Talk:Wikimania 2013 bids/Hong Kong

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Venue[edit]

Is a very good proposal, but...

... You people still doesn't have a venue? Not even a sortlist of places? I understand that makes no point in place it here before a formal confirmation, but at least a list of 3 or 4 places you're thinking about would be good. Béria Lima msg 15:30, 13 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

thx for your question, actually we have a semi-formal confirmation from the venue, and we will put the info on the page ASAP. We will finish the bidding page very soon, as we are in a Chinese New Year holiday now. :) -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  17:51, 20 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Fees[edit]

Why are they such oddball amounts and not round sums such as US$35 for a regular registration, US$20 for early bird, and $45,000 for a diamond sponsor? Shouldn't we use the US$ throughout instead of converting back from HK$? --Ohconfucius 04:47, 31 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The budget is prepared in HK$ then converted to USD, so you can see such odd things-- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  17:03, 4 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Largest number of meetup?[edit]

With the "youngest Wikimedian community" and the largest number of Wikimedian meetups in the world

I found that Taiwan is the largest number of Wikimedian meetup...--HWChat - zhwp 13:33, 31 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The sequential numbering there isn't representative of everything. Irregular meetups and activities were mostly not advertised the same way as regular meetups, and are therefore not included in the tally there. Deryck C. 12:40, 20 April 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) 15:46, 4 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Chapter Support[edit]

Based on my understanding, this is the only bidding city with a solid and unified support from a Wikimedia Chapter. --Exec8 (talk) 20:23, 8 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Questions for the Organizing Committee[edit]

Venue[edit]

  1. How many simultaneous tracks are possible? Can the main hall be used along with the breakout rooms?
    • As we will book the classroom and Lecture theaters near the Auditorium for the multiple tracks. It depends on how many classrooms  we can booked besides the main hall. And the university is at summer holiday, and we are already closely in touch with the Uni Authorities. I think we have the room to adjust how many tracks eventually, currently our scoops a major track will using the auditorium. and one or two more using Lecture theaters (up to 150 ppl), and two using regular classrooms (up to 50 ppl). -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  15:06, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  2. How many people are exactly in each breakout rooms ?
    • PolyU also provides many seminar classrooms of 30–100 seats each suitable for smaller seminars and interactive group sessions of Wikimania, and for local Wikimania administration. Lecture theatres of various capacities are also available, mostly 80–160 seats, with a few being larger than 160 seats where we will hold smaller focussed public talk sessions during the conference. and we will book the rooms with most capacity and proximity of the main hall as possible -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  15:18, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  3. What are the distances from the breakout room and the main auditorium? can you provide a map?
    • As we stated before, we are not sure about where exactly the breakout rooms are, as they officially only allows booking before one semester ahead, however we will try to make this happen as early as possible.
    • However, what we can guarantee now, we would almost certain our breakout rooms will be within the main campus, which is only 9.34-hectare site, may sound tiny to you, so even the most far away building from the auditorium within the campus probably only less than 10 minutes walk.
    • We probably will later give you a map of whole key location of the conference proposal on google map later. If you really need to know more about the venue, you might go to this map provided by PolyU. The Auditorium is within the QRST area, and we will defiantly try to book rooms in Blocks QR, QT & ST, where distances between the entrances of these blocks & the auditorium, less than 30 meters (based on my experience and Google map), and may be we need to go on the lift and stairs to the exact breakout rooms. -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  17:37, 13 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • the map is ready on Google maps -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  11:57, 15 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Local vicinity[edit]

