Visa problems seem to be a recurring theme at Wikimanias and indeed other international events that we run. Of course sometimes it will be members of the community underestimating how long things will take or leaving things to the last minute. I had visa problems going to the WikiConference India in 2011, our team on that one were amazingly helpful and rescued me from my tardiness. But other times I fear that it is the organisers who have underestimated how early we need to do things in order for everyone to participate.
When it comes to dates when we announce events, send out letters of invitation, have accommodation bookable and registration systems in place, the date should be early enough to allow for Wikimedians anywhere to get a visa (and not just if they apply on the day that registration opens and nothing slips by as much as 24 hours). My suspicion is that some events have been organised on the basis that >95% of potential attendees will be fine. But when it comes to making our international events international we should be aiming for 100%. That means performing a critical path analysis and scheduling things so that anyone who possibly could come will have time to get a visa, with contingency time for things going wrong, and for additional processes as some attendees will need time to book leave or seek grants. Regards WSC On 9 June 2012 22:49, Lodewijk <[email protected]> wrote: > Althuogh I share the sentiment, I would like to point out that there is > some time pressure here, and I can very well imagine that someone gets > nervous that the promised documents didn't arrive. Unfortunately I heard > from multiple sides that the off-list communication with the organizing > team is 'sub-optimal', so perhaps there is a larger issue playing here. Not > to blame anyone, but to keep in mind when responding to inquiries like > this. > > Lodewijk > > 2012/6/9 Thomas Dalton <[email protected]> > >> There is really no point sending loads of emails to the mailing list >> spread across several threads a few minutes apart. Please discuss this >> off-list with the people that have said they are sorting it. >> >> On 9 June 2012 17:55, Shujen Chang <[email protected]> wrote: >> > Really hope someone can help him as soon as posible! Thanks a lot! >> > >> > >> > On Sun, Jun 10, 2012 at 12:36 AM, KA360 <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> Dear Sir, >> >> >> >> I am very sorry that I haven't receive the invitation letter yet. >> Also, >> >> I didn't received any reply even I sent request by email several >> times. I >> >> am >> >> afraid there's a problem with hotmail. >> >> If it is ready, would you please send it again to >> >> [email protected], [email protected] , thank you very much. >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Wikimania-l mailing list >> >> [email protected] >> >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Sincerely, >> > Shujen Chang >> > >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > 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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