Wikimedia SA makes 2012 conference bid
Wikimedia South African, the local chapter of Wikimedia, recently got the nod from the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) Board of Trustees.
While the chapter was waiting for official recognition from the Foundation it wasn’t resting on its laurels. Wikimedia South Africa has put forward a bid for South Africa to host Wikimania 2012.
Wikimania is an annual international conference for users of the wiki projects operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, such as Wikipedia and other sister projects, according to the Wikimania conference page on Wikipedia.
“Topics of presentations and discussions include Wikimedia Foundation projects, other wikis, open source software, free knowledge and free content, and the different social and technical aspects which relate to these topics,” the Wikipedia page stated at the time of writing.
Bidding for Wikimania 2012 officially opened on 4 January 2011 and bid creation closed on 6 February 2011.
Wikimedia South Africa proposed Stellenbosch as the host city and their bid was accepted on 6 February along with those of Montréal, Canada; Washington, D.C., USA; and Istanbul, Turkey. This year’s Wikimania conference will be held from 5-7 August in Haifa, Israel.
Returning from a Wikimedia Foundation event recently held in Berlin, a founding member of the South African Wikimedia Chapter, Lourie Pieterse, said that many Wikimedians, including members of other chapters, expressed their hope to come to Stellenbosch in 2012 for Wikimania.
The beauty of Stellenbosch and the nearby wine route were some of the attractive aspects mentioned of South Africa’s bid, Pieterse said.
Pieterse explained that Wikimania 2012 is expected to attract 500 to 600 attendees for the half-week conference. He added that Wikimedia SA is considering making use of an outside organisation to handle the arrangements similar to what Wikimedia Israel have done for this year’s Wikimania.
According to the Wikimania 2012 Meta-Wiki page, the accepted bids are currently being refined and bidders are answering any questions the Wikimania 2012 jury may have.
The questions and answers period is scheduled to end on 3 April 2011, while the jury’s delibration period is to end on 10 April 2011.
The Wikimedia Foundation is then set to announce the host city to the public on 11 April 2011.
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