User:Bjelleklang/WM2010

WM 2010 "things to remember" list

The event
According to the requirements for 2009 (2010 isn't available yet), we need to have a capacity between 300 and 500 people. Please keep in mind that this isn't really that much; personally I've worked at concerts and festivals _a lot_ larger, although you can't really compare a concert to a conference.

From the 2009 requirements:  Dates should be from the beginning of July to mid August and should include a weekend. The maximum number of participants should be 500 people, the minimum 300. The venue must provide accommodation within walking distance of the conference grounds, preferably with lots of hanging out spaces where Wikimaniacs can get together informally. The venue must have seminar/conference rooms that can hold up to 100 people and no less than 30 people at one time for the sessions. It should provide at least one main hall that can hold up to 500 people. Count on having around 5/6 simultaneous tracks in the program. (i.e. the venue must accommodate 500 people at any time in 5/6 rooms). Geographical diversity -- having 2009's Wikimania in a different city, country, continent and/or hemisphere than 2006's (U.S.A.), 2007's (Taiwan) and 2008's (Egypt) -- is a factor in decision-making. The weighting in judging criteria will say how much. Please note that this is just some of my thoughts about what we need to keep in mind when writing the bid; some, if not all of this should probably be adressed at some point during the bid planning.

The event
According to the requirements for 2009 (2010 isn't available yet), we need to have a capacity between 300 and 500 people. Please keep in mind that this isn't really that much; personally I've worked at concerts and festivals _a lot_ larger, although you can't necessarily compare a concert to a conference.

From the 2009 requirements:  Dates should be from the beginning of July to mid August and should include a weekend. The maximum number of participants should be 500 people, the minimum 300.</li> <li>The venue must provide accommodation within walking distance of the conference grounds, preferably with lots of hanging out spaces where Wikimaniacs can get together informally.</li> <li>The venue must have seminar/conference rooms that can hold up to 100 people and no less than 30 people at one time for the sessions. It should provide at least one main hall that can hold up to 500 people. Count on having around 5/6 simultaneous tracks in the program. (i.e. the venue must accommodate 500 people at any time in 5/6 rooms).</li> <li>Geographical diversity -- having 2009's Wikimania in a different city, country, continent and/or hemisphere than 2006's (U.S.A.), 2007's (Taiwan) and 2008's (Egypt) -- is a factor in decision-making. The weighting in judging criteria will say how much.</li></ul>

Speaches
At the event itself, the requirements suggests 5-6 things happening at the same time. As I see it, we should have one main conference room for official gatherings, main speaches, and so on, one hall-like place, where people can wander off and socialize; if possible with stands for the various projects, such as the toolserver, commons, wikimedia and others, where it is possible to talk to others and get information easily. The projects located at the stands should also get a chance to have a more formal presentation. I addition to this, we need someone to keep smaller speaches and lectures on subjects related to Wikipedia/media.

Venue
For a venue, we need either a university-like center, or a professional conference center. The Royal Institute of Technology (Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan or KTH for short) has already been suggested, and if available at the given time should be preferred to other sites. The reasons for these are several, but good transportation nearby, cafeteria/restaurant onsite, as well as good WiFi coverage and a number of lecture halls are especially important. Also, this event being of academic interest, we might be able to rent this for less than a regular conference center.

As stated above, we need 5-6 smaller conference rooms, one main room with enough capacity to hold 500 people, and preferably also space enough to set up video cameras to film the lectures (assuming that the speakers consent to this.)

In addition, having a main hall for socializing, stands and a information desk could be a good idea, assuming it is close to the lecture rooms.

In addition to these rooms, we need rooms for the crew; not only a place where people can sit down, relax and eat, but also a place where you can lie down for a few minutes to relax. Although the days never seem that long on paper, they are always a lot longer and harder that people might think. The resting rooms doesn't need to be anything fancy though, just somewhere to sit down and relax for a moment.

Hotel(s)
As per the requirements, we need accommodation for the participants. Preferably one big hotel with enough rooms to simplify transportation, but spreading people around to 2-3 may also be acceptable, especially if we can offer various price ranges to make this cheap; after all, some people travel from the other side of the globe, and may be interested in saving at least some money on the hotel room. The hotels chosen should be easy to find from any airport, bus terminal or similar, and also easy to find from the venue itself.