  1. Did you contact the hotels and checked availability?
    • We had already checked that the hotels and hostels nearby the venue (means to be a distance of not more than 20 minutes on foot), and their capacities are more then our needs. Also, the venue is well located on the rail-station, therefore all of you can choose some hotel which is bit farer than the venue. Besides that, some hotels can provide a 20%-off discount. -Βικέντιος×Vincent×瘟神×やくびょうがみ 14:50, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    As a follow-up on that: Could you please 1) provide a map with on that map indicated the location of the venue and of the most important accommodations in your bid? 2) provide an overview of how many rooms you would be able to book in each of the mentioned accommodations. Please pay extra attention to the accommodation you have in mind for the scholarship recipients and other people who cannot afford expensive accommodation. 3) Will there be university dormitories available for attendees? Effeietsanders (talk) 22:27, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    1) This map indicates the location of the venue and various accommodations surrounding the venue mentioned in the bid page. However, as most accommodations run on commercial basis, we are unable to provide a precise overview of how many rooms we can provide from those accommdation individually before we can secure the bid.
    2) For scholarship recipients and other people who cannot afford expensive accommodation, there are hostels in the local vinicity of the venue.
    3) We are in active discussion with the university to provide dormotories to the attendees.
    Also - if available, where are the university dormitories and how far from the venue? Deror avi (talk) 12:03, 10 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    From the about page of the university dormitories, you can see that the immediate university dormitories next to the venue can host up to 3,000 people. However, as some students would be staying over the summer, we would not be able to commit the precise figure for accommodation within the dormitories now.
    In case of unable to secure enough places in the university dormitories, we may also use the following
    • Mei Ho House, Shek Kip Mei — a youth hostel to be opened at late 2012, this is relatively close to Nam Cheong MTR Station that provides direct link to the venue. We have also planned to provide shuttle to this station for transferring to the venue through West Rail Line. As a new hostel, we believed we can secure a good deal for attendees there.
    • Tso Kung Tam Outdoor Recreation Centre, Tsuen Wan — situated in the countryside but readily accessible to the nearby new town Tsuen Wan, it can provide up to 200 accommodation spaces at a very reasonable price. We have planned to provide shuttle to Tsuen Wan West MTR Station for transferring to the venue through West Rail Line.
    • Y-Loft at Youth Square, Chai Wan — another convenient youth hostel on Hong Kong Island next to the terminal of the MTR Island Line, with a direct bus route to the venue. Also as this is a bit far from the venue, we have planned to provide direct shuttle coach to the venue departing early from the Y-Loft due to the rush hour traffic in the morning.
    We will endeavour to seek dormotories from other local universities in Kowloon.
    28481k (talk) 15:15, 10 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    As you see, these arrangement will rely on public transport. From the previous experience in CWMC 2006 we will ask volunteers stay on the so called "breaking points", where transfer of transportation is required, taking Wikipedia or/and Wikimania symbols, to guide attendees to next transport tool or venue itself. We might also consider this time providing volunteers to bring attendees from the hostel accommodation to the venue throughly.
    Similar measure may also applied to hotel & accommodation near the venue, where volunteer will bring attendees to the accommodation from the venue on day 1 of their arrival. We will also have volunteer stationed on the "breaking points" on the way to the venue from the airport, on the expected days of attendees' arrival, as well as in the airport arrival hall itself, as volunteers at Taipei & Haifa Wikimanias had done. -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  17:48, 10 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    FYI, City University & Baptist university also located on the Kowloon Peninsular, in the area Kowloon Tong, 2 stations away from the venue by MTR East Rail line, we will go through ask for possibility to get the rooms there if PolyU dorms cannot provide sufficient rooms, as well as Mei Ho House. The Tso Kung Tam Centre & Y-Loft will be later ones to seek on our agenda -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  17:41, 13 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    The team has contacted Hong Kong Youth Hostel Association about the current status of Mei Ho House. As Mei Ho House has just been transferred to the YHA for interior conversion into a hostel after renovation, they have said it should be ready by end of 2012 and open in 2013. Therefore it should be fully functional when the Wikimania 2013 opens in July. 28481k (talk) 12:46, 19 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Visas[edit]

  1. Is there government support for the conference?
    • Meetings and Exhibitions (MEHK) office of HK Tourism Board (HKTB), which is a government agency, render their full support and assist the bid, and they will assist to facilitate visa application for attendees (although Wikimedians from 170 countries can visit HK without a Visa). On the other hands we will seek as much gov't support as possible, and relevant persuasion continues. -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  15:14, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • News just in, Nationals of the Republic of Montenegro may also visit Hong Kong visa-free for a stay of up to 14 days. The arrangement will come into effect on April 20, 2012. [1] -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  07:01, 21 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Conference organization[edit]

