Ha, I just sent Naomi a note about the same thing :) Cool! A nice perspective from sister communities would be interesting. Especially since they ate thinking so much about how to be a good distributed community, multilingual and less euro centric, &c.
In the same vein, has anyone reached out to OKFN about the call for submissions? Can't wait until July, Sam On Feb 4, 2015 9:00 AM, "Ivan Martínez" <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Luis, we will have a track devoted to Open projects. I will share in > their list our Call for Submissions. > > Thanks for sharing! > El feb 4, 2015 10:52 a.m., "Luis Villa" <[email protected]> escribió: > >> FYI that the Open Knowledge Foundation is not having their annual >> conference this year; may be worth reaching out to the Open Knowledge >> community to have a track or space at Wikimania. >> >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: Naomi Lillie <[email protected]> >> Date: Wed, Feb 4, 2015 at 5:06 AM >> Subject: [okfn-discuss] Open Knowledge Festival update >> To: Open Knowledge Foundation discussion list < >> [email protected]>, Open Knowledge Foundation Local >> Coordinators Mailing List <[email protected]>, " >> [email protected]" <[email protected]> >> >> >> Hello all, >> >> I have bad news and good news to share: >> >> The bad news: >> >> Open Knowledge will not run a large international event in 2015 >> (OKFestival or OKConference) - boo! :-( >> >> The good news: >> >> Open Knowledge will be supporting our Local Groups in running events >> around the world in 2015 and looking to hold future large international >> events outside of Europe - yay! :-) >> >> Why isn’t Open Knowledge running an OKFestival in 2015? >> >> I’m very sorry for the disappointment I know this will cause - along with >> many of you, OKFest 2012 / OKCon 2013 / OKFestival 2014 were the highlights >> of my years since joining this organisation and network in 2011… But we’ve >> been thinking hard here at ‘OKI’ (meaning ‘Open Knowledge International’, >> the informal name for the organisation that supports Local Groups and >> Working Groups, and the rest of the network) and it really came down to >> asking ourselves ‘how can we best support our groups around the world?’ >> >> Point 1: representing an international network >> <https://okfn.org/network/> >> >> Towards the end of last year, Rufus asked the question ‘where should the >> next OKFestival be held?’ and members of the community on the >> OKFN-Discuss mailing list >> <https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss> responded, as >> well as leaders of Working Groups and Local Groups who were specifically >> invited to share thoughts (see here for the original message >> <https://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/okfn-discuss/2014-October/010627.html> >> and search the archives <https://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/okfn-discuss/> >> for responses). A theme appeared in the answers: people don’t want another >> European event, unless other parts of the world are being seriously >> considered for future events. That means we can’t go ahead with ‘business >> as usual’, but need to rethink how we do things for our next event. >> >> It’s clear that, while the organisation seeks to support a global network >> of people passionate about open knowledge, historically we haven’t been >> very good at extending in-person support beyond Europe, despite the growing >> representation of areas of the globe through Local Groups, projects and >> staff hires. The School of Data <http://schoolofdata.org/> has been a >> brilliant flagship for reaching beyond Europe, with Partnership for Open >> Data <https://okfn.org/projects/partnership-for-open-data/> doing >> excellent work in broadening awareness and access of work already happening >> in the Global South, but generally the overall organisation’s efforts in >> running in-person events have been in Berlin, with the occasional foray >> into countries such as Switzerland, Finland and the UK (see our events >> page <https://okfn.org/get-involved/events/> for more information). We >> want that to change, and are committed to exploring how we can enable that >> to happen for future events. >> >> Point 2: supporting the international network <https://okfn.org/network/> >> >> Open Knowledge has arranged a fair few gatherings over the years, and >> enjoyed the partnerships with the Finnish and Swiss Chapters in running the >> 2012 and 2013 events respectively as well as liaising with the German >> Chapter over several years, but generally there hasn’t been much room for >> supporting events around the community network beyond some promotion (such >> as here <http://okfncommunity.tumblr.com/>, here >> <http://blog.okfn.org/2014/12/10/a-round-up-of-open-knowledge-community-events-around-the-world/> >> and here <https://twitter.com/okfn>). Here at “OKI” we do our best to >> empower others to lead, and it’s pretty hard to lead when someone else >> takes all the attention! So, rather than effectively asking our Local >> Groups and Working Groups to compete with us if they want their own events >> (going up against Open Knowledge the organisation