Also, hotels usually include breakfast, so this will probably not have to be covered at the venue.

Food
We need to remember that people come from all around the world, and may have different requirements. Some may not eat some kinds of meat due to religion, personal choice, or allergies. Therefore it is important to check with everyone coming to Wikimania if they have any particular requirements. This can easily be done as part of the signup process.

As mentioned, most hotels have breakfast included in the price for renting a room. We must have the facilities for serving lunch, dinner, and possibly something during the evening depending on how long the event lasts each day.

In addition, we need to be able to serve the crew more or less from the start of the morning until nightfall; you cannot count on all the crew having the time to eat at the designated time, so having food available is a great moral-booster!

Internal transportation
Although most, if not all the volunteers can get to the venue on their own, we might need transport for some of the speakers, especially if they are on a tight schedule. It could therefore be useful to have 2-3 cars available, with drivers that are familiar with the area.

PR and press
The users who have reacted negative towards getting Wikimania to Sweden as a collaborative effort between NO, ICE, FI, DA and SV so far have claimed that the communities barely manage to keep their own Wikipedia projects alive, and that they don't have the time nor the resources necessary. Wikimania would be a great opportunity to turn this around, by getting a lot of focus on the projects! This of course only applies if we can get enough publicity.

Therefore, we need a PR crew, preferably staffed with at least one representative from each country that can work with the media to try to get as much publicity as possible, and also answer, or forward any inquiries when necessary.

In addition, the PR crew should work with Wikimedia NO+SV and the economy folks to find sponsors for the event.

Security and Information
This falls under the same group of people, at least to a certain extent. It is unlikely that we need a lot of security; after all this isn't a huge Robby Williams concert with thousands upon thousands of screaming teenagers looking to sneak backstage to get an autograph.

As the security people are likely to be the most visible representatives of the conference, it's important that they are polite, greet people with a smile, and answer questions whenever necessary. They are mainly there to assist people in finding their way around, and to be able to assist in case of an emergency (medical, fire, etc). Security in it self is nothing we have to think too much about yet, and will have to discuss with WM main board anyway.

As for information, it is important to have a central information desk, which can act as the link between the conference and it's guests, as well as information and communication within the crew.

Booking
Someone have to find the people who are going to do all the talking, preferably a representative from each country. As this is likely to be billed as a nordic Wikimania, it would be an idea to have lecturers from if not all the nordic countries, at least some of them. In addition, this group probably needs to link up with Wikimedia, either central or NO+SV to find other lecturers.

IT
Having 500 people on the same site is bound to mean problems; typically getting online. Should link up with the IT-dept at whatever place we end up. Also need to assist in setting up and planning any presentations in terms of projectors, having enough electrical power, etc. Must be represented at the information desk, as well as having a large enough to be able to assist with any problems during presentations and lectures.

HR
As the crew and staff will be working for quite a number of hours, it is important to take proper care of them. This job basically consist of making sure that the crew get something to eat and drink, that they get enough rest, and that we have enough crew. The HR dept needs to work together with the PR dept to ensure that we also focus on recruiting volunteers both locally, and from other nordic Wiki communities.

Economy
Someone needs to keep track of the money and find a budget for the whole thing. This group needs to be up and running as fast as possible, as they will begin working on the budget that needs to accompany the official bid. They should also work closely with the PR group in approaching potential sponsors.

Cleanup
Not sure how to do this yet; volunteer cleaning crews generally have a habit of dissapearing after the main event, so we should probably hire someone professional to do this, unless the site we end up at have their own staff for this.

Supervisor
In addition to all this, we need one person to be designated as being in charge and present at the event. This doesn't nescesarily have to be one single person, but there should be one person in charge at all times!

Other
As for the guests, we need one seriously big information package! We need to tell them how to get around in the city, how to find the event it self, how to find their hotel. This package should also contain a brief history about Stockholm, as well as whatever conference site we end up. Especially if it's a school!

For this to succeed, and be looked at as a serious proposal, we need the backing of both WM boards in NO+SV. Otherwise, it'll just be a bunch of wikipedians with no formal fronting...