  1. Why the VIP party is schedualed for lunchtime?
    • As local VIPs will attend the opening ceremony, so the lunch time afterwards is most convient for them to attend such events, also Friday is also more friendlier than weekends for most VIPs. -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  15:35, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Is ther time for Q&A with WF board on day 1?
    • It really depends on the VIP party, if VIPs and relevant parties suggested that we should have the VIP party another day, then it is possible have the Board session on Day 1. -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  15:35, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Will dinners be provided as part of the conference?
    • No, unless parties nights. However, Hong Kong is a place with full of gourmets, we would love to let you decide what to try yourself, if times is allowed we will provide more details guides than the ones on the bidding page now. -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  15:35, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Can you detail what is the party budget comprised of?
  5. Will you cater for various dietary needs (lactose intolerants, sugar free etc.)? Will you arrange vegetation food? Can you arrange Kosher food? Halal food?
    • Yes we will! Our local caters are all very well on dealing with dietary needs, as many locals had similar demands in large number. Vegetation is also no problem, as diet control are popular among "office ladies" in town. We have large number of Halai restaurant in the town, and also a Judaism centre (which provide Kosher food for jewish people in town only). We can order take away from these places. -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  15:35, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  6. Why the VIP reception cost more than the attendee party (the ratio of people attending is 1:5)?
  7. What is "technical" item in the budget?
    • That item includes the recording, the camera mens for photography, also may have some helper for resolving the technical problems such as WiFi connection etc. --Tsugiko (talk) 17:16, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  8. Is there budget for recording the tracks?
  9. What is "travel for VIP" comprised of? How many will there be? Who will they be?
    • We assume that there are around 6 - 8 VIPs to come, that includes the government staff, invited guests for opening etc. Of course that if there is only 6 VIPs, the cost will drop down! --Tsugiko (talk) 17:34, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  10. " Accommodations for VIPs" is a bit expensive – how many will there be?
  11. How many Keynotes planed?
  12. Any ideas who they will be?
  13. Will you be using a production company? An event manager?
    • DotAsia will work similar role as co-host if we are chosen. The company had many experienced on organizing international conference in town and even pop music concerts. They will provide full time staff in facilitating our conference. -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  17:00, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  14. Regarding the beach party it is said " our party is held on the beach so anyone who wanted to cool down oneself can have a dip into the sea" – is bathing possible at night? Are there lifeguards?
    • The beach is private one belongs to the barbeque field, so we may need to apply measures like the one in Haifa, only allows getting into the waters with day light, and we will also hire lifeguards for such occasion. -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  15:35, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Timeline[edit]

  1. 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]
  2. Also, when do you expect an official website to be up? When registration will commence? When Accomodations may be booked?


Here is the bidding timeline.

