Talk:Wikimania 2005 social

Some random ideas from somebody living in frankfurt for a long time:

There is a huge empty space called "Frankensteiner Hof" about one minute walking distance from the youth hostel. it has many rooms including a large room which could hold about 130 people. this would be an ideal space for press conferences, informal meetings, parties, exhibitions, social events, workshops etc. the space is basically empty and is used by artists for exhibitions etc. it was used during the last manifesta art biennal as an exhibition space. i think we could easily get this space for the wikimania for an absolute minimal fee, and it would be much better suited to the intent of the conference than the youth hostel itself. there is the nonprofit organization http://www.raumpool.de (kind of a swap market for vacant spaces), which manages this space. i will contact them and tell you about the results.

i am currently teaching at the academy of art and design in offenbach . i have already talked to some people there who liked the idea of supporting wikimania very much. so if you can think of anything an art and design school can provide, please tell me. i think there are plenty of contacts to various cultural organizations, artists, designers and the city officials. i am willing to participate in organizing social events, finding spaces, finding students for creating social events, make up ideas, designing things and help making frankfurt a wonderful place for all participants of wikimania. i think the first international wikipedia conference can be something really special.

one controversial idea as a start:

>> Swim – river, baths ...? (be sure: you don't want to swim in the Main ... )

actually its possible to do so. its just neither common nor allowed. nobody did this in the last 25 years in frankfurt. but the more i think about it, it would be the exact right thing to do exactly during wikimania.

the metaphorical implications of a river through the city and a free encyclopedia are manifold, to say the least. it would be an wonderful image for press and tv, and a very good link between the participants and the city. its about jumping into cold water; its about commons; its about something really strange which is quite natural at the same time. so very wiki. so why not.

wikimania would be an excellent occasion to ask the city of frankfurt to allow bathing in the main. wikimania should do a huge party at the river (which is another 2 minutes from the youth hostel). just next to the youth hostel is an old place where people used to bath. there is also a large space below a bridge, which can be used for catering, dancing, djing etc. or as a last resort if its raining. i am sure there are many people in frankfurt willing to contribute to this event. wikimania will be in august, which is the best possible time for something like this. doing something at the river would guarantee a spectacular event in the city and spread the wiki idea to the people in the city. another plus: this side of the river has the most spectacular view on the city - so you will have the world of proprietary commercial things and big money looking at you.

anyway - if bathing turns out to be too controversial, canooing etc. is perfectly possible.

p.s. for a gist of some of the power of students of hfg offenbach see for example http://www.schmalclub.de which was a series of events in cooperation with the ballett frankfurt at the bockenheimer depot.

--Osc 18:43, 25 Nov 2004 (UTC)