Re: [Wikimania-l] Setting ticket prices
I am told London is one of the cheapest cities in the world to get to, and the European community is very large; I am hoping we can convene more of the community than has ever been in one place before. Certainly the higher the ticket price, the fewer people will attend, and in fact the WMF has given us strict limits on our maximum prices. I am very proud to be able to offer a cheap tickets, but it's meant that we're spending a lot of our time working on fundraising (which is not as straightforward a process as it sounds, as it turns out corporate sponsors don't particularly care about supporting The Mission), and depending on our fundraising success various aspects of the event may not be as good or professional as they could be: it turns out catering companies don't particularly care about supporting The Mission either. Given the size of the community as a whole, I continue to be amazed at how small the conference has historically been. Wikimedia is a fascinating thing, so much so that millions of people have volunteered their time to take part. My hypothesis is that there are large groups of Wikimedia participants who are not really aware of the conference, or for one reason or another do not feel welcome to attend, or are unsure of whether the content will be interesting to them; perhaps some people edit articles about a certain subject because they are interested in that subject, not because they're interested in the act of editing. Wikimania - at least from my impressions of HongKong - is really a conference about meta, which makes sense. What else would Wikimedians discuss when they are together except for what it means to be Wikimedian? A lot of the work I have been doing over the past year has been trying to unpack what meta wikimedia is, for people who either haven't really considered it in abstract terms, or for people who are interested in the structure and process of knowledge but have never considered Wikimedia to be relevant to them (e.g. librarians, data scientists, etc) - this train of thought lead to this Wikimania's five themes; Social Machines, The Future of Education, Free Culture, Open Scholarship and Open Data. They're the most concise expression I could find for the subjects that were discussed at Wikimania last year, using only words non-wiki*edians would understand. Something I'm very keen to do this year is have high quality livestreams of the talks, and have the recordings edited and posted online as quickly as possible. I am sure the number of people who would be interested in watching these talks far exceeds those who are able and willing to physically travel to the event. I would very much like to advertise these livestreams during the conference as centralnotices, but the infrastructure to do this and support the resulting traffic might be something that we can't afford. I'm not really sure if this answered your question... just some thoughts I've been mulling over recently. *Edward Saperia* Chief Coordinator Wikimania London http://www.wikimanialondon.org email e...@wikimanialondon.org * facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/edsaperia * twitter http://www.twitter.com/edsaperia * 07796955572 133-135 Bethnal Green Road, E2 7DG On 24 March 2014 05:12, Samuel Klein meta...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Ed. Since I know your team has thought a lot about who you want to attract: a restating of Lodewijk's Q: how do you expect your pricing to influence who attends, from the city / region / around the world? On Mar 23, 2014 9:24 AM, Edward Saperia e...@wikimanialondon.org wrote: A word from the trenches; I am very keen to keep Wikimania prices low. It's not quite decided yet, but I think our ticket prices will be less than $100, which compared to any conference of comparable size is absurdly low; it would be worth buying a ticket for the catering alone. It's not unusual for large conferences to cost fifty times this. However, for the past six months a significant amount of the (volunteer) Wikimania team's time has been dedicated to fundraising, so there is a cost to this. *Edward Saperia* Chief Coordinator Wikimania London http://www.wikimanialondon.org email e...@wikimanialondon.org * facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/edsaperia * twitter http://www.twitter.com/edsaperia * 07796955572 133-135 Bethnal Green Road, E2 7DG On 23 March 2014 22:03, Lodewijk lodew...@effeietsanders.org wrote: As Wikimedia movement, we have the luxury to approach this question backwards. Instead of thinking about how we will pay for the event (we have many sponsorship opportunities and even a good amount of donations), we can look at who we would want to attend the event. We could design our pricing system such to accommodate that. So, maybe we should first answer that question - what would our ideal attendance look like? Best, Lodewijk 2014-03-23 13:48 GMT+01:00 maarten deneckere maartendeneckere+wikima...@gmail.com: Two general thoughts that I think are
