I don't think plenary sessions would give that much. Au contraire, the best thing about this year's Wikimedia Conference in Milan was the abundance of workgroups and other open discussion forms. But in that case, too, every session would win much if the participants had at least a chance to prepare.
While I doubt if the real-life Wikipedians we have would be able to prepare much two weeks before an event, I would very much like to see the presentations at least *after *they've been on the big screen. Choice can be a wonderful thing but if you have to be at least in three places at once because all the parallel sessions are important for your chapter, you start to enjoy that choice much less. So, if you just can't be on a vital session - or, let's say, can't be on all three interesting and possibly very useful sessions -, you depend in the slides and comments, because many summaries are close to useless. Also, even if I managed to see a session and couldn't take photos of every slide I saw, again, I'm at a loss because I just can't use the data. I can talk to the presenter and they can promise the world to me but if they keep their slides to themselves I can't use the promises even in a report to my chapter, much less in any other form to develop the ideas of the presentation further. And that possibility, the freedom of building on what the others have done, is actually what the wikithinking is all about. Raul On Thu, Aug 15, 2013 at 10:03 AM, Lodewijk <[email protected]>wrote: > I couldn't agree more with Risker. I'm afraid that such a huge > preparedness would damage the option that less experienced speakers can > present too. I also wouldn't be in favor of a lot of plenary sessions - my > experience tells me that at least *I* have been more often disappointed by > a keynote speaker than positively surprised. This year's Charles Mok was a > very positive exception on that. But maybe that is simply because I've > attended too many Wikimania's :) > > On the other hand what I always liked so much about Wikimania /was/ > exactly the amount of choice. What I questioned was that the sessions > basically continue through the breaks - I'm simply afraid that this is very > exhausting (which everybody so far seems to confirm). > > Something what I *would* like to see changed about the schedule is more > discussions with experienced discussion leaders. Not like this year when it > was basically a run-out-time for the session before, but a dedicated track, > with a dedicated discussion coordinator that puts together the discussion > track only a few days in advance to ensure that the most recent topics are > covered too. In that way I hope that you also have an improved experience - > that track could be somewhat run like you suggested (with someone preparing > the discussion etc) and should indeed of course be documented! I just > don't think the whole schedule should be like that. > > Lodewijk > > 2013/8/15 Risker <[email protected]> > >> >> >> >> On 15 August 2013 00:03, Samuel Klein <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> >> Wikimania should have less parallel sessions, >>> >< longer sessions with more time between the sessions >>> >> and an "open space" as an additional track. >>> <> >>> >> We implemented this idea last year at the WikiCon... >>> <> I am a strong believer that less is actually more. I would like to >>> have >>> >> a less stressful but more effictive Wikimania. >>> > >>> > Your ideas are welcomed by me :) I've been wanting fewer sessions at >>> > Wikimania for a long time. >>> >>> I agree totally. We can rethink the traditional program entirely. >>> >>> Imagine a Wikimania where >>> * the only "talks" or presentations are Plenary sessions >>> * all other sessions >>> ** have their documents/drawings/slides/tools published 2 weeks in >>> advance, for others to read / comment / link >>> ** have Q&A handled online in advance of the event (via comments and >>> discussion) >>> ** are group discussions or collaborations around a topic, not one-way >>> presentations >>> ** are moderated by someone who is good at moderation (this may or may >>> not be the primary author of works being discussed) >>> ** update the latest documentation about those ideas/projects/tools >>> live, during the session (via a designated facilitator/editor) >>> >>> >> >> I dunno. That sounds fundamentally unwiki, and an awful lot like the >> professional annual meetings that everyone hates attending. It weighs >> heavily in favour of "professional" presenters and those who think that the >> powerpoint is more important than the presentation. I wouldn't spring for a >> plane ticket for something like this. >> >> As it is, I know for a fact that most of the sessions presented this year >> were finalized no more than a week before their presentation, and quite a >> few included "up to the minute" information and data. This is particularly >> important in an environment that is constantly changing. >> >> What I'd like to see is live-streaming of sessions with moderation that >> could include online questions for the sessions. >> >> Wikimania is primarily a social event - and that includes the "developer >> days" at the beginning. Some sessions are of professional quality, some >> others gain their energy from the presentation itself or the perceived >> importance of the topic, and others simply by being presented by sincere >> and caring community members. The best session I saw this year was one >> that would never meet the bars described above - it was about the Javanese >> Wikipedia, and it was the one that was so full of hope and joy at the >> prospect of sharing knowledge freely that the few of us who were in the >> room walked away with a refreshed sense of what our movement is all about. >> >> You can't capture that with slides or plenary sessions or expert >> moderation. You need to be in the room. >> >> Risker >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimania-l mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimania-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > >
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