Talk:Wikimania 2013 bids/London

Things to do...

This list is not exhaustive! If you see something that ought to be on the bid page and is not, please add it! We're looking for more volunteers, so if you think there's something below you can help with, please contact Ed Saperia or just start editing...

GLAM

• We need a GLAM section on the bid page. I'll have a crack at this later. —Tom Morris (talk) 16:53, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
• List of museums in London
• Suggested schedule for GLAM trips?
• Mention wikipedians in residence
• Who have we contacted so far and what have they said?

  National Archives - Needs followup

  British Library - Waiting on a reply...

Accommodation

• Continue adding hotels, hostels, uni accommodation to map
• Clear list of venues divided into star quality
• Rough prices for each and distance from barbican
• Also include hostels

Clear breakdown of budget

• Most bids have done this in the form of a table on the page
• Sponsor packs breakdown, what do they get, how much does it cost them and how many do we need of each tier
• What can we offer sponsors?

Conference

• Talk about activities in the foyer in more detail - DONE
• Speakers - JamesKnight is on this - DONE
• Suggestions for tracks - NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

Misc

• Links to the london tourist board i.e we have contacts in place for people who want to stay longer and experience london
• Section on the history of the UK wikipedia community, showing the activities of the local community - showing this is a GREAT community
• Show your support - a section for wikipedians to register support for the bid
• Support from Number 10
• How we will promote wiki2013 at wiki2012?
  • At Wikimania 2012, whichever city is successful will probably be given an opportunity to present. —Tom Morris (talk) 16:52, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
• Contact various press outlets and get support letters
• Which london groups will we contact to get involved? Hacker news, girlgeeks, techhub, etc?
  • BarCamp, Girl Geeks, Geeks of London, TechHub,
  • Usergroups: Python, Ruby, Scala
  • the open data scene, Hacks and Hackers etc.
• Translation - we can get the bid translated into several languages.
  • Desiree Wariaro has offered to translate into Swedish. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)
  • Hannah Widmann has offered to translate into German. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)
  • Josephine Goubé has offered to translate into French. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)
  • Some other offers here: http://www.facebook.com/edsaperia/posts/10100211730732080

Review of Judging Criteria

Quality of venue

General suitability

Proximity to lodging

• Whole bunch of hotels/hostels etc within walking distance - see map. Can continue to work on this - needs more budget accommodation. Have begun contact universities to see if they can offer nearby ultra-budget lodging. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Number and size of rooms available

• Lots, from budget to ultra-lux. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Whether Wikimania will be the sole user of the venue during the event

• Yes, although I suggest we have the foyer area open to the public and just restrict entry (via lanyards) to conservatory complex. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Venue owner's experience with handling conferences of this size

• We won't make them even break a sweat. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Firmness of commitment

• From the venue? We have them reserved, if we win the bid we can book it and put down the deposit. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Availability of backup venues

• Worst comes to worst, there's always space at the ExCeL. And plenty of other venues available. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Internet access

Within venue

• We're talking to Cisco about giving us industrial strength wifi support. They'll be more than capable of handling us and have sponsored a wikimania before. Barbican actually has a decent wifi setup anyway. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Within lodging

• Obviously depends on the individual place, but typically comes as standard in London hotels. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Within social areas

• Are within the venue. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Access free of charge

• In the venue, yes. In the accommodation, typically. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Wireless access with sufficient capacity

• See above. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Provision of laptop rental (and cost)

• We haven't considered this yet. We might be able to get someone like Apple, Dell etc to sponsor. I'll see if I have any relevant contacts. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Venue's ability to provide technology infrastructure

• World class conference venue, and ecosystem of service providers at our fingertips. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Information on local networks

• Phone networks? Full 3G coverage all over the country, effectively, on all major networks. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Voice and data roaming compatibility for mobile phones/devices.

• The UK uses the GSM standard as used by the vast majority of the world, and "pay as you go" SIM cards are available from all the major mobile networks without large upfront payment. There are relatively low-priced pay as you go data plans from the mobile providers. —Tom Morris (talk) 18:16, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Social areas

Whether a space for socialising is available

• A conservatory, two restaurants, several bars, a waterfront seating area, and lots of seating areas (typically with electrical sockets) all over the venue. All sorts of restaurants, bars, pubs etc within walking distance. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Whether that space is open 24 hours a day

• Conservatory terrace confirmed as allowing us 24hr access, we can get more if we want. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Proximity to venue and accommodation

• Within the venue.EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Facilities available (food, drinks, internet access)

• Yes, all. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Location

Lodging

• See map. We've been emailing about about block bookings, need to write this up.
• Proximity to venue
• Suitability and price
• Variety of types of lodging available
• Availability during event and any pre- or post- conference meetings