Re: [Wikimania-l] Setting ticket prices
Hi Stephan, Am 23.03.2014 09:51, schrieb Stephan Schulz: On the other hand, I would prefer to have a tighter, more focussed, and better structured program. Breaks should be breaks, sessions should be strictly time-boxed, session chairs should be in control of timing, and maybe the rate of acceptance of talks should be stricter. While I like the bazaar-like atmosphere, it made it very hard to get to talks in time, and very frustrating for speakers who had to deal with large audience fluctuations much of I fully agree with that and want to support that. Since several years I am fighting an invisible war against programmeritis Wikimania has fallen for. * have less talks, focus on quality and that people are actually able to digest the information - less is more! * have a clear, simple schedule. Not several talks in the same slot. It is unmanagable, the time is never shared fairly, people can hardly move between talks happening in the same slot. So you are bound to decide for one slot and than hear all two / three talks before the next break where you can move again. In the conferences I have organized my worked with a very simple schedule: * every slot is exactly one hour, but the talks are only 45 minutes, the rest is headroom for discussions, break time, time to move rooms, prepare the next talk etc. * workshop may last several slots to allow a more indepth-treatment of a topic * to make up for the time there are no coffee breaks etc. - instead coffee and drinks are available in a free space somewhere near the workshop rooms, so people can a) have a drink or snack whenever they want b) we save the time for these breaks c) less crowded cafeteria / buffets as people come at different times * to allow people to relax one could think about an afternoon break where deliberately nothing is being offered, that allows people to really have a break - and they don't even need to rush to the cafeteria to get their coffee in that time, we normally scheduled 30 minutes for that in midway between Lunch and Dinner * to cater for informal / on the spot meetings an Open Space was offered, a session room adjacent to the other rooms, ideally right next to the coffee buffet, where one can put a pinboard in an area everyone walks by several times during the day. Cards, felt-tip pens, pins and a printed schedule with empty slots are being provided. So people write down their topic and schedule it by pinning it in one of the empty slots. Instead of having meetings right on the spot and somewhere on the floor in the hallway, they are a bit more structured, allow for some time to gather people, other people can become interested and join and a real, quite session room with proper chairs and tables can be used for an efficient meeting. This concept in has lead to less stressful conferences. People are more free what to do, when to relax and have a coffee and are more concetrated during the actual sessions - which also have a bit more time. It has also shown that there is only little problems with sessions taking to long, blowing up the schedule, because there is enough headroom to absorb this. /Manuel -- Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Lausanne, +41 (21) 34066-22 - www.wikimedia.ch ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Setting ticket prices
As a quick note, the ticket prices for GLAM-Wiki in 2013 were set in two tiers - simply individual and institutional, and we left it to people to figure out what they felt was appropriate in their case. I don't think there was a Wikimedian rate, but this was implicitly who we were targeting with individual. Both were probably below-cost, at £20 and £50 (?) for two days, but I don't have a copy of the calculations to hand to be sure by how much - in any case, the only major cost was that of catering for two days, as the venue and technical support were covered either by the BL or WMUK, and a part-contribution to the cost of speakers travel. One issue that might be worth bearing in mind is that a below-cost ticket for Wikimania 2014 might well cost substantially more than an above-cost ticket for Wikimania 2005 - as Wikimania has grown, it's being run at a pretty high standard and the costs are no doubt climbing to match. If we want a cheaper conference - should we be scaling back to something less expensive and less professional? Andrew. On 23 March 2014 01:54, Deryck Chan deryckc...@gmail.com wrote: Wikimania indeed has a tradition of setting artificially low entry prices for the reasons Nicholas described earlier in this thread. Of course, there's nothing to stop Wikimania 2014 from raising ticket prices. I should remind though that until 2013 we basically have a hierarchy of 4 ticket prices: 1. Non-Wikimedian price: supposedly the full cost (but is still effectively slightly subsidised) 2. Wikimedian price: substantially subsidised entry and food, for those who've paid a lot to travel to the venue from the other side of the world 3. Partial scholarship: for those who can almost / just about afford to attend Wikimania on their own budget, but would use up their savings unless their air travel was subsidised. The partial scholarship encourages them to go to *more* Wikimanias. 