for scheduling, attendees >> and sponsorship), we want to step aside and encourage others to facilitate >> significant events that attract people from around the world to attend >> where they are located. >> >> Furthermore, this organisation has its own agenda, goals, strategy and >> vision - it clearly won’t be exactly the same as groups in the Africa, the >> Americas, Antarctica, Asia, Australia and indeed the rest of Europe! Open >> Knowledge “International” doesn’t claim to represent the UK, we just happen >> to be (mostly) UK-based; however we recognise that being primarily in the >> UK brings bias and assumptions, and we need the network’s help to ensure >> other agendas and priorities are given centre-stage. Moving to the >> side-lines, to allow others to step in with their plans, is the right thing >> for this time - and, very excitingly, other groups are already starting to >> do just that. >> >> Summary: >> >> While the organisation bounces enthusiastically from one big >> international event in one year to the next, we haven’t stopped to address >> how better to reflect our growing global network. We’d like to do that - >> but that means putting other things to one side; that is why we’re not >> running a big flagship event this year. We’re stopping, breathing, >> surveying the scenery and thinking about what Open Knowledge should be >> representing through its events and in-person hands-on activities. We’re >> already in touch with some of our amazing Local Groups, thinking about how >> they want to convene the network in areas local to them, and looking to see >> how we can best support from afar rather than assuming control. At present >> we’re considering our options in terms of how to investigate support >> structures for the Local Groups and opportunities for outside Europe in >> 2016 - be assured we'll be asking you all for your input. >> >> We’re excited about what the year ahead will bring! >> >> What events can we look forward to instead? >> >> Open Knowledge continues to support events throughout the Open movement, >> both remote (such as Open Data Day <http://opendataday.org/>) and in >> person, and are excited to be looking into supporting events from around >> the Open Knowledge community network in 2015. Various projects have >> geographic focus - such as Partnership for Open Data >> <https://okfn.org/projects/partnership-for-open-data/>, and FCO Macedonia >> <http://blog.okfn.org/2014/09/18/launching-a-new-collaboration-in-macedonia-with-metamorphosis-and-the-uk-foreign-commonwealth-office/> >> - and of course the organisation will support events through the projects’ >> endeavours in those areas, too. In the meantime, keep an eye on our blog >> <http://blog.okfn.org/> for announcements, twitter >> <https://twitter.com/okfn> for updates and the community stories tumblr >> <http://okfncommunity.tumblr.com/> for local news. >> >> Any questions? >> >> Please feel to reply on this thread (as I’m sure many will) or drop me a >> private message at this email address. I might not have all the answers, >> but I’ll do my best! >> >> Note on who I represent in this message: I am writing as >> Naomi-the-Open-Knowledge-[organisation]-staff-member, using ‘we’ and ‘our’ >> to mean the organisation rather than the network as a whole, and giving the >> ‘official line’ rather than reflecting individuals’ opinions (this can get >> confusing, so I hope that clarifies). >> >> With thanks for your kind attention over a long email, >> >> Naomi >> >> >> -- >> >> Naomi Lillie >> >> Network Director >> >> skype: n.lillie | @naomilillie <https://twitter.com/NaomiLillie> >> >> Open Knowledge <http://okfn.org/> - See how data can change the >> world >> >> http://okfn.org/ | @okfn <http://twitter.com/OKFN> | Facebook >> <https://www.facebook.com/OKFNetwork> | Blog <http://blog.okfn.org/> >> >> >> >> Open Knowledge Community Stories | http://okfncommunity.tumblr.com/ | >> see how people are changing the world >> >> >> Open Knowledge is a not-for-profit organisation. It is incorporated in >> England & Wales as a company limited by guarantee, with company number >> 05133759. VAT Registration № GB 984404989. Registered office address: Open >> Knowledge, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WS, UK. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> okfn-discuss mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-discuss >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Luis Villa >> Deputy General Counsel >> Wikimedia Foundation >> 415.839.6885 ext. 6810 >> >> *This message may be confidential or legally privileged. If you have >> received it by accident, please delete it and let us know about the >> mistake. As an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical >> reasons I cannot give legal advice to, or serve as a lawyer for, community >> members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal capacity. For more >> on what this means, please see our legal disclaimer >> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer>.* >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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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