  • Sept 2011
    • Exploration of possible venue, initial supporters
  • Jan 2012
    • Letter of support from secretary for commerce
    • Initial sponsorship request sent
  • Feb 2012
    • General understanding on the venue with M-lab (PolyU), submitted advance booking
    • General understanding with DotAsia on commitments
    • Meeting with MEHK
    • Quote and data research for budget
    • Made a General understanding with Google public policy department
  • Mar 2012
    • Confirming MEHK’s item of support
    • Letter of support from Cathay Pacific Airways (via MEHK)
    • Further research on accommodation & catering (eg. Kosher & Halal)
  • Apr 2012
    • Continuation of previous work
    • Preparation for media requests
  • May 2012 (if the results announced is successful to our bid)
    • Securing the Mainhall
    • Start engaging in hotels & dormitories, hostels, party venues
    • Sending further sponsorship request
    • Start engaging for media supports
    • Meeting with current supports for better arrangement of work
    • Engaging universities for volunteers
    • Launching Official Website (ie. conference wiki)
  • June 2012
    • Starts souvenir designs (Bags, t-shirt, stickers and merchandize for Chinese New Year fair)
  • July 2012
    • Deadline for confirming venue
    • Deadline for Blocking Hotel
  • Aug 2012
    • Preparation for volunteer recruitment in Universities
    • Start to prepare for registration relevant system (paypal, etc)
    • Deadline for keynote speaker target search
  • Sept 2012
    • Deadline for Engaging universities for volunteers
    • Start negotiating for Parallel session rooms
  • Oct 2012
    • Deadline for souvenir design
    • Start for Volunteer recruitment (1st round, in Universities)
    • Deadline for securing main dormitory, seeking other if needs
  • Nov 2012
    • Bidding for Chinese New Year Fair Stall
    • Deadline for Volunteer recruitment (1st round, in Universities)
  • Dec 2012
    • Announcement Volunteer recruitment, initial orientation
    • Deadline for securing Parallel session rooms
    • Deadline for securing additional dormitories
  • Jan 2013
    • Preparation for the Chinese New Year Fair
    • Sending invitation for VIP & Keynote speakers
  • Feb 2013
    • Chinese New Year Fair as Volunteer training and publicity
    • Start CFP & Scholarship
  • Mar 2013
    • Start Early Registration
    • Deadline for Scholarship submission
  • Apr 2013
    • Finalizing catering
    • Finalizing budget
    • Finalizing all logistic providers (including partys)
    • Announcement & acceptance of Scholarships
    • Deadline for CFP submission
  • May 2013
    • Announcement of CFP
    • Announcement & acceptance of Scholarships (waiting list)
    • End of Early registration
  • Jun 2013
    • Finalizing sponsors & media support
    • Deadline for Volunteer recruitment (2nd round, beyond Universities)
    • Arrangements for media Starts
    • Program initial release
  • Jul 2013
    • Prepare for guests arrival
    • Finalizing Logistic measures
    • Finalizing accommodations distributions
    • End of Late registration
    • Final volunteer training
    • Press release to local media
    • Reminder to VIP & keynote speakers
    • Ready for reception in case of early arrivals
    • Foundation related logistics
    • Program Final release
  • 1-6 Aug 2013 Venue take over
    • Logistic deployment
  • 7 – 11 August 2013
    • The Conference
  • 11-31 Aug 2013
    • Venue - walk out
    • Ready for reception in case of late departures
  • Sept 2013
    • Wrap up on the finance & Logistics
    • Additional online questionnaires
  • End of 2013
    • Results of the review

28481k (talk) 15:34, 13 April 2012 (UTC) with small edits by Deryck Chan &  ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  17:18, 13 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Others[edit]

You state "August has the highest average rainfall in the year. Temperatures usually exceed 30 °C during the day, which, coupled with a high humidity, can result in an extreme heat index." I wonder how good air-conditioning is in the venue and everywhere (like e.g. in public transport systems) and could there be really severe weather conditions during the conference and how would that influence the conference including the days before and after and including air travel, like typhoons or such? --თოგო (D) 14:44, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • Air-condition is very well in the venue and the indoor place in Hong Kong generally, as we will event suggest you to take a jacket to put on as you once get into indoors. Typhoon could be a serious problem if come before the conference which probably will affect people flying in, though in some cases, the airport even operates safely when the typhoon comes. However we will try to maintain the programme of the event within the venue if the typhoon strike in during the conference time, and actually the basic service for life in town will usually remains normal in these occasions. -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  15:41, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

What about (cheaper) hotels/dorms/hostels and public transportation (trams, busses, subways, trains) with respect to air-conditioning? --თოგო (D) 15:55, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • They are all well air-conditioned -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  16:57, 7 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Though one thing you should be noted that there is some walkways near the venue are not air conditioned. For example the corridor within the PolyU main campus is only sheltered but not air-conditioned (though the longest one is less than 500 meters), the nearby Hong Hum station is not well air-conditioned, and also the footbridges to dorms and nearby hotels are all only sheltered. But we can sure that most places you stay in more than an hour in our program will be air conditioned, except the barbecue party at the beach, where in you can jump into water to cool down if there is still day light, and is not so hot in the evening -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  17:50, 13 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

DotAsia[edit]

