Talk:Wikimania 2013 bids

Withdrawal of the Margarita Island bid

Hello, I am posting this on behalf of Wikimedia Venezuela. We held an internal discussion about how able we are to organize Wikimania in 2013 and we do not think it will be possible for a variety of reasons. Do we need to send an e-mail or something? Also, if clarification is needed, we would provide it. Jewbask 15:51, 18 January 2012 (UTC)

You seem to only have an unofficial bid. So, no action is needed. Ruslik 18:44, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

Official

Could someone point to the definition of official vs. unofficial? Thanks --Fæ 17:42, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

An official bid is posted to the official bids section, and indicates that the sponsoring person/chapter is serious about it: it's more than just in discussion phase, and has intent to follow through if selected (as opposed to unofficial bids, which are frequently used to attempt to determine whether there is sufficient support to move forward with creating an official bid.) --Philippe 18:08, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

7th April Q&A

Just thought I'd point out that the 7th is on a bank holiday weekend in the UK, so lots of people will be away. Why is this something that needs to be done synchronously? Can we do discussions on the respective bid talk pages? EdSaperia (talk) 14:59, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Surely bank holiday weekend makes it easier for people to get online synchronously for the meeting, compared to working days? Deryck C. 12:19, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Typically people go travelling over bank holidays weekends in the UK. EdSaperia (talk) 16:03, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Yes I know, but many people go travelling over the Easter weekend in every part of the world where Easter is celebrated. If it's such a big problem, all the bids would be equally "disadvantaged" by it (Easter is public holiday in all 5 cities bidding for Wikimania 2013). I agree that it's rather unhelpful of the jury to change the date of the public meeting at such short notice, but I don't think Easter Saturday is a particularly bad date to move it to, compared to working days. Deryck C. 10:25, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Why is a VIP event part of Wikimania?

I'm annually confused by this. Why exactly is a VIP event part of Wikimania? Surely having such an event goes against the whole ethos of Wikimedia, which represents the power and influence of the crowd/a community, as opposed to that of an individual? Why not simply make a VIP event the same event as the event for all participants? Mike Peel (talk) 22:33, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

I noticed this on the schedule for the 2012 Wikimania, and I would ask the same question. CT Cooper · talk 09:44, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

Your idealism is duly noted, but we unfortunately live in the real world. By the way it is not the first VIP party: wm2011 had its own. Ruslik (talk) 11:29, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

In my view, it shouldn't be by default a part of Wikimania - but mainly on an as-need basis. If the local team thinks it fits in their local culture, or if they find out that such an event is the only way to raise enough money - I can perfectly understand it is organized. But it should not per sé be there. We're not *all* living in a world where it is unavoidable. Effeietsanders (talk) 11:45, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

Looking through the bids, it does seem to be heading that way. I welcome the fact that some bids are being rightly questioned on the amount of money they are planning to spend on the VIP party and other VIP activities. I do recognize that this is itself primarily a money raising activity, but the "real world" argument can be used to justify anything. I think it is important in any case that the potential dangers, such as a money for special access culture, are avoided. CT Cooper · talk 17:44, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

It was in the official requirements in 2010. There doesn't seem to be an official requirements page for 2011 onwards, but I guess people have just assumed it is still a requirement. --Tango (talk) 11:32, 10 April 2012 (UTC)

14 April Q&A

Just to leave a note here for those who aren't on wikimania-l that, after some deliberation on the mailing list [1], the jury decided to hold the second IRC meeting at the original proposed time of 14 April 14:00 UTC. Deryck C. 19:13, 13 April 2012 (UTC)