4. Full scholarship (for those who simply can't afford Wikimania) In 2014, the partial scholarship is removed, so I would hesitate to raise the Wikimedian ticket prices, lest we disincentivise medium-income Wikimedians (particularly students) from attending. However, by all means consider raising the non-Wikimedian price, or even have a donor price (full cost + £100, say?) with a shiny badge to let generous attendees pay more! Deryck Deryck On 23 Mar 2014 08:07, Charles Gregory wmau.li...@chuq.net wrote: My impression was that the prices took into account that (a) most members of the Wikimedia community are volunteers (b) most attendees have paid many hundreds, if not thousands of US$ in airfares/accommodation costs to attend, on top of the ticket price. Volunteers also have to use up their own annual leave (or forgo wages) if their Wikimedia activities are not on behalf of their employer. You could get away with having separate rates. The other conference I have experience with, Linux.conf.au, has rates which differ by almost an order of magnitude: Professional $899, Hobbyist $399, Student $99. (These prices are Australian dollars, which is approx USD +/- 10%) (IMHO the Hobbyist rate here is still a bit high for a volunteer.) This conference is, however, a major source of income for Linux Australia, whereas Wikimania is indirectly supported by donations to WMF. Regards, Charles On Sun, Mar 23, 2014 at 10:34 AM, Nicholas Bashour nicholasbash...@gmail.com wrote: For Wikimania 2012, I remember that we wanted to make sure the largest number of people could attend. DC was an expensive enough city that we felt if registration prices were too high, it may discourage some of the people who didn't get scholarships from attending. That being said, there's no reason why future Wikimanias shouldn't offer various pricing options, like higher individual sponsorship registration for those who want to sponsor on a smaller level, student registration, etc. Sincerely, Nicholas Michael Bashour Sent from my iPhone Am 22.03.2014 um 19:21 schrieb Samuel Klein meta...@gmail.com: Proposed prices for Wikimania tickets continue to seem artificially low. I'm not sure what the benefit to this is. Could people who have run events in other contexts comment on how you set ticket prices? In my experience, tickets are set at roughly what it costs for each person to attend. Then there may be different sorts of tickets: for local supporters volunteers, for school groups, for students community members, presenters, VIPs sponsors. Sponsorship helps ensure how many tickets of each type there are. Last-minute tickets are more expensive. This has a few benefits: * tickets fully cover the cost of food and materials * tickets contribute significantly to covering the cost of the event * scholarships and reimbursements for attendance (for scholars, professionals, academics all getting covered by their home institutions), in paying for tickets, cover the full
Re: [Wikimania-l] Setting ticket prices
There's an important question which hasn't been asked in this thread so far: Wikimania 2014 will be big and outreach-focused, with plans for a parallel wikifest. How will the ticket price of Wikifest compare to Wikimania? A random idea from me: maybe we should make wikifest more like a museum exhibition, without complementary food, so we can keep the price low? If they want included food, they can pay extra for the non-Wikimedian ticket to Wikimania. On 24 Mar 2014 20:35, Andrew Gray andrew.g...@dunelm.org.uk wrote: As a quick note, the ticket prices for GLAM-Wiki in 2013 were set in two tiers - simply individual and institutional, and we left it to people to figure out what they felt was appropriate in their case. I don't think there was a Wikimedian rate, but this was implicitly who we were targeting with individual. Both were probably below-cost, at £20 and £50 (?) for two days, but I don't have a copy of the calculations to hand to be sure by how much - in any case, the only major cost was that of catering for two days, as the venue and technical support were covered either by the BL or WMUK, and a part-contribution to the cost of speakers travel. One issue that might be worth bearing in mind is that a below-cost ticket for Wikimania 2014 might well cost substantially more than an above-cost ticket for Wikimania 2005 - as Wikimania has grown, it's being run at a pretty high standard and the costs are no doubt climbing to match. If we want a cheaper conference - should we be scaling back to something less expensive and less professional? Andrew. On 23 March 2014 01:54, Deryck Chan deryckc...