On Thursday, May 15, 2014, sankarshan <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Fri, May 9, 2014 at 11:18 PM, Harsh Kothari
> <[email protected] <javascript:;>> wrote:
> > As everyone know that currently Wikimedia Hackathon 2014 is going on at
> > Zurich. Tomorrow at 9:30 AM (Zurich) and (1:00 PM IST) we are going to
> > discuss about Wikimedia Hackathons / Devcamps in India / Asia. So
> everyone
> > is welcome to join this discussion.
> >
> > Here is the link of Hangout :
> >
> https://plus.google.com/b/103470172168784626509/events/cpur8pufnpqcdecitg7bj55fuk8
>
> Did anyone make a set of notes from the session? It helps to go
> through those along with watching the video.
>

Sorry, we didn't take notes. I'm not aware of further discussion or action
taken, though.

The bottom line is clear: the Wikimedia technical community misses annual
hackathons in Asia, and specifically in India. The (European) Wikimedia
Hackathon is a successful model that could be followed:

* Unconference model focused on hands-on work, training, and technical
discussions.

* Run in a different location every year, with different local organizers
supported by the Wikimedia Foundation's Engineering Community team and
other volunteers in volved in previous years' events.

* Lightweight organization focused on simplicity and effectiveness, with
almost no overhead.

* Budget for the organization approved in advance (currently via FDC, we
are discussing the possibility of a direct grant from the WMF) + support
from the WMF and different chapters for travel sponsorship.

* The amount of participants is secondary. A critical mass is needed (say
30-40 people?) but becoming a bug event is not a goal. The focus is
productive collaboration and consolidation of the local technical community.

We discussed that October-November could be a good time for this event.
Pleasant weather in India and other popular Asian destinations, and good
separation from EU Hackathon, Wikimania, and Architecture Summit in USA.

I'm hoping to send a formal call for EU Hackathon venues later this week. I
was thinking of reusing the call for Asia and other territories interested
in organizing hackathons in the next 12 months.


-- 
Quim Gil
Engineering Community Manager @ Wikimedia Foundation
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Qgil
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