Hi Pine, Co-located events in conferences work well if the event that is co-located with the main conference attracts a new audience that the main conference doesn't usually get by default. In the case of Wikimania and WikiConference North America, I can see a lot of overlap based on the last couple of years' schedules. This will result in what Lodewijk is concerned about: splitting the potential audience in smaller groups while they can benefit from getting in one room. Also, an already hard task of scheduling events will become even harder: For example, we need to worry about not scheduling two GLAM events at the same time, one focusing on North America and the other a general/global event.
This being said, I understand that you want to be mindful of the cost and time spent for these conferences. My suggestion would be for you to consider a 1-2 day event pre/post Wikimania focused on North America. Best, Leila Leila Zia Research Scientist Wikimedia Foundation On Wed, Jul 6, 2016 at 1:43 AM, Lodewijk <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Pine, > > Thanks for sharing your thought process. I can see why you identify a > topical overlap between Wikimania in North America and the North American > WikiConference. I also see why those topics should be part of the programme > at Wikimania - I don't expect much disagreement in that field. And whatever > you do, it will be. > > The question is, why would you want to organise it in a special 'track' > beyond a grouping of similar topics - which seems overly formal and > separatist. There's an overlap between all topics that you mention, and I > wouldn't see either why there should be a 'legal track', 'glam track' etc. > Every 'regional topic' will likely also fall under Nature, Glam, > Technology, Law, Education or one of the other topical groupings. > > Having a 'track' in a formal way, is much more heavy than grouping topics > that are related, together. To me it would suggest that 1) North Americans > can't learn from projects from elsewhere (I think the opposite is true) and > 2) Non-North Americans should not attend those presentations (which I also > think would be quite untrue). > > The question is what you're trying to accomplish. I would be a fan of > rather mingling geographies, rather than separating them out, unless you > have a strong reason to do otherwise. It makes more sense to me to have > three presentations about education grouped together where they come from > different regions, with different approaches than to have three > presentations about North America on a variety of topics grouped together. > I would find it even more odd to have a whole track dedicated to a region - > and it would be without precedent (I think). > > Best, > Lodewijk > > 2016-07-06 9:06 GMT+02:00 Pine W <[email protected]>: > >> I'm fine with multiple language tracks (most likely including French and >> Spanish). >> >> The reason for a geographic track (in this case, North America) is that >> otherwise we'd be having a separate conference that served this purpose. >> I'm sure that many of us in North America will want to attend tracks on >> subjects other than geographic interest (technology, research, GLAM, STEM, >> law, education, outreach, community health, and governance come to mind), >> so there will be substantial benefit in effectively co-locating the >> conferences. My guess is that this can be done in a way that is a net >> positive for all. For example, the scholarship budget that would otherwise >> be requested for a separate WikiConference North America 2017 could instead >> be used to facilitate increased attendance by North Americans in Montreal, >> which I think would have the benefit of increasing attendance at Wikimania, >> and at the same time we would eliminate the need to find a time and venue >> for a separate conference with separate expenses. >> >> Pine >> On Jul 5, 2016 23:36, "Lodewijk" <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Hey pine, >>> >>> As most people will be able to confirm, having a bigger presence of >>> regional topics is likely to happen anyway in any Wikimania. When Wikimania >>> is in Asia, you'll see more Asian speakers, and when it's in Europe, more >>> Europeans. >>> >>> Separate and successful tracks have been organised before, to the best >>> of my knowledge, in three ways: 1) language tracks - which were separate >>> for very practical reasons (translations). 2) type-of-session tracks - >>> which again are very practical (different needs for a discussion than for a >>> presentation) and 3) A thematic track - but that was often organised like a >>> type of side conference (with the US govt in 2012, with WikiSym and the >>> hackathon). >>> >>> To be honest, I don't see right away why 'North American regional and >>> local subjects' would require such track and even more why it would require >>> a special committee. It will find its way in the programme, and it's not >>> like non-Americans won't enjoy those topics per se. Why try to separate it >>> from the rest of the programme? In general I'm no big fan of splitting up >>> the programme into smaller pieces too much - it leaves too much opportunity >>> for good proposals to fall between the cracks and get lost. And it gets >>> confusing easily to the participants. >>> >>> Now I *do* see an added value for a French language track... but I guess >>> that'll be of little use to you. >>> >>> Best, >>> Lodewijk >>> >>> 2016-07-06 7:44 GMT+02:00 Pine W <[email protected]>: >>> >>>> Hi Wikimania folks (Ellie and the Montreal organizers in particular), >>>> >>>> Those of us in the US have expressed a hope that WikiConference North >>>> America 2017 can be united with Wikimania 2017 in Montreal. This would >>>> likely lead to economies of scale and reduced total cost, in terms of both >>>> time and money, for what would otherwise be separate conferences. >>>> >>>> I would like to ask if WMF and the Montreal organizers would be willing >>>> and able to have some tracks at that conference dedicated to North American >>>> regional and local subjects, perhaps coordinated by a dedicated North >>>> America program committee. I foresee a modest increase in attendance at >>>> Wikimania 2017, and decreases in personal and WMF costs, if we can make >>>> what would otherwise be separate conferences happen harmoniously. >>>> >>>> Thanks, and I hope to see you in Montreal next year. >>>> >>>> Pine >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> 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 >>> >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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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