@gmail.com wrote: Wikimania indeed has a tradition of setting artificially low entry prices for the reasons Nicholas described earlier in this thread. Of course, there's nothing to stop Wikimania 2014 from raising ticket prices. I should remind though that until 2013 we basically have a hierarchy of 4 ticket prices: 1. Non-Wikimedian price: supposedly the full cost (but is still effectively slightly subsidised) 2. Wikimedian price: substantially subsidised entry and food, for those who've paid a lot to travel to the venue from the other side of the world 3. Partial scholarship: for those who can almost / just about afford to attend Wikimania on their own budget, but would use up their savings unless their air travel was subsidised. The partial scholarship encourages them to go to *more* Wikimanias. 4. Full scholarship (for those who simply can't afford Wikimania) In 2014, the partial scholarship is removed, so I would hesitate to raise the Wikimedian ticket prices, lest we disincentivise medium-income Wikimedians (particularly students) from attending. However, by all means consider raising the non-Wikimedian price, or even have a donor price (full cost + £100, say?) with a shiny badge to let generous attendees pay more! Deryck Deryck On 23 Mar 2014 08:07, Charles Gregory wmau.li...@chuq.net wrote: My impression was that the prices took into account that (a) most members of the Wikimedia community are volunteers (b) most attendees have paid many hundreds, if not thousands of US$ in airfares/accommodation costs to attend, on top of the ticket price. Volunteers also have to use up their own annual leave (or forgo wages) if their Wikimedia activities are not on behalf of their employer. You could get away with having separate rates. The other conference I have experience with, Linux.conf.au, has rates which differ by almost an order of magnitude: Professional $899, Hobbyist $399, Student $99. (These prices are Australian dollars, which is approx USD +/- 10%) (IMHO the Hobbyist rate here is still a bit high for a volunteer.) This conference is, however, a major source of income for Linux Australia, whereas Wikimania is indirectly supported by donations to WMF. Regards, Charles On Sun, Mar 23, 2014 at 10:34 AM, Nicholas Bashour nicholasbash...@gmail.com wrote: For Wikimania 2012, I remember that we wanted to make sure the largest number of people could attend. DC was an expensive enough city that we felt if registration prices were too high, it may discourage some of the people who didn't get scholarships from attending. That being said, there's no reason why future Wikimanias shouldn't offer various pricing options, like higher individual sponsorship registration for those who want to sponsor on a smaller level, student registration, etc. Sincerely, Nicholas Michael Bashour Sent from my iPhone Am 22.03.2014 um 19:21 schrieb Samuel Klein meta...@gmail.com: Proposed prices for Wikimania tickets continue to seem artificially low. I'm not sure what the benefit to this is. Could people who have run events in other contexts comment on how you set ticket prices? In my experience, tickets are set at roughly what it costs for
Re: [Wikimania-l] Setting ticket prices
Manuel Schneider, 24/03/2014 11:07: I fully agree with that and want to support that. Since several years I am fighting an invisible war against programmeritis Wikimania has fallen for. * have less talks, focus on quality and that people are actually able to digest the information - less is more! +1 The counterpart to (falsely) conveying the idea that Wikimania attendance has near-zero cost for attendees (both in terms of finance and personal effort/involvement) is that many people, to get financial support, are forced by the respective organisations/funders to prove they're going to get stuff done, to deliver (usually a presentation, because it's the obvious thing). Instead, we shold have a Wikimania in which we believe enough as to consider it valuable in itself and where people only do stuff they're truly engaged in. Nemo ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Setting ticket prices
Am 24.03.2014 14:45, schrieb Federico Leva (Nemo): to deliver (usually a presentation, because it's the obvious thing). thanks, yes: I have heard about this last year in fact. A Wikimedian criticed that there were scholarships for people who do not even give a talk. I found this funny, like having a conference where everyone is talking and nobody listening. Now I see that this was not just a single weird mind but is actually a real problem. /Manuel -- Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Lausanne, +41 (21) 34066-22 - www.wikimedia.ch ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Setting ticket prices