General location

Proximity to an international airport

• Several, with good transport links. See http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/2558.aspx EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Facilities nearby (restaurants, tourist sites for outings, etc)

• Central London has a wide variety of restaurants to suit all dietary preferences, and there are a lot of tourist sites across London accessible via public transport. If people wish to wander further afield, there is a train and coach network too. The Barbican Centre is located next to The City, London's financial district, which houses a variety of restaurants and retailers within walking distance. It is also within walking distance of the Museum of London. —Tom Morris (talk) 18:25, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Local laws, customs, attitudes, and culture: anticipated benefits or problems for attendees, and compatibility with Wikimedia's values

• Articles 8, 9 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms guarantee freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom of thought. Like most countries, freedom of speech is not absolute, and British libel laws are fairly bad compared to others, but it is unlikely that this would be an issue for attendees. As noted in the submission, London is a multi-cultural city with a wide array of religious communities, and there is also a large LGBT population, and strict laws against discrimination and hate crimes motivated by race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. There is no reason attendees should be made to feel uncomfortable or discriminated again while in London. —Tom Morris (talk) 18:25, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Separate note about safety and potential catastrophes, for venues that make attendees wary (help needed to measure safety here and avoid this becoming a point for unsourced political/religious debates)

We should note local bus routes, underground and taxi fares etc to get to the Barbican area from each London airport. - James

Visas/immigration

Potential challenges in visiting from any other location

Difficulty and cost

Possibility of local help

• London and Partners have offered us a fast-track scheme for international conferences. They'll help people apply and make the visas go through quickly. EdSaperia (talk) 15:31, 27 March 2012 (UTC)
• Wikimedia volunteers based in the United Kingdom will happily assist anybody who needs advice with visas and other travel issues. —Tom Morris (talk) 18:28, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Online resources

• UK Border Agency
• Wikitravel: United Kingdom – Immigration and visa requirements —Tom Morris (talk) 18:28, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Rotation of location

Location should not be near sites of previous 1-2 Wikimanias (mainly to balance cost and ease of attendance from other locales from one year to the next). However if a very strong bid in such locations can be placed, do not hesitate to do so.

• Distance from London to Washington DC = 5913 km (cite http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=distance+from+London+UK+to+Washington+DC)
• Distance from London to Haifa = 3513 km (cite http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=distance+from+London+UK+to+Haifa%2C+Israel)

Organisational support

Organising team

Local volunteers willing to take a lead role in organizing the event;
Who is responsible for what areas of the conference
Their skills (technical, PR, financial, English language ability, etc.)
Their experience with similar ventures.

Financial Responsibilities

Teams must make it clear how the conference will be supported in terms of financial logistics.
Is there an existing local chapter or organisation that will provide support for financial infrastructure? If not, what financial infrastructure is in place or would need to be put in place.

Chapter support

If there is a nearby Wikimedia chapter or other established organization offering to help with overall oversight of the event, please indicate their experience with logistics and financial accountability for events of similar scope, and what their responsibilities would be. It must be made clear if such chapters exist but are not willing to provide support.

Other organizational support

Support from local governments, universities, venues, and NGOs. Please elaborate on what help they can or cannot provide.

Press

Media interest and PR opportunities: prior and expected interest, both locally and internationally

Funding, cost, ease of attendance

General cost

• Accomodation
• Food
  
• Net access after hours
• Phone service

Funding

• Amount of local sponsorship available
• In kind donations?

Travel

• Costs of travel to the location from various countries, particularly those with high numbers of Wikimedians
• Options available for travel (alternatives to flying)
• Cost of lodging stay for attendees
• Cost of travel within city
  • http://www.tfl.gov.uk/
  • Barclays Cycle Hire available for 1 or 5 days Gordo (talk) 09:54, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

Questions for the Organising Committee

London/Bristol and the position of the chapter

Hi,

While preparing a bit, I cannot help but wonder if you could perhaps clarify what is the position of the chapter in this bid - considering that there are currently two Wikimania bids from England. Is the chapter actively supporting either bid, is the chapter indifferent and will it support either city equally if selected? Will there be a choice at some point? Will either bid be explicitely organized by the chapter, or not at all? Effeietsanders (talk) 16:44, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

• As far as I understand, the chapter supports both bids equally and will support either should it win. EdSaperia (talk) 13:08, 25 March 2012 (UTC)
• Wikimedia UK is neutral but not indifferent. While I do not intend to speak for the chapter, they do support both bids as both cities have local communities of active Wikimedians and have both held Wikimedia events in the past. Last year, WikiConference UK (incorporating the Wikimedia UK AGM) was held in Bristol, and this year, the Wikimedia UK AGM will be held in London. Wikimedia UK also have an office in London and if London is selected, both Wikimedia UK board members and staff will play an important role in the management of the event. —Tom Morris (talk) 18:33, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

