Talk:Wikimania 2013 bids/Surakarta

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Visa requirement[edit]

Your map has a mistake. It's show what the requirement to enter in other countries if you are a Indonesian citizen and not which foreign person needs a visa to enter Indonesia. Brazilians for example have visa upon arrival for 25 dollars according with this article of Wikipedia but in your map only diplomats have permission to have a visa. Please correct. Béria Lima msg 12:51, 13 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Corrected. Thanks Beria (and Amir E. Aharoni)! ✒ Bennylin 10:27, 24 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Great, Thanks Bennylin. And don't forget to list your bid in the official list until 28 Jan or we can't consider it (and that would be a shame). Béria Lima msg 15:02, 24 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

IRC Public Meeting[edit]

Dear bidders,

As outlined in the timeline on this page, there will be a public IRC meeting on 14:00 UTC coming Saturday on #Wikimania on Freenode IRC. I look forward to meeting you then. Effeietsanders (talk) 15:47, 4 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. Dear teammates, it means 21.00 Western Indonesian Time. Please schedule accordingly. ✒ Bennylin 08:19, 6 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Questions for the Organizing Committee[edit]

Venue[edit]

  1. Is the venue air conditioned?
    Yes. The venue is fully air conditioned, main hall and small rooms, since it is a must in these tropical regions. The Mangkunegaran Palace's Hall, on the other hand, sits on an open space, but we'll use that venue at night. ✒ Bennylin 14:41, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  2. How many simultaneous tracks are possible? Can the main hall be used along with the breakout rooms?
    Six. Four more are available if needed, because we can use the pre-function lobby on both floor. So it's up to 10 simultaneous tracks. (the lobby will be closed with partitions, projector screens are available on both sides of the wing) ✒ Bennylin 14:41, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  3. How many people are exactly in each breakout rooms (the bid said 20 – 80)? Are these the VIP rooms? Or other rooms?
    These are the VIP rooms (the term "VIP rooms" are only referring to the furnitures, which can be changed to accommodate more people). Theatre size, there are 4 smaller rooms with 52 occupancy, and 2 with 124 capacity (The sizes are as big as Tavor or Gilboa at 2011). ✒ Bennylin 14:41, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Local vicinity[edit]

  1. What is the distance from the venue to the main hotels?
    Varied. From walking distance (you just need to cross the road to get to the hotel) to taking a 5 minutes bus ride. The best hotel (in terms of stars) is quite far away, 15 minutes taxi ride from the venue, but the second furthest is only 10 minutes bus ride ✒ Bennylin 14:50, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  2. What is the distance to the shopping area? Restaurants area?
    Shopping area - 5 minutes walk. Restaurant area, varied between walking distance (next to the venue), near the shopping mall, or up to 5 minutes ride (mostly on the same avenue). Further information, please see this map ✒ Bennylin 14:50, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Did you contact the hotels and checked availability?
    Yes we did. They couldn't promise anything since the event is still more than a year in the future. We wrote down the number of rooms for each hotel and will post them shortly. ✒ Bennylin 14:50, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Why do you " expect the final price to be 50% of Published Price)" (regarding the hotels)?
    The concierge told us so. For example Rp. 500.000 quoted price, they'd offer Rp 295.000 for large group. Then we also expect help from the local government and the tourism association, so the price could be lower than 60%. I'd say 50% off the price they post on the brochures. ✒ Bennylin 14:50, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  5. What is the price of the "diamond hotel"? why does it say "0"?
    It is under the same management as the venue (the venue is formally called Diamond Solo Convention Center, an extension of the restaurant business). When we contact the venue, they said it is customary that the people who rent the Convention Center to be given free room(s). On that note, we should ask them again how many rooms and for how many nights. ✒ Bennylin 14:50, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Security[edit]

