Wikipedia:Meetup/Philadelphia 2

Archived

 * What: Wikimeetup Philadelphia
 * When: Saturday, 4 November, 2006, 5:00p
 * Where: Abbraccio Restaurant,
 * 820 S 47 St., (near 47th and Baltimore),
 * West Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States


 * Who: Anyone who is interested. If you are interested in coming, add your name below with.

How to get there
I've created a page in my userspace containing fairly comprehensive directions for anyone coming in via public transport or automobile. --CComMack (t&#149;c)


 * Posted on Phillyblog
 * Meetup/Philadelphia 2 is at 39.9482°N, -75.2167°W

Likely attendees

 * CComMack
 * Mindspillage (spill yours?) and Gmaxwell
 * alteripse 16:50, 6 October 2006 (UTC) maybe
 * evrik 20:18, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Have we told them we are coming? --evrik 20:21, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
 * -- danntm T C maybe
 * Maruca Music 15:54, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
 * ike9898 16:16, 1 November 2006 (UTC) assuming I get permission from the wife, of course!
 * CobaltBlueTony 17:22, 1 November 2006 (UTC) with the same caveat as ike9898 above. ;-)
 * The wife insists on coming with me, even though she thinks this whole Wikipedia thing is a fad and a waste of time. ;-) - CobaltBlueTony 21:20, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Galaxiaad 17:31, 3 November 2006 (UTC)
 * TexasDex
 * I will almost certainly be showing up. ImmortalGoddezz will probably be attending with me.
 * I'm pretty sure I won't be able to attend. -- Dominus 20:23, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Headcount: nine. --evrik (talk 14:22, 3 November 2006 (UTC)
 * I think is actually ten; the 2nd bullet point lists two people. ike9898 16:56, 3 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Now eleven, hehe. --Galaxiaad 17:31, 3 November 2006 (UTC)


 * The reservation was made weeks ago, under my name. --CComMack (t&#149;c) 21:10, 3 November 2006 (UTC)
 * So, who do we ask for, CComMack? --evrik (talk) 21:15, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

Possible attendees

 * - Stephanie Daugherty (Triona) - Talk - Comment - 01:33, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
 * MyWikiBiz 23:38, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Austin Murphy 21:50, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
 * ExplorerCDT 04:35, 31 October 2006 (UTC) (no Rutgers football game that weekend...gotta check the Princeton home schedule first) See regrets
 * Pacdude 23:56, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Regrets

 * Another weekend? alteripse 01:31, 12 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I didn't realize the date had changed. I can still make it, but everyone should be made aware. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Raul654 (talk • contribs) 14:58, 12 October 2006
 * Sorry guys...wife is away that weekend and I need to watch my son. --Coplan 22:20, 17 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Waarmstr -- Something else came up. If this happens again let me know. Maybe someone can post notes here afterward?
 * I'm still in, er, France until the 15th and after that I won't really be back in Philly until January. Plus, I might be too cool to go to a wikipedia meet-up. john k 16:40, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Ehh, ill be in New Jersey all weekend with no oppurtunity to leave. Otherwise I would be somewhat interested GShton 17:49, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, Princeton is playing Penn at home. However, I will take it upon myself to organize a meetup in New York City soon. &mdash;ExplorerCDT 18:01, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, Sunday is my birthday. I am spending that day with my family, so my friends are giving me a party on Saturday.  Sorry, scheduling conflict.   Reguards; Jason Palpatine 20:42, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I won't be able to make it. Can we meetup in the future closer to Center City? NoseNuggets 6:35 PM US EST
 * Headed the other way Saturday, oh well. --J Clear 23:46, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Things just arn't coming together very well for this weekend. Sigh. --Improv 03:06, 2 November 2006 (UTC)
 * And I've moved to Connecticut, oops. — JVinocur (talk • contribs) 06:21, 2 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Sorry, my invite came a bit soon for me to attend. Warberd 17:00, 2 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Can't make it -- also out of town -- but pretty neat to see the number of PhillyPholks Professor water 00:16, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Eagleapex I'll check with Val, but I think I'll be there. (sings Weird Al's White and Nerdy) Yeah so, I due to a sudden knowledge of my lack of money, I can't come. Blame PECO. Sorry. Eagleapex 16:36, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Post meetup summary

 * Tonight's wikimeetup was definitely a success. ImmortalGoddezz will be uploading a picture shortly.  Total attendance was 13, a very good turnout I'd say.  Ideas for future meetups are welcome, there will definitely be more! --TexasDex 01:35, 5 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Pictures:
 * [[Image:Wikipediapameetup2006.jpg|70px]]Pic 1 is probably the worst, the picture came out too dark (the camera I'm hoping to replace in december) I've corrected the color, cropped, and taken out some redeye.
 * [[Image:Wikipediapa2meetup2006.jpg|70px]]Pic 2 is better, full size no cropping, took out some redeye and corrected the color somewhat.