• Dear All, please see below for the statement from Wikimedia UK Chapter:

The chapter is pleased that two high quality UK bids have emerged and wish them luck. We will await the choice that the global community and Wikimania Jury makes. If one of the UK bids is selected, we will begin negotiations to see what support may be needed from our resources. We have four full-time members of staff, including both event management and communications professionals, an office based in central London, and trustees based around the UK, including in Bristol. We feel that, as a fundraising chapter with a vibrant community behind us and several major events (such as GLAM-WIKI 2010) behind us, we have the ability to support a UK bid.
Daria Cybulska (talk) 13:13, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Thank you for this message. I would like to dig a little deeper here (will post the identical question on the Bristol page): will the Wikimedia UK chapter be the official organizer of Wikimania, if either bid gets accepted? If not, what role exactly does Wikimedia UK and the bidding team see it take on? Effeietsanders (talk) 10:44, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

Schedule

1. Can you provide a more detailed schedual for the conference? (i.e. conference times, opening and closing events, time for sessions, how many sessions will be)?

See http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2013_bids/London#Schedule under "Detailed Schedule"

1. Can you provide a general timeline - when will the website be up? when registration will commence, when accomodations are expeceted to be available for booking? what your actions will be in the coming year, etc.

Rather than talk about timelines, I prefer to talk about roles and responsibilities. Tasks will be done "as soon as possible", but assigned in such a way that interdependency - and thus inefficiency - is minimised. See http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2013_bids/London/Action_Plan 78.86.2.78 22:50, 18 April 2012 (UTC)

Budget

Dear bidding team,

According to the Timeline the bids should be final by now. Could you please clarify where is your budget? Even if not perfect, I think it is critical to present it. What are the factors that make that it is not published yet? Effeietsanders (talk) 10:31, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

1. Thank you for adding a budget. The currently proposed budget is 550.000 GBP - a pretty high amount compared to previous years. If you would have to cut it (say, with resp. 20, 40, 50%) - could you please identify the things that would have to go first? Just to get a good idea what parts of the budget are how critical to the success of the conference. Effeietsanders (talk) 22:36, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

1. What does the Barbican budget includes, and what is it comprised off (which rooms, which days per room, does it include amplification, projection, wifi etc.)
2. What is the catering budget comprised of (no. of meals per person, which meals, does it include specisal meals, coffee breaks, does it include hacking days)
3. AV budget - including videoing of the talks? if not, where is that in budget, what is this item comprised of.
4. Science Museum Social Event, Tate and Barbican Saturday Night Social Event - detail for each item what is it comprised of, based on what this estimate is made.
5. VIP Travel - who are the 20 VIP's?
6. VIP Accommodation - where will the VIP's stay?
7. Where will WF staff and Board stay?
8. Giftbags - what is this item comprised of, what is the estimate based of?

Local vicinity

1. Did you contact the hotels and checked availability? Do you have estimation of hotel costs? (Deror)
2. Could you indicate in a table the number of rooms, the price and the distance (walking and/or public transport) to the venue? Effeietsanders (talk) 22:42, 9 April 2012 (UTC)
3. Will all accommodations be close together, or spread over the city? Effeietsanders (talk) 22:43, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

Visas

1. Is there government support for the conference? Can they ensure Visa assistance support?

We've had support offered from the Mayor's Office. They have a fast-track visa service for international conference attendees, which assists and expedites visa applications. EdSaperia (talk) 11:33, 15 April 2012 (UTC)

Accommodation Provisions

It was suggested by Imogen that "a lot of money and effort is going into making London able to accommodate the huge numbers of people going to the Olympics in 2012, so transport and accommodation will have been vastly improved just in time for wikimania 2012". Also suggested by Lauren Cahill that "London is hosting the Olympics this year, finding cheap accommodation for an event this size next year won't be an issue."

However, it is not well known that London would have significantly improved accommodation beyond the Olympics other than surrounding the Olympics Village. Is it possible to list specific new accommodations that are built from 2011 and available in Summer 2013.

28481k (talk) 18:01, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

See p17 of 2011 UK Hotels Forecast. EdSaperia (talk) 12:24, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

It looks as if the accommodation suggestions you have listed are rather irrelevant to most of the Wikimania attendees, I hope that the 10% increase of accommodation provisions in London include more than the likes of Shangri-La, Intercontinental and W! 28481k (talk) 12:27, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Timeline

Dear bidding team, could you please indicate in a rough timeline what main actions you would perform when between the acceptance of the bid and the evaluation? I'm not looking for extreme details, but mainly for when you will be booking, when you think you will have the final budget ready, etc. Effeietsanders (talk) 22:31, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