  1. In the past decade there have been many terror attacks against western tourists. What security measures will be taken to ensure the safety of attendees?
    The organizing team as well as the government representatives that we talked to are well aware of this issue. Past terror attacks has never targeted foreigners. The last time any foreigners were harrased was at the height of 9/11 attack, by the hardline groups which have since been under very strict surveillance by the Surakarta authority. Both the organizing team and the government of Surakarta will give the best of our ability to ensure the safety of all attendees. In the past years the city has successfully held many international conference and has gained reputation as one of the best and safest place to do MICE. ✒ Bennylin 14:57, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Will attendees from countries without diplomatic relations with Indonesia (for example, Israel), be able to attend? How will visas be obtained? Are there assurances that visas will be possible?
    After I researched more today, a page from Wikitravel says that they would need a sponsor from Indonesia, and special permit will be issued. The same I guess with my experience attending Wikimania last year. First, one of our team member will act as a sponsor, then the sponsor must go in person to the Immigration Head Office in South Jakarta and must produce a photocopy of applicant's passport, a supporting letter and the applicant's photograph. When it is approved, the Immigration Head Office will send a copy of approval letter to the applicant. ✒ Bennylin 14:57, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  3. The bid says " Strong support from the government" – was the government approached? Can they issue a letter of support?
    Yes. They have given their support letter as of April 5th yesterday. We expect full cooperation from them, and they promised it themselves. This has been one of the series of international conferences that the city encourages and fully endorsed to be held in Solo. ✒ Bennylin 14:57, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Conference organization[edit]

  1. Will there be a chapter's conference?
    We're expecting more than a chapter conference (many contributors are not member yet), but a nation-wide conference of contributors from 7+ language projects of Indonesia and several more from neighboring countries like Malaysia, Philipines, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore. We're also thinking about 10 years Wikipedia Indonesia anniversary party. ✒ Bennylin 15:30, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  2. How many meals will be provided as part of the conference? There are two dinners planed in the schedule, but did not see them in the budget.
    The welcoming dinner is included in the budget under "meeting space", because they're the one who are going to provide them. Closing dinner is not budgeted yet, and have to fall down under "Contingency" at current budget. We will update the budget after today's Q&A ✒ Bennylin 15:30, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Are you planning any cocktails? Receptions? Parties? – there is one event in the schedule, is there a closing party?
    Cocktail party + press conference at the mayor's residence (on the house), Early bird party at River Hill Tawangmangu (todo: need to be alocated under budget), Welcoming party/welcoming dinner on the first day of conference, when all attendees have arrived. Closing party/closing dinner will be hosted by His Majesty Kanjeng Gusti Pangeran Adipati Arya Mangkunegara IX of the Mangkunegaran Court on the Mangkunegaran Palace. ✒ Bennylin 15:30, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Will you cater for various dietary needs (lactose intolerants, sugar free etc.)? Will you arrange vegetation food? Can you arrange Kosher food? Halal food?
    We will try to accomodate lactose intolerants by providing large printed information of ingredients. Sugar will be separated from tea and coffee, but probably not from the food. We will provide a lot of vegan food, rest assured (as you can see in Wikimania_2013_bids/Surakarta/Catering#Catering breakdown. And all dishes will be Halal food, we expect kosher food would be almost the same. As far as I read in w:Comparison of Islamic and Jewish dietary laws the most visible difference is in seafood. We'll try to put notice if some dishes have prawns and other non-kosher seafood as ingredients. In fact, we'll try to provide ingredient information in all of the dishes. ✒ Bennylin 15:30, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Who are the 5 VIP's?
    Our estimate: Jimmy Wales, Sue Gardner, 1 extra from WMF, and up to 2 keynote speakers. ✒ Bennylin 15:30, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    WM stuff and Jimmy are not VIP's not paid for out of the budget. Keynotes are.Deror avi (talk) 12:06, 10 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks for the info, we'll change it to keynote speakers only then (5 non-WMF keynote speakers, from Indonesia as well as other countries). ✒ Bennylin 17:30, 15 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  6. How many Keynotes planed?
    The mandatory State of the Wiki (Closing) and Opening Plenary, Wikipedia and Endagered Languages in South East Asia for regional attendees, and two other keynote in Indonesian language. 5 Keynotes; some, like the Indonesian keynotes, could go in paralel with other sessions, like in 2011 with the Hebrew ones. ✒ Bennylin 15:30, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  7. Any ideas who they will be?
    If Jimbo hasn't sick of giving State of the Wiki again next year, than we'll offer the honour to him (don't forget the annual Jimbo Award!). A WMF staff (like Sue) fits the role of opening the plenary session. Other speakers are being compiled, and as with the experience of finding one for 2012, it will be months before the final list can be assembled. Right now we'll keep a shortlist of any names that are suggested to us. Speakers from the first Wikimanias will also be considered. ✒ Bennylin 15:30, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  8. Is there budget for recording the tracks?
    Right now it is under "Technical", sub-section "Documentation". It includes professional photograph and video recording as well. ✒ Bennylin 15:30, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  9. Is there time planed for WF Board Q&A on day 1?
    You mean WMF Board Q&A? The schedule is still tentative, and a yes/no answer would not necessarily guarantee anything will be/won't be on the final schedule, but we'll see the development on this year's Wikimania, whether next year we'll still need this session or not. We're thinking of coming up with something fresh for the WMF Board to do on Wikimania Surakarta 2013. ✒ Bennylin 15:30, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  10. Will you be using a production company? An event manager?
    It is possible, but only if it is really really necessary. Our team member has expressed willingness to be the event manager. Our city officials has expressed their willingness to helped out too. And don't forget about our great and dedicated team of volunteers. ✒ Bennylin 15:30, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Comments[edit]

