With the next Wikimania in Haifa, it is again after the next venue has been announced, the contracts have been signed that people find fault. There is a Facebook thingie protesting against it. I guess that the people behind it know that the normal channels have not given them their satisfaction and use Facebook to vent their frustration that they feel they cannot come.
Apart from dealing with frustration, there is not much to be achieved. There are people who are prevented from coming by their government. The only way to deal with that is by having a future Wikimania in for instance Tehran or Damascus .. I would however prefer Djakarta or Algiers as it is easier on the WMF, it being an USAmerican organisation..
People who oppose forget how a venue is selected and what Wikimania is about. The candidates select themselves, the volunteers in a country, a chapter spend an inordinate amount of time to get all the details like venue, budget etc right. Another group of volunteers assess the bids by the candidates, they organise public sessions on IRC where the bids are presented and any and all issues are discussed.
Wikimania is the yearly event where any and all issues can be presented to a worldwide audience. Many people who come are regulars, many people are new and many people are local or near local. For the organising community it is a massive shot in the arm, the benefits to the editors and readers are great.
Thanks,
GerardM
2 comments:
Awesome picture of Domas :D
Thanks for these comments, Gerard. I just have been to Haifa, invited by the local team to have some technical meetings with local companies which might support or deliver services to Wikimania.
As a regular at Wikimanias who really enjoyed conferences all over the world, Cambridge/USA, Taipeh/ROC, Alexandria/EG, Buenos Aires/AG and Gdansk/PL. It is always very interesting, mind-refreshing and a valuable experience apart from the results of the official meetings and sessions.
It was very easy to reach Israel in contrast to what I was told about the thorough security checks everywhere. The checks within Israel were comparable what I experienced in Egypt, immigration / emmigration were similar to those in the US, but minus the biometrical things. A normal passport / database check, a short question how long I had to stay in the country, both ways an affair of a minute. During my stay I felt safe all the time and meet open-minded, nice people.
Just a comment on the political issues that are often mentioned with Israel: I learned that there are indeed Israelis that behave unrespectfully to the cultures they share their neighbourhood with, but also that there are Israelis strongly opposing this. Beside that I saw many arab neighbourhoods in the city which were not seperated at all. See the german colony in Haifa for instance, where you can get the best food in town I guess, they are all family-run arab restaurants. In Jerusalem you move freely between quarters of christian, jewish and muslim inhabitants. Yes, there are security checks at the most important religious sites, but this is a reaction on terror that actually happened there and existing so I felt safe. On the other hand Israeli Police is guarding the Dome of the Rock, because the Muslims don't want other people except themselves to go there. The Israeli Police does the favour to them, I was not allowed to go there, while I was able to attend the evening prayer at the Wailing Wall and nobody cared.
Of course I know about the seperation wall, but hey, that's not Israel but Palestinian terrytory. You can pass, but they check you, and I think they have a very good reason.
In contrast to all comparisons made in order to back up the arguments why Wikimania in Israel was a bad idea the whole checks and seperation have only one reason: Security. If you come in peace, you can pass very easily.
Post a Comment