GerardM, As much as I agree with you on many things related to Wikimania, your statement about en.wp and USA being “over subsidized” is off base.
For the last few years I’ve held my tongue as American applicants get a fraction of 10% of all the funding for Wikimania scholarships. That’s because 10% is allocated to all of North America, so US based folks compete with Canadians for that small slice of the pie. Indeed, key community members from the US could not afford to go to Wikimania, and did not, because of the limited funding. We also do not have a strong chapter system to make up for that shortcoming, where European chapters can, and do, underwrite their local members with other funds. I am not against the bulk of the scholarship money going to underrepresented developing markets and giving new voices a chance to attend. But I wanted to dispel the myth that Americans are always gorging at the trough. https://wikimania2013.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships#Scholarship_selection_process https://wikimania2014.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships#Selection_process -Andrew On Wed, Feb 10, 2016 at 6:49 AM, Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijs...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hoi, > Pine with all due respect, the USA is not the problem and English Wikipedia > has been overly subsidised, given way too much attention. Indeed having > more people from the USA attend Wikimania is not a good value proposition. > The USA and Britain is overrepresented as it is. > Thanks, > GerardM > > On 10 February 2016 at 10:13, Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > From a US perspective, even here in the global north we have plenty of > > students and middle-class participants for whom $1500 in travel, food and > > lodging plus 5 days away from work, family, or school amounts to a > > significant or impossible sacrifice. > > > > Perhaps someone could tell us the statistics for how many people have > > attended Wikimania each year who were not WMF employees, FDC or WMF Board > > members, scholarship recipients, or financially sponsored by WMF > affiliates > > or WEF. Of those people who pay 100% of their own costs plus the cost of > > admission tickets, my guess is that many live within a day's travel time > by > > train, car, or bus. > > > > I would hypothesize that thematic conferences also have a low percentage > of > > people who pay 100% of their own costs, but that regional conferences > which > > have lower travel costs for the average attendee receive modestly higher > > percentages of unsubsidized attendance. > > > > It seems to me that WMF finacial support for conferences, including > > regional and thematic conferences, will continue to be the norm. > > > > Whether $1 million is appropriate for Wikimania and whether a more modest > > budget would be appropriate and feasable are different questions that > merit > > careful reflection. > > > > Pine > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