Chapter opinion[edit]

Dear bidding team,

In Indonedia, there is an active chapter. Your bid does not state the support of Wikimedia Indonesia. Could you please clarify if you sought their support, and if so, why it was not given and/or mentioned? Effeietsanders (talk) 13:24, 5 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The chapter is small, centered in Jakarta, which is far from Surakarta, currently has other projects in 2013 and doesn't have the necessary manpower to help. But they wished us luck. If we are selected as the host of 2013, we would then talk to the chapter again to seek their support. Currently some of the chapter members has expressed their support to this event. ✒ Bennylin 08:18, 6 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Some comments[edit]

  1. Thank you for you excellent bid, but may you summarize the experience of the bidding team in the organization of events inside and outside Wikimedia movement?
  2. Do you think that you can provide a team of 50-70 composed only by volunteers to manage an event of 1000 participants? If you don't think that the volunteers team can be sufficient, do you plan to hire a company expert of event organization? Is this item in the budget?
  3. Is your budget designed for 1000 persons? It seems strange but if I divide 23.000$ per 1000 persons, I see that there is 23$ covering all meals. Do you think that this is sufficient? Do you include also drinks?
  4. I have seen that you have studied a system of sponsorship by level (Diamond, Platinum, etc.). Do you think that it can be applicable to Indonesia? Do you think that there is the opportunity to find the "big sponsor"?
  5. Are the costs of the scholarships, included in the budget, covered by the Wikimania team or they includes also the support of the chapters?
  6. It seems that the airport of Surakarta is small and there are not so many flights per day (~10 flights per day). Do you think that there can be some problems of overbooking to manage so many passengers per day for all flights (please consider that the costs of the ticket may change a lot in case of load factor)? Bristol seems to be able to organize charters, do you have looked at this opportunity for yout town?
  7. In case of problems connected with the volcanic activity and of the closure of the airport. How difficult is the management of the travel arrangements?

--Ilario (talk) 22:06, 8 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Response:

