Thanks for that comment, Dariusz; Wikimania London took over two years of preparation, and occupied me full time for six months in the run up to the event. It's a massive undertaking, and in retrospect it seems deeply unfair to expect volunteers to do this.
There was a bidding process, so there was heavy pressure to minimise/understate the budget - which mostly comes at the cost of the volunteers. I think the community just has to be more realistic about what it costs to put on a 1000+ person event. Were I to do it again I would absolutely include subsistence for the organising team in the budget. It needs professional commitment and professional skills, even with WMF staff support. I do think that the movement deserves an annual event, and particularly that the WMF should capitalise on it more from a comms perspective. Wiki*edia is a significant entity and we should be presenting ourselves as such. *Edward Saperia* Conference Director Wikimania London <http://www.wikimanialondon.org> email <[email protected]> • facebook <http://www.facebook.com/edsaperia> • twitter <http://www.twitter.com/edsaperia> • 07796955572 133-135 Bethnal Green Road, E2 7DG > In the same time, I've seen the following problems over the years, not > directly linked to the financial cost (which in the face of our relative > financial stability can be justified by the benefits, depending on how we > define them): > - huge WMF staff involvement (most Wikimanias run smoothly also thanks to > countless hours put in by the staff), > - huge volunteer local organizers involvement (in fact, my observation is > that many chapters organizing WIkimanias suffer from a motivation crisis > afterward). > > [...] > > While we can get the money (at least for now), the human involvement cost > is something I would not dare to dismiss just by emphasizing the benefits > of Wikimania for the movement. > > [...] > > Instead of discussing whether we should have a Wikimania every year or > not, perhaps we should try to list and discuss the reasons why it is such a > big strain? If it is clear that we can't afford it every year (because of > the human cost, probably more importantly than the finances), the decision > to break with the annual format will be a natural consequence of such an > analysis. > > [...] > > Dariusz Jemielniak ("pundit", a current Trustee). >
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