Talk:Users with Extended Rights Conference 2026

Users ... Conference without UGs as organizers

Users ... Conference without User Groups as organizers, sounds a bit wrong IMHO. Zblace (talk) 13:24, 17 August 2026 (UTC)

Users with extended rights are people whose extended rights deal directly with on-wiki activities, and has no relationship at all to user groups. The Steward user group is not really an exception here, because all of the stewards have received information about this conference independent of their user group. There are no extended rights specific to user groups. What exactly is your concern? Risker (talk) 14:11, 17 August 2026 (UTC)

@Risker you have made your perspective clear...receiving end is where the base (bottom up) be. Zblace (talk) 03:22, 18 August 2026 (UTC)

Application form

The application form should also be available in languages other than English. --Aristorkle^talk! 13:42, 17 August 2026 (UTC)

@Aristorkle, hi! UwERcon will be hosted in English; we recognize this impacts inclusivity, but providing multilingual support is not a problem we are able to solve at the moment. Where some conferences are primarily presentations that can be interpreted, we expect the vast majority of UwERcon sessions to be small group discussions and workshops, which are much more difficult to provide this support for. However, we expect to have ample time for language-specific meetups. Best, RAdimer-WMF (talk) 20:52, 1 September 2026 (UTC)

@RAdimer-WMF That should be clear on the page or the application form, if not already. --Aristorkle^talk! 15:43, 2 September 2026 (UTC)

Will it be inclusive?

Many thanks for organising this conference! Having multilingual conversations with admins across multiple projects is so important, and having a dedicated conference for them will be amazing.

However, over the years I've talked to a lot of Wikimedians with extended rights, and while some love to travel, others won't or can't travel. Will this meeting be hybrid to be inclusive for them as well?

There also a number of Wikimedians with extended rights who won't even join a video call, since their work is entirely on-wiki. Are the organisers considering ways of including them as well? (E.g., sharing recordings on Commons/notes on Meta; holding online discussions before/during/after the meeting about relevant topics; etc.). Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 18:08, 18 August 2026 (UTC)

@Mike Peel, hi! I'll aim to reply next week with a more complete answer, but I would note that for the Wikimania UwERs preconference (both this and last year) we did not record sessions in the interest of attendee privacy (and also practicality: most sessions are small group discussions rather than lectures) RAdimer-WMF (talk) 22:20, 24 August 2026 (UTC)

But they can be shared privately or transmission-only. You can also create notes. This would make sharing knowledge easier for broader group. --Wargo (talk) 06:47, 25 August 2026 (UTC)

@Mike Peel, ok, following up! As with the UwERs preconference at Wikimanias, UwERcon will not have a hybrid option. People running sessions are of course free to post their materials on Wikimedia Commons/Meta if they want to, but we won't be recording sessions or providing hybrid virtual options. However, we are certainly open to (and are working on) an optional pre and/or post conference online meetup. RAdimer-WMF (talk) 20:56, 1 September 2026 (UTC)

Will it be possible to have speakers join one digitally? Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 20:09, 4 September 2026 (UTC)

@Doc James: Unfortunately not; this will be a fully in-person conference. RAdimer-WMF (talk) 15:05, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

@RAdimer-WMF: Thanks, maybe we can talk there (or if possible before) about how things could be opened up a bit more in future? I completely get that some things need private discussions, but that doesn't apply to everything, and there are ways that even things like small group meetings can be made hybrid (e.g., laptops on discussion tables, or separate online discussion tables). Pre/post conference online meetups would be good, but there are more options here - and in case it's useful, my Wikimania presentation about hybrid meetings is available at commons:Category:Equitable hybrid approaches for all Wikimedia events. Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 19:20, 21 September 2026 (UTC)

Dehumanization

The third question is dehumanization and discrimination. Especially if it is mandatory. Wargo (talk) 13:56, 19 August 2026 (UTC)

@Wargo, hi! The third question is Are you 18 years or older?. Is this the question you are referring to, or another one? RAdimer-WMF (talk) 21:43, 24 August 2026 (UTC)

Yes. --Wargo (talk) 06:47, 25 August 2026 (UTC)

This is likely due to legal liability. If there's a flight delay that requires overnight stay at a hotel, minors do not have access to credit cards to secure a hotel room even if it's arranged by the airline. This poses a safety risk. To my knowledge, there were at least two flight disruptions to attendees returning from Wikimedia-funded conferences in 2024 alone, one after Wikimania Katowice[1] and one after WikiConference North America in Indianapolis, that required extra hotel stay (fortunately minors were not impacted in either disruption). You also have to consider issues around crossing borders and chaperones during the conference. OhanaUnited^{Talk page} 18:23, 25 August 2026 (UTC)

Application results

I hear some have received details on acceptance. Not sure if all have been sent out? Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 01:24, 27 September 2026 (UTC)

I suspect that, like many other conferences, acceptances are first sent out to people who need to apply for visas in order to attend, because they will need certain paperwork (usually including a formal invitation to the event) in order to apply for the visa. Those with complex travel needs are usually next, followed by those who don't need visas and have straightforward travel needs. I base this on the usual practices for most of the WMF-sponsored conferences I have attended since the pandemic. There may be additional factors in play for this conference. Note, I have no role in any aspect of this conference except as a potential attendee. Risker (talk) 03:43, 9 October 2026 (UTC)