  1. We're very excited about this bid too! My experience: leading an event (August 2009) which consist of 200-300 participants. Our team planned the budget, schedule, catering, and it was a success. Another experience: twice (2010 and 2011) with my coworkers in my office becoming team member of a comittee that planning for events for students in the whole greater Surakarta region. There were speakers from Jakarta, and there were 5 simultaneous tracks for 3 days, visiting a total of more than 50 schools and almost a thousand students. I learned a lot from the planning process, contacting stakeholders, preparing the accommodation and transportation, and consumption. I'll let the other team members speak for themselves, but I know some of them have many experiences under their belt. ✒ Bennylin 17:59, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    <additional comments>
  2. We're budgeting for 700 people, and aiming for 20-30 volunteer runned team (we've been in contact with the State University of Surakarta's faculty and they've expressed their willingness to encourage their students to volunteer) locally, and several volunteer from other part of Indonesia will act as online support during the registration and on the event. We prefer small number of dedicated volunters (which can do an amazing job) rather than a band of half-hearted ones. If there is sign that the attendees will go past 800 or even 1000 (i.e. a lot of local attendees), then we already prepared to contact more universities (there are two more large state universities, as well as dozens of private universities (full list on id.wiki). We realize that Wikimania is unlike any other event, and the key difference is that it is as much as possible volunteer driven. Of course each volunteer will get token of appreciations and it has been included in the budget. ✒ Bennylin 17:59, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    <additional comments>
  3. No, currently, based on past Wikimania, the attendees are rarely go past 700, so realistically that's the number we had in our budget. $222.70 is the calculated expense per attendee, and it includes registrationi, lodging, and meals for 3 days (minus dinner). The meals contributes about $33 of it. Yes, it's unbelievably cheap. ✒ Bennylin 17:59, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    <additional comments>
  4. We don't have "diamond" level on our budget. Comparing our highest level of sponsorship, which is "platinum" ($50,000), to previous Wikimanias and current bidders, we find it to be the lowest of all. While that alone doesn't guarantee anything, but we believe we can find sponsors who are willing to become part of this major annual conference, now that Wikimania has gained a lot of coverage around the world. ✒ Bennylin 17:59, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    <additional comments>
  5. The cost of scholarship have not include any potential chapter who are willing to sponsor some of their members. ✒ Bennylin 17:59, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    <additional comments>
  6. As it is an international airport, the load capacity is pretty large. [1] 10 flights that land at Solo each day are all from major ports: Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur. Again, based on previous Wikimania experience, some people also do not mind if they have to transfer on the capital hub first. We also have included the information of an alternate route, Singapore/Kuala Lumpur --> Yogyakarta --> (by 1hr train) Surakarta. It is convenient and you will be treated with lush view of green paddy fields all the way from Yogyakarta to Surakarta. ✒ Bennylin 17:59, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    Some technical stat about the airport(id) [2] (2010) Adisumarmo International Airport is class IIA (Regional International Airport) with passenger capacity as follows International passenger capacity: 86.400 persons per year (236 per day, i.e. from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur), and Domestic tourist capacity: 119.520 persons per year (327 per day, i.e. from Jakarta), while nearby Adisucipto International Airport (Yogyakarta) is class IB (Main International Airport) which has the capacity of 100 thousand international passenger per year and 800 thousand local passenger per year. Even so, most people prefer to arrive at Adisumarmo Airport because it has been selected as one of the best medium airport in Indonesia (i.e. you can apply Visa on Arrival on an air-conditioned room with better queue and baggage claim than the nearby airport). Also, as of April 5th there are news that KLM will have a direct flight from Europe to Solo, and Pacific Royale from Bali to Solo.✒ Bennylin 18:17, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    Surakarta's airport (SOC) is currently one of the ten major airport in Indonesia (Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya, Medan, Yogyakarta, Surakarta). ✒ Bennylin 17:12, 15 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  7. According to the officials that we asked, there's no risk for volcanoes, as they are pretty far, and based on my previous experience (2010 when Merapi erupted), it doesn't have any effect on the Surakarta's airport (but Yogyakarta's airport was closed). Additionally, Merapi just erupted two years ago, and the chance it will erupt again in 2013 is pretty slim. ✒ Bennylin 17:12, 15 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    <additional comments>

Timeline[edit]

Dear bidding team, could you please indicate in a rough timeline what main actions you would perform when between the acceptance of the bid and the evaluation? I'm not looking for extreme details, but mainly for when you will be booking, when you think you will have the final budget ready, etc. Effeietsanders (talk) 22:30, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

As soon as we're confirmed as the host of 2013 (i.e. May-June), we'd go to talk in depth with the stakeholders: 1) mayor's office, 2) venue - Solo Convention Center, 3) catering - we've only quote one so far, we'll compare it with one or two more caterings, 4) the sponsor, ones that we have in our list as well as possible new ones, and 5) State University of Surakarta for volunteers.
Then in July, we'll go to Wikimania 2012, go back home, share/discuss the experience, more meetings with stakeholders
August-November: draw up some contracts to sponsors, possibly confirm the venue, contacting news agencies, and making a list of possible keynote speakers, more meetings with stakeholders
December-January 2013: we're hoping the website is up and all information is available, and open the registration. Handling incoming queries (visa, etc.), more meetings with stakeholders.
February-March 2013: training for volunteers, handling registrations, more meetings with stakeholders
April-May 2013: finalizing
June 2013: crunch time
July 2013: Wikimania Surakarta 2013
(roughly, expect edited versions in the future) ✒ Bennylin 17:12, 15 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Partners / Support[edit]