I have looked at past editions[1]. In general there have been differences of registration costs for participants (mainly a difference between Wikimedia contributor with username or not), but the registration cost never covered the actual cost per participant (including catering, participant package and parties - the costs that normally registration costs cover). personally I think: * attending the conference and its sessions should be free (it is the Plato legacy and also in Italy universities do the same: you don’t pay to listen, you pay for additional services :) The only payment which might be necessary is only if an insurance is needed (and the cost would be the cost of the personal insurence only). * services should be covered by the registration fee: catering, participant package and parties. This also means that there should be much more scholarships available (for volunteers, contributors, people we want to target specifically). * general costs (i.e. venue, technical, promotional materials, communication, keynotes) should be covered by sponsors and donors. this system is much more transparent. People can attend the conference without having lunch in the venue (a sandwich in a cafe or a self-service menu is always cheaper than the catering), without a printed booklet and t-shirt and without going to the party. Also if they do not use those services, in any case they will have to register (this facilitates the planning). At the same time scholarship and institutions normally cover registration costs; this means that staff from chapters, WMF, universities and institutions attending Wikimania will cover a reasonable cost per person (and indeed they will not benefit from not covering those costs). Registration could be 200 $ (for 3 lunches 30$ each, the participant’s package 10$, and two parties 50 $ each). Higher registration costs (differences between pre-registration and registration and between institutions and volunteers/contributors) can be used to contribute to scholarships. iolanda / iopensa [1] The data available are not very precise but here is a comparative summery https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania/Comparative#Registration and you can find in the upper menu the details for each conference when information are available. Il giorno 23/mar/2014, alle ore 00:21, Samuel Klein meta...@gmail.com ha scritto: Proposed prices for Wikimania tickets continue to seem artificially low. I'm not sure what the benefit to this is. Could people who have run events in other contexts comment on how you set ticket prices? In my experience, tickets are set at roughly what it costs for each person to attend. Then there may be different sorts of tickets: for local supporters volunteers, for school groups, for students community members, presenters, VIPs sponsors. Sponsorship helps ensure how many tickets of each type there are. Last-minute tickets are more expensive. This has a few benefits: * tickets fully cover the cost of food and materials * tickets contribute significantly to covering the cost of the event * scholarships and reimbursements for attendance (for scholars, professionals, academics all getting covered by their home institutions), in paying for tickets, cover the full cost of those people attending the event. * more accurate headcounts in advance. Warmly, Sam ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
[Wikimania-l] Two years to plan and implement Wikimania
It's proposed to open up *now* the bidding for Wikimania 2016, in order to have 2 years' time for planning and implementation. See https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimania#Two_years_to_plan_and_implement_Wikimania. Nemo ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Two years to plan and implement Wikimania
For 2016 bids, I was in fact thinking we should open bids right after Wikimania in London is over and have a decision by next Fall. Will propose this to the Steering Committee. I hope everyone is getting in touch with the hosts to give them input this week on their bids. The jury committee will be delving into its review in the coming weeks. Input from the community now to the individual bidders now will help them to refine things a bit more. Thanks, Ellie On Mar 24, 2014, at 1:54 PM, Samuel Klein meta...@gmail.com wrote: I like this idea. One of the current bids is already doing this (bidding for 2016, not 2015). On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 3:13 PM, Federico Leva (Nemo) nemow...@gmail.com wrote: It's proposed to open up *now* the bidding for Wikimania 2016, in order to have 2 years' time for planning and implementation. See https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimania#Two_years_to_plan_and_implement_Wikimania. Nemo ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l -- Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266 ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Two years to plan and implement Wikimania
