On a broad perspective, I believe the points to be consistent with my experience of Wikimedia movement conferences. At the same time, I also believe that users may have specific concerns and Wikimania should help the users' in finding some solutions to their concerns, of course after evaluating the user problems and the validity aspect. For example, a user like me is interested in interviewing most proactive or award-winning Wikimedians across the globe, studying communities, events, etc. I have used the Wikimedia blog for this purpose. But I now feel that there is perhaps a need for some other avenue (may be a separate website or so) to effectively showcase the communities on a more aggressive basis.--Muzammil (talk) 18:20, 13 January 2016 (UTC)
What do you think is the distinct value of Wikimania, something that cannot be done or easily achieved by another type of conference?
I personally feel that it is the global integration aspect of Wikimania that is unmatched by other events. In 2014, when I interviewed Indian Punjabi and Western Punjabi Wikipedians, I also proposed the Idea of a coming together of the two Wikipedia Communities which are essentially representing one language divided by two scripts. I was happy that in Wikimania 2015 one representative from each of the two communities met and explored avenues of further cooperation. Similarly, I was immensely happy to meet Wikimedians from various places and communities. I was also able to discuss outreach events as well as maintenance practices across communities on aspects such as stubs and bots - more so because I am a Sysop on one Wikimedia project and Reviewer on another. --Muzammil (talk) 18:33, 13 January 2016 (UTC).
Do you have a story about something great that happened during or as a result of a Wikimedia movement conference?
I attended Wiki Conference India 2011. As a result of this participation, I have developed a personal rapport with many Indian language(s) Wikimedians. I often exchange on-Wiki communication and emails with them.
In 2012, Hindi Wikipedia Sysop Aniruddha attended Wikimania. During the course of the discussion on the village pump, I supported the idea of specific Conference devoted to Hindi Wikipedians. Because the Hindi Community is geographically dispersed, I had to struggle a lot to convince a face-to-face meeting of Hindi Wikipedians, including making a presentation before WMF team during WMF-India Community Consultation. I am glad that we were able to hold Hindi Wiki Sammelan Meet in February 2015. We hope to plan more such events and also evolve a more coordinated approach for promoting Hindi Wikipedia in the near future.
I met an award-winning Wikimedian on three Wikimedia Events, including Wikimania 2015. I interviewed him for a WMF blog and shared his editing experience with other Wikimedians. Another user suggested me interviewing a leading Wikipedian of English descent in a similar way, which I did. Sequential to this, I carried out community-interview for Doteli Wikipedia incubator project. Also in the pipeline is my interview of a leading middle-eastern Wikipedian whom I met in the recent Wikimania.
A Wikipedian expedited a bug for Urdu Wikipedia during Wikimania 2015.
Indic Meetup during Wikimania 2015 generated the idea of planning for a second pan-India Wiki Conference in 2016 and possibly the idea of aiming for Wikimania 2019 in India. --Muzammil (talk) 19:08, 13 January 2016 (UTC).