These were two of the best on my camera, I do have more on my phone and if any of those turn out acceptably I'll post them tomorrow. Anyway it was definitely an enjoyable evening and it was nice to meet you all. --ImmortalGoddezz 03:42, 5 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Attendees included a writer from Philadelphia City Paper covering the event. ike9898 04:07, 5 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Nice to meet you all! See you all at Meetup/Philadelphia 3 --evrik (talk) 03:18, 5 November 2006 (UTC)
 * I like the one by the fireplace! --evrik (talk) 04:03, 5 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Gah, can't believe I missed it; got confused about the date. Next time... Kat Walsh (spill your mind?) 00:02, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Press
When's the last time you did a Web search and didn't wind up with a reference to Wikipedia? Sure, facts are slippery, as anyone who does research will tell you. But is information valid only when it comes from the academy? Being able to contribute and edit anonymously has its perils. Consider the politician whose minions touched up his bio. Worse yet are the petty hissing contests between geeks, deleting refs to one another in tech articles. But the beauty of the system is that the rascals get caught. And when Wikipedians sit around a table they laugh at the chumps. Yes, Wikipedians do, on occasion, leave their computers and meet face-to-face. Bruce Andersen, aka "Evrik," posted an invitation to a Wikipedia meetup on a community e-mail list calling "anyone who is interested." A baker's dozen of bright people turned up at West Philly's Abbraccio on Nov. 4, bubbling with enthusiasm and commitment to sharing their areas of expertise, absolutely free of charge. Aside from the two Drexel undergrads, "TexasDex" and "ImmortalGoddezz," who look after the cystic fibrosis articles, I felt like the only attendee not at least within shouting distance of a Ph.D. or J.D. For instance, "Ike9898" is a biochemical engineer who works for the feds, trying to find other ways to use cattle-rendering side products. "Alteripse" shares an astonishing amount of medical expertise on Wikipedia, where he volunteers as an administrator. Conversation about jerks versus the Wiki led Alteripse to comment that just that afternoon he had to repair his puberty article twice. The discussion led to the question of clearing users for contributing and editing. Longtime members were leaning toward considering ways of qualifying editors, while newer members were on the side of staunch egalitarianism, eschewing hurdles for contributors. "CComMack," who organized the meeting, is an out-of-state transplant like Evrik and Ike9898. CComMack founded the WikiProject Philadelphia page and all three have contributed articles on local history. He is also an actively contributing railfan, too, as is "Danntm." Danntm is in Temple Law School and volunteers on deliberative committees like "articles for deletion" and "requests for adminship." What does he write for fun? He is the keeper of Wikipedia's SEPTA flame. Why SEPTA? A wicked grin, then, "Because I'm a geek!"

Among the late arrivals was "Raul654," a Ph.D. candidate at UDel and, like many others present, holder of several volunteer offices within Wikipedia. As press liaison, he attends numerous conventions and local meetups where he dishes the dirt. Get him talking about suspected sockpuppeteers (multiple accounts for a single, usually warped, user). He also rattles off an alphabet soup of high federal offices from whose IP addresses Wikipedia edits have originated. While editors remain anonymous, the IP addies are recorded. People like Danntm, Raul654 and Alteripse are among those who decide where fun stops and an IP gets blocked.

The Wikepedians who met at Abbraccio love doing pro bono work. Evrik is a major cheerleader for Wikipedia, and here is why: "People have been writing history since they painted images on walls — Wikipedia is an opportunity for people to write their history as they see it. Anyone can help, and the more people that contribute the better."

(m_armstrong@citypaper.net)

The next Philadelphia Wikipedia meetup has been proposed for February. Visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Philadelphia_3.