Thanks for your clarifications, James, they're quite helpful. Joe
On Sun, 4 Oct 2015 at 19:51 James Forrester <[email protected]> wrote: > On Sun, 4 Oct 2015 at 11:25 Joseph Fox <[email protected]> wrote: > >> On 4 October 2015 at 19:10, James Forrester <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> At the Committee’s meeting in Mexico City in August, we agreed to alter >>> the way that Wikimania locations are decided. >>> >> >> I don't mean to slight yourself, James, or the committee, but this seems >> an unnecessary delay. Why is this only now being communicated? >> > > A fair question. We spent too long discussing options rather than > presenting this earlier. I'm sorry. I have discussed this change with a > variety of people since at least 2007, and others were talking about it > before me, but as the complexity of Wikimania rises each year it has become > more chronic. As Chair of the Committee, the delay is my fault, and I > apologise. > > > >> Would it not have been wise to reveal this as it was agreed upon rather >> than now, after at least two bidding parties have put time and effort into >> their bids for 2017? >> > > I might equally ask why people not associated with running Wikimania > decided the create and keep updating mistaken pages on meta about Wikimania > 2017 being open for bids without even a post to this list, let alone the > Committee, where we could have pointed out it was false before people spent > time ill-advisedly. :-( > > > The large majority of our community members are based in either North >>> America or Europe; organising Wikimanias in these areas allows the majority >>> of our community members to attend cheaply, so that money spent on >>> scholarships can go further, and be more focussed in supporting our >>> community members wherever they are based. >>> >> >> This is true and cannot be ignored. But why, then, is "Europe" such a >> narrow definition? Why no provision for Eastern Europe and Russia? This >> seems quite disappointing given we have active affiliates in these areas. >> > > The groupings are based on where the majority of Wikimedians are. They can > of course change over time. I was hoping to work with fellow Wikimedians to > narrow down these definitions so that it's clear for instance which group > each interested community group falls. > > I'd note that we've already had one Wikimania in the "Eastern Europe, > Russia, and Central Asia" area, which is one more than, for instance, South > Asia where we also have a large number of Wikimedians. > > >> We should probably cut to the chase and just name the location, since by >> now it's common knowledge. >> > > Despite people breaching trust and leaking "news" rather than seeking > clarification, the announcement for 2017 is not final and is still subject > to approval. > > > >> Other than my previous comment about the lack of inclusion of Eastern >> Europe—are we seriously suggesting holding one in Russia and then one in >> (for instance) Warsaw? That seems to defeat the point of this exercise >> somewhat. >> > > No. "Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia" would cover both of those > locations, so at the smallest they would be three years apart, and in > practice probably a great deal more. > > Yours, >
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