I prefer to talk in terms of roles than timelines - most things happen "as soon as they can", and all you can do is make sure there are people working on it and the responsibilities are distributed sensibly so things can be done efficiently. Here's our current plan written out: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2013_bids/London/Action_Plan 78.86.2.78 22:54, 18 April 2012 (UTC)

Partners / Support

Thank you for adding the support letters to the bid. Could you please clarify (where that isn't the case yet) in the bid what they are delivering tangibly (if at all besides moral support) to ease your organization? Effeietsanders (talk) 22:38, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

We're aware this isn't very clear, and in some cases is still being negotiated. I'm updating the budget at the moment, which hopefully should reflect better what's coming from where. I'll be done by the start of the meeting today. EdSaperia (talk) 11:27, 15 April 2012 (UTC)

Some comments

Thank you for you bid, it looks really professional and realistic. I have some open points, may you comment them?

• May you quantify in the budget the numbers of expected participants? It seems overdone but I suppose that it's created in the assumption to have 1000 participants, is not it?
• I have seen that some partners offer the programming support. I don't understand if some members of the team are employed in those partners or if this is an additional help.
• May you rebuild the budget putting the total costs and indicating what of them you expect will be covered by the sponsors (for instance look the example of Hong Kong). It may help to quantify the financial effort in a better way.

--Ilario (talk) 10:07, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

Thank you! We worked very hard on it, and I hope very much that we get to make it reality!

• We've budgeted for 1000 Wikimedians. We're considering having part of the venue open to the public, perhaps with paid day passes, as some parts of the venue have some spare capacity. This public area would have a track (or two) dedicated to more outreach and non-wikimedian friendly topics, and an area for workshops and exhibitions. The public won't have access the catering, so wouldn't represent an extra expense, and there will still be lots of dedicated wikimedian space.
• None of the team are employed in these partners, although many of our contacts at these partners have offered time and advice for free - sometimes it becomes difficult to draw a line!
• You're right, we've failed to communicate well what we expect to get full price and what we expect to get donated in our budget. We're in the process of re-writing right now, and it'll be ready in time for the second IRC meeting :)

Hope this answers your questions EdSaperia (talk) 11:25, 15 April 2012 (UTC)

Staff costs

The budget doesn't seem to include any staff costs. Do you intent for the conference to be organised and run entirely by volunteers? I don't think that is realistic. --Tango (talk) 13:23, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

I think paid stuff is not a must.Deror avi (talk) 09:04, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

Considering the fact that WMUK will probably spend hours on this anyway - it sounds reasonable to include it. Effeietsanders (talk) 10:53, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

Have any Wikimanias recently not had a paid organiser? --Tango (talk) 21:48, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

As far as organisation goes, I have a lot of time to work on this, I expect WMUK will donate some of their time (and they have a dedicated events organised based in London), London First have offered significant time from their events team, and if the bid is accepted I think it become much easier to find volunteers, both from within the wikimedia community and without. EdSaperia (talk) 10:58, 15 April 2012 (UTC)

If the WMUK staff are going to be working on it then that should be included in the budget. --Tango (talk) 11:07, 15 April 2012 (UTC)

Other

Why I've removed myself from the team list

I've been meaning to remove myself from the team list for a while, and have just gotten around to doing so. I don't mean to detract at all from this bid; I'm fully in support of it, and I think having Wikimania take place in London would be absolutely fantastic. However, I unfortunately haven't managed to find the time to be involved in the process of this bid thus far (beyond its initial stages). A big part of that is that I'm currently involved in organising a 900+ person conference that will take place on 27-30th March, which has been rather more pressing for me than the process of bidding for Wikimania. It's unfortunate that the timelines of the two have coincided like this.

If Wikimania 2013 takes place in the UK, then I will commit to putting a significant amount of time into its organisation. But I haven't been able to put the time into the bidding for the conference thus far, hence why I've removed myself from the list for now.

Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 21:35, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

England is too English oriented

"Only 3.1% of edits from the UK are to other languages besides English" Remember that these figures are skewed by some of the high edit count bots. Rich Farmbrough 19:47 1 April 2012 (GMT).

Also I'm pretty sure that there is a much more up to date version of this data somewhere. Rich Farmbrough 19:59 1 April 2012 (GMT).

IRC Public Meeting

Dear bidders,

As outlined in the timeline on this page, there will be a public IRC meeting on 14:00 UTC coming Saturday on #Wikimania on Freenode IRC. I look forward to meeting you then. Effeietsanders (talk) 15:47, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

Wikimania 2007 London bid

I helped with the Wikimania 2007 London bid. If there's anything the 2013 bid team would like to know from be about that process, by all means get in touch. I'm generally short of time, but I'll do what I can. Zazpot (talk) 18:43, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, very interesting, I'll be in touch. EdSaperia (talk) 10:49, 15 April 2012 (UTC)