Wikimania

Past years 2005 (Frankfurt, Germany) 2006 (Boston, USA) 2007 (Taipei, Taiwan) 2008 (Alexandria, Egypt) 2009 (Buenos Aires, Argentina) 2010 (Gdansk, Poland) 2011 (Haifa, Israel) Next event 2012 (Washington, DC, USA) Future events 2013 (TBD) Organization Handbook checklist Community group

Wikimania is an annual conference centered on the Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia and similar projects). It features presentations on Wikimedia projects, other wikis, open source software, free knowledge and free content, and the social and technical aspects which relate to these topics. The most recent Wikimania was in Haifa, Israel in August 2011; the next Wikimania will be in Washington, D.C., USA in July 2012.

Wikimania attracts Wikimedia project participants from around the world, including writers, editors, and photographers; Wikimedia Foundation staff; and members of the 30+ country-based Wikimedia chapters. Many independent researchers also attend and present. Attendance has ranged from 300 to 720 people, with representation from more than 50 countries. The conference is typically held on a different continent each year, and has taken place in seven countries on five continents to date.

Wikimania is organized by local volunteer teams, with support from international volunteers, and the Wikimedia Foundation and other sponsors. Conference location is determined by an international jury of community members, who review location bids submitted by teams from different locations. Guidelines for interested communities who wish to host Wikimania, and information about past bids, can be found below.

The conference program consists of presentations and workshops from community members, speakers from related projects, and wiki researchers, as well as social activities and informal discussions. Some formal research is presented, in addition to "best practice" knowledge sharing and presentations of ongoing work. Wikimania also features formal reports from Wikimedia Foundation board members and staff, renowned keynote speakers, and opportunities to interact with dedicated Wikimedia contributors from all around the world.

See also Wikipedia coverage of Wikimania (in German, English, French, Indonesian, Polish, Portuguese, Slovenian, Chinese, Italian, Dutch and Spanish).

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  Wikimedia board members address Wikimania 2010 participants in Gdańsk

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  Registration table in Alexandria, 2008

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  Boston, 2006

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  Planning meeting Alexandria, 2008

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  Wikimedia Conference, Berlin, 2011

Upcoming Wikimania

The next Wikimania will be held in Washington, D.C., United States, from July 10 to 15, 2012.

• wikimania2012.wikimedia.org, the official wiki-based site for the conference
• Organizational page for Wikimania 2012
• (completed) Bid history for Wikimania 2012

Past Wikimanias

year (linked to org hist page)	location	feedback and suggestions (general discussion at Talk:Wikimania)	conference wiki
2005	Frankfurt, Germany	Improving on Wikimania 2005	wikimania2005.wikimedia.org
2006	Boston, USA	wm2006:Post conference comments, Talk:Wikimania 2006	wikimania2006.wikimedia.org
2007	Taipei, Taiwan	wm2007:Comments	wikimania2007.wikimedia.org
2008	Alexandria, Egypt	wm2008:Comments, Wikimania 2008/Wishlist	wikimania2008.wikimedia.org
2009	Buenos Aires, Argentina	wm2009:Postmortem/Conclusions	wikimania2009.wikimedia.org
2010	Gdańsk, Poland	Wikimania 2010 lessons (also wm2010:Scholarships/Survey)	wikimania2010.wikimedia.org
2011	Haifa, Israel	Wikimania 2011 lessons (also [1] (private wiki))	wikimania2011.wikimedia.org

Future Wikimanias

The first and most critical decision to be made for each upcoming Wikimania is where it will be held. Most generally, this decision is based on which group of local volunteers is best equipped to accomplish the complex collection of tasks that lead to a successful conference; there is also a strong effort to ensure that conference locations are distributed fairly evenly around the globe from year to year.

The first step in the process the selection of a jury, which will solicit and evaluate bids from local volunteer teams. Jury selection typically takes place in November, about 18 months before the conference is to take place, and bidding opens shortly thereafter. The jury's final decision is typically announced in April, which allows time for organizers to attend and observe that year's Wikimania as they begin ramping up efforts for the following year.

Bids for upcoming Wikimania conferences

• 2013: Wikimania 2013/Bids
• 2014: Wikimania 2014/Bids

Getting involved

• Join the Wikimania mailing list, or browse its archives.
• The Wikimania/community group is a wikiproject for supporting Wikimania. Please list yourself there if you have experience working on Wikimania or would like to help out.
• Visit the online chat room #wikimania on the freenode IRC network. (see IRC instructions for help)

Documentation

• Wikimania checklist – a general checklist of things that need to be done to run a conference (especially Wikimania). See also the bid criteria.
• Wikimania Handbook – the big book of Wikimania
• unofficial advice for running a wikimania, written up in 2007 by Phoebe: User:Phoebe/Wikimania
• wm2009:Postmortem/Conclusions

Suggestions and comments

See table above, #Past Wikimanias, for feedback from specific conferences; discuss general concerns on this article's talk page.