Dear colleagues,
As we enter the vibrant season of anticipation for Wikimania, I'm excited to connect with many of you this August, whether virtually or in-person, at Wikimania 2025 in Nairobi. Many of us are eagerly waiting to hear whether our proposal for a presentation, discussion, poster or workshop has been accepted to be part of this year's event. And already looking further ahead, I can already feel the excitement building up for next year's edition in Paris! In this email, I will share some key updates from the Wikimania Steering Committee <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee>, but it would feel incorrect if I wouldn't include some updates about Wikimania 2025! You will find those a bit further below. The Steering Committee oversees and coordinates the collaborative efforts that make Wikimania a success year after year. This collaboration involves the Core Organizing Team, responsible for a specific edition, Wikimedia Foundation staff and countless volunteers. Earlier this year, the Wikimania Steering Committee finalized the process of adopting a formal Charter <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee/Charter>, which has now been approved and published. I would like to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to Iolanda Pensa, our chair for many years and main organizer of Wikimania 2016 in Esino Lario. Her leadership has been invaluable to our committee and Wikimania. While she has decided to retire from our committee, I am pleased to know that she will remain involved in an advisory role, and I look forward to her contributions. I am honored to announce that Butch and I have been elected as the new Vice Chair and Chair of the Steering Committee. I look forward to working in this new role with this wonderful and diverse group of engaged community members to bring our movement together and facilitate learning, connections and friendship. We will be joined in that effort by Wojciech Pędzich, a member of the Katowice organizing team who is joining the Steering Committee: welcome Wojciech! The Wikimania 2025 Core Organizing Team (COT) 2 weeks ago in Nairobi to continue preparations from registration to programming, and to meet with local partners and vendors that will contribute their important expertise to make Wikimania a success. While all Wikimanias are special, this year’s edition promises to be one for the books as we celebrate 20 years of Wikimania – and, for the first time, host the conference in East Africa. Wikimania 2025 will take place in the compact neighborhood of *Gigiri.* <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/04/23/announcing-the-wikimania-2025-location/> It will span multiple venues across the area, and give participants an opportunity to be immersed in the local culture. Gigiri is home to the United Nations Office–the only UN headquarter office in Africa and the Global South–and several other international organizations and various embassies. This year, Wikimania will host a special pre-conference event on August 5th for users with extended rights <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/01/convening-users-with-extended-rights-to-discuss-safety-privacy-and-tools-during-wikimania-2025/>. To support participation, the Foundation has expanded the scholarship program, awarding 50 Wikimania scholarships to users with extended rights. This gathering will be a chance for them to meet others doing similar work, share ideas, and dig into important topics like safety, privacy, policy tools, and cross-wiki collaboration. Our hope is that it will spark ongoing conversations and support networks well beyond Wikimania. The main conference will then be from 6-9 August, and program decisions will also be announced in the coming weeks. *Registration for Wikimania just opened <https://wikimedia.eventyay.com/tickets/wikimedia/wikimania2025/>.* This year, in-person capacity will be reduced, so we *recommend registering before you book your travel*, and registering early! Of course, online participation will be possible as well, and we hope to see even more of you attend remotely, or at a satellite event! See you in Nairobi! Lodewijk Gelauff Chair, Wikimania Steering Committee
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