compendium of quotations; and WikiCommons, a shared media repository.
According to a Tamkang University study, the majority of contributors of Chinese Wikimedia projects reside in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong; the remaining are located in North America, Europe, Asia, and other regions.
As a result of modern history and politics, Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong are three separate jurisdictional areas with border controls between each other. Contributors of Chinese Wikimedia projects have different sociopolitical backgrounds. Initially there were conflicts, but contributors and administrators have learned using Wikipedia and instant messengers for communication, understanding, and problem solving. As the Wikimedia projects grow larger and faster, and more contributors join the collaboration, a regular regional conference has been called as a more efficient way for certain communications, editor education, and public promotion. In addition, Chinese contributors from different, separate areas have a growing desire to meet personally. Therefore, a regular and cross-border conference for all Chinese contributors was pursued.
Objectives
editCWMC 2006 will serve as:
- the first regional meet-up for Chinese Wikimedia contributors;
- a forum for discussions of Wikimedia projects in Chinese;
- a public promotional event for Wikimedia projects in Chinese.
CWMC 2006 will not address:
- Wikimedia projects in other languages;
- other wikis in particular;
- irrelevant issues (such as politics).
Target Audience
editThe target audience of CWMC 2006 is contributors and researchers of Chinese Wikimedia projects.
Working Language
editThe working language of CWMC 2006 is Chinese (Mandarin and Traditional Characters).
Consecutive interpretation from Cantonese or other languages to Mandarin will be offered if the speaker has insufficient skill for Mandarin. Whispered interpretation from Mandarin to Cantonese or other languages may be offered if able and needed.
Printed material in Simplified Chinese may be offered if financially feasible.