+1. Ellie's suggestion makes a lot of sense. On 24 Mar 2014 21:02, Ellie Young eyo...@wikimedia.org wrote: For 2016 bids, I was in fact thinking we should open bids right after Wikimania in London is over and have a decision by next Fall. Will propose this to the Steering Committee. I hope everyone is getting in touch with the hosts to give them input this week on their bids. The jury committee will be delving into its review in the coming weeks. Input from the community now to the individual bidders now will help them to refine things a bit more. Thanks, Ellie On Mar 24, 2014, at 1:54 PM, Samuel Klein meta...@gmail.com wrote: I like this idea. One of the current bids is already doing this (bidding for 2016, not 2015). On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 3:13 PM, Federico Leva (Nemo) nemow...@gmail.com wrote: It's proposed to open up *now* the bidding for Wikimania 2016, in order to have 2 years' time for planning and implementation. See https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimania#Two_years_to_plan_and_implement_Wikimania . Nemo ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l -- Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266 ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Two years to plan and implement Wikimania
You may wish to post this on meta to keep folks up to date. Joe -- Joseph Fox Sent with Airmail On 24 March 2014 at 10:05:18 pm, Richard Symonds (richard.symo...@wikimedia.org.uk) wrote: +1. Ellie's suggestion makes a lot of sense. On 24 Mar 2014 21:02, Ellie Young eyo...@wikimedia.org wrote: For 2016 bids, I was in fact thinking we should open bids right after Wikimania in London is over and have a decision by next Fall. Will propose this to the Steering Committee. I hope everyone is getting in touch with the hosts to give them input this week on their bids. The jury committee will be delving into its review in the coming weeks. Input from the community now to the individual bidders now will help them to refine things a bit more. Thanks, Ellie On Mar 24, 2014, at 1:54 PM, Samuel Klein meta...@gmail.com wrote: I like this idea. One of the current bids is already doing this (bidding for 2016, not 2015). On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 3:13 PM, Federico Leva (Nemo) nemow...@gmail.com wrote: It's proposed to open up *now* the bidding for Wikimania 2016, in order to have 2 years' time for planning and implementation. See https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimania#Two_years_to_plan_and_implement_Wikimania. Nemo ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l -- Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266 ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Two years to plan and implement Wikimania
Will this make it harder for volunteers (e.g. chapters without a professional staff or resources to hire one) to plan? A two year timeline for bids and planning is a long, long time for a volunteer commitment. ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Two years to plan and implement Wikimania
2 year planning would be great. On 24 March 2014 20:54, Samuel Klein meta...@gmail.com wrote: I like this idea. One of the current bids is already doing this (bidding for 2016, not 2015). On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 3:13 PM, Federico Leva (Nemo) nemow...@gmail.com wrote: It's proposed to open up *now* the bidding for Wikimania 2016, in order to have 2 years' time for planning and implementation. See https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimania#Two_years_to_plan_and_implement_Wikimania . Nemo ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l -- Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266 ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l -- *Stuart Prior* *Wikimania Liaison* *Wikimedia UK* +44 20 7065 0990 Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects). *Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.* ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Two years to plan and implement Wikimania
Nathan, I can't see the two year timeline being problematic. As part of the current planning for 2014, I think having a longer timeline would've been helpful. Two years is quite a long time, but it allows for lower intensity of workload, and a longer period to build relationships with potential sponsors and content partners. S On 24 March 2014 21:37, Nathan nawr...@gmail.com wrote: Will this make it harder for volunteers (e.g. chapters without a professional staff or resources to hire one) to plan? A two year timeline for bids and planning is a long, long time for a volunteer commitment. ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l -- *Stuart Prior* *Wikimania Liaison* *Wikimedia UK* +44 20 7065 0990 Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects). *Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.* ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Two years to plan and implement Wikimania
The people most active in bid development often have only slight overlap with those most active in implementation. Asking other things the org team is global, and may include people who were part I'd many different bids. It is coming in other late communities to have bids start before the event two years prior so that bid teams can recruit people to get involved with the bid at the annual event immediately before bids close. Some communities vote on the venue for year N+2 at the end of the event in year N. On Mar 24, 2014 5:38 PM, Nathan nawr...@gmail.com wrote: Will this make it harder for volunteers (e.g. chapters without a professional staff or resources to hire one) to plan? A two year timeline for bids and planning is a long, long time for a volunteer commitment. ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Setting ticket prices