Thank you for listing the support statements. Could you please identify clearly what the support will consist of exactly? Will they just give mental support, or also provide tangible support? Effeietsanders (talk) 22:48, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

For the city support, some tangible ones are: welcoming dinner (i.e. VIP lunch), most likely with the mayor and followed by press conference; security (it still need to be budgeted, but the office's support is still important, nevertheless); transport (busses to/from venue/hotels, etc); connection to tourism association which can give discounted hotel price.
From the CCID, we expect their help in networking, probably on finding good keynote speakers too. ✒ Bennylin 17:12, 15 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Language abilities[edit]

How is the English level of a) the organizing team, b) the Wikimedia volunteers that will be involved in the organization, c) the conference venue and accommodation staff and d) the citizens? Effeietsanders (talk) 22:48, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The levels is vary, but mostly understand English and could converse in English (expect some accent, though) among the volunteers that would be recruited from the English Literature Department of the State University of Surakarata (UNS). The organizing team in general have some mastery in English, as most of them are editors, and most editors do translate English to Indonesian.
Since couple years ago, the city is geared toward MICE city, and it has raised the public usage of English, especially among the hotel staffs. The conference venue staff is no different. Although we haven't interview them in English (yet), but we expect they have some degrees of English conversation skill. For backup, we'll make sure one or more volunteers who're able to converse in English assigned to help the conference venue staff. As for the general populace, we'd say that English is not their first nor their second language ;), therefore, we'd provide a small pocket dictionary/custom dictionary for each attendees to converse in basic Indonesian. (for those who prefer it now, you can see b:Indonesian language on Wikibooks. ✒ Bennylin 17:12, 15 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

VIP's[edit]

Could you please explain in your own words a bit how your team sees the 'VIP' treatment? Do you plan to provide them with lunch in a seperate room or do you think it is better to let them mingle with the 'normal' attendees? Etc. Effeietsanders (talk) 22:50, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

VIP will be offered the closest accomodation (right next to the venue), Diamond Hotel, which is a nice one, actually. But if prefer, they could of course sleep in other hotels, such as Lor In, Novotel, or Best Western Premiere, all except Lor In are close enough to the venue (about 5-10 minutes bus/taxi ride). Other than the accomodation, they will be invited to the VIP lunch. Meals are not separated, as well as breathing air ;) ✒ Bennylin 17:12, 15 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Accommodation[edit]

Could you add to the accommodation section 1) the number of beds you could book per hotel (+ how many people per room if more than 1), and how big the walking distance is? Effeietsanders (talk) 22:52, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Do note that hotels do not give 100% of their rooms, and always keep some rooms aside. Each hotel need be checked how many rooms are given for one large group. Deror avi (talk) 12:09, 10 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The number of rooms are provided now. In total, the tourism board assured me that "there's enough room for 700-1000 attendees" in terms of 3-star hotels and up. He quoted 2000 rooms. Of course there are more rooms in boutique hotels (nice hotels but with limited, i.e. <50 rooms) and budget hotels (2 stars and lower, we handpicked some of them on the bid page).
For the distances, we also provided an estimate. In general, they're all close to the venue, except Lor In Hotel, which is quite far away. The minutes provided also depends on the mode of transport: taxi, bus, rickshaw (human powered tricycle), or walking. FOr the actual length, please see the estimate on this Google Map (if we haven't put them up in the bid page) ✒ Bennylin 17:12, 15 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

OT: BREAKING NEWS[edit]

All, I've been just reached by the news regarding a heavy earthquake in Indonesia, near Sumatra. Surakarta Team, please advise you are all ok and whether you need to move the IRS planned for this Sunday. The Naples' Team prayers are with you.--Ferdinando Scala (talk) 10:07, 11 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

We are OK. Saddened by the news. Our prayer for the victims. We're following the news closely. ✒ Bennylin 14:28, 11 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
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