I like this idea, Iolanda. It makes sense to have more people attend the conference proper than buy into catering and parties. And also makes sense to let the whole world listen to the lectures. Though for events that are expected to be oversold, you might need another solution, since not everyone will fit in the main room. But there can be overflow rooms streaming the session for everyone. Sam. On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 1:53 PM, Iolanda Pensa iola...@pensa.it wrote: I have looked at past editions[1]. In general there have been differences of registration costs for participants (mainly a difference between Wikimedia contributor with username or not), but the registration cost never covered the actual cost per participant (including catering, participant package and parties - the costs that normally registration costs cover). personally I think: * attending the conference and its sessions should be free (it is the Plato legacy and also in Italy universities do the same: you don't pay to listen, you pay for additional services :) The only payment which might be necessary is only if an insurance is needed (and the cost would be the cost of the personal insurence only). * services should be covered by the registration fee: catering, participant package and parties. This also means that there should be much more scholarships available (for volunteers, contributors, people we want to target specifically). * general costs (i.e. venue, technical, promotional materials, communication, keynotes) should be covered by sponsors and donors. this system is much more transparent. People can attend the conference without having lunch in the venue (a sandwich in a cafe or a self-service menu is always cheaper than the catering), without a printed booklet and t-shirt and without going to the party. Also if they do not use those services, in any case they will have to register (this facilitates the planning). At the same time scholarship and institutions normally cover registration costs; this means that staff from chapters, WMF, universities and institutions attending Wikimania will cover a reasonable cost per person (and indeed they will not benefit from not covering those costs). Registration could be 200 $ (for 3 lunches 30$ each, the participant's package 10$, and two parties 50 $ each). Higher registration costs (differences between pre-registration and registration and between institutions and volunteers/contributors) can be used to contribute to scholarships. iolanda / iopensa [1] The data available are not very precise but here is a comparative summery https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania/Comparative#Registrationand you can find in the upper menu the details for each conference when information are available. Il giorno 23/mar/2014, alle ore 00:21, Samuel Klein meta...@gmail.com ha scritto: Proposed prices for Wikimania tickets continue to seem artificially low. I'm not sure what the benefit to this is. Could people who have run events in other contexts comment on how you set ticket prices? In my experience, tickets are set at roughly what it costs for each person to attend. Then there may be different sorts of tickets: for local supporters volunteers, for school groups, for students community members, presenters, VIPs sponsors. Sponsorship helps ensure how many tickets of each type there are. Last-minute tickets are more expensive. This has a few benefits: * tickets fully cover the cost of food and materials * tickets contribute significantly to covering the cost of the event * scholarships and reimbursements for attendance (for scholars, professionals, academics all getting covered by their home institutions), in paying for tickets, cover the full cost of those people attending the event. * more accurate headcounts in advance. Warmly, Sam ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l -- Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266 ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Re: [Wikimania-l] Two years to plan and implement Wikimania
But fundamentally bidding to run a Wikimania is now a massive commitment. We discovered that one year is mostly too short for effective fundraising; large event pledges are usually made more than a year out. Sent from my iPhone On 25 Mar 2014, at 06:37, Nathan nawr...@gmail.com wrote: Will this make it harder for volunteers (e.g. chapters without a professional staff or resources to hire one) to plan? A two year timeline for bids and planning is a long, long time for a volunteer commitment. ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l ___ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