It seems to me that the relationship with DotAsia is of particular importance to this bid: that the resources and connections DotAsia would bring are an important complement to the skills and resources of the organizing team. I am therefore especially interested in having a clear understanding of the relationship with DotAsia before a decision is reached. What resources do they bring? Perhaps most importantly, what expectations do they bring -- what are they hoping and expecting to achieve through working with Wikimania, and what reason is there to believe that will be delivered? How did the relationship evolve, how committed are they to Wikimania? -Pete F (talk) 14:18, 8 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • As I answered in a previous question, DotAsia will be a production company alike role as co-host if we are chosen. DotAsia and the Hong Kong Chapter enjoy a long time partnership since the chapter is founding, as WMHK and Wikipedians provides valuable volunteer resources, (and we usually stated as supporting organization), and the chapter and WIkiepdians volunteers use the opportunity to gear up their skill in conference organizing and relevant communication skills. So this bid is just another step forward of pervious cooperation. And DotAsia also sponsored part of the event in Wikimania 2007 in Taipei, they clearly know Wikimania is, and they are willing to take more responsibility this time.
  • The company had many experienced on organizing international conference in town, most of them are about internet governance and technology. They really care about the development about the Internet, so they put a lot of effort on supporting events in similar topics. As agreed, they promised we can access their network of previous sponsors of their events through their staff who will also help us with the facilitation of our conference.
  • After all, Wikimania for them is a good chance for them to expose their brand name to a greater global public, they already did once before by sponsoring Wikimania 2007 in Taipei. Another factor for them to take more this time, as their home office is in Hong Kong, and also sort of commitment to show Hong Kong's best to the world. -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  18:42, 8 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you, this is very helpful to understand. I am curious if DotAsia has made any statements, publicly or privately, which could be presented to the jury, reflecting this commitment to the conference. Perhaps something along the lines of the letter the Secretary of Commerce & Economic Development sent on January 31. I would not say this is necessary, but it would certainly add strength to the bid. If there is an email that can be shared privately with the jury, perhaps you could forward it to one of the jurors. -Pete F (talk) 01:34, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
We've now uploaded DotAsia's letter of support. See File:DotAsia-WIkimania2013-supportletter.pdf. Deryck C. 13:12, 14 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, Deryck. -Pete F (talk) 14:50, 14 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Some comments[edit]

  • Thank you for you excellent bid, but I am a little bit confused about the experience. You say to have organized a lot of events. May you summarize more or less the number of participants of these events? Were they international events?
    • Specifically, it would be helpful to have an understanding of the Chinese Wikimedia Conference 2006. Apart from the videos, is there any documentation of how the event went, how many people were involved? Also, how many of the organizers from that conference are part of the current bid, six years later? -Pete F (talk)
      • There were a total of about 200 attendees, guests and press from all over the Greater China region and beyond, making it a truly international conference. On the bidding team, Yuyu, Cehk and myself were organisers of CWMC 06; several others from the CWMC 06 crew are still active volunteers for WMHK, and will join the organising team if we win the bid. Deryck C. 16:20, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Are other persons in the team experienced in the organization of events outside Wikimedia movement?
  • I don't see in your budget any specific item concerning the manpower. 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?
    • We have good relationships with teaching staff in several local universities, through whom we will recruit at least 100 volunteers who are eager to gain exposure to international events, should our bid be successful. Deryck C. 16:07, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Is your budget designed for 1000 persons? It seems strange but if I divide 95.000$ per 1000 persons, I see that there is 95$ covering all meals. Do you think that this is sufficient? Do you include also drinks (please consider the weather in August in HK)?
    • The catering budget only covers the lunches and refreshments which are part of the conference. Evening meals, where provided, are included in the separate "party" item of the budget. Not all 1000 will have lunch at the conference all 3 days, and only small numbers need to be catered for in the pre-conference. This boils down to about US$30 per person per day (lunch and refreshments). If you compare this with the cost of living summary on the bid page, you can see this is ample if not luxurious. Tsugiko can present a detailed catering budget should you want to see one. Deryck C. 16:05, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • August seems to be the most raining month. Do you have considered some additional shelter venues to have the parties?
    • There is ample covered area in the venue where the beach barbecue party will be held. All other parts of the Wikimania will be in air-conditioned buildings. Deryck C. 16:34, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Do you consider that in August the temperature and the humidity are drammatically high (81%)? It means that it's like to be at 46° of temperature, in open space it could be really uncomfortable.
    • The entire conference venue, including socialising areas, will be air-conditioned; as are the proposed accommodation and public transport. The amount of time one needs to spend in open space is minimal. (I will not comment on the cited apparent temperature since the formulae are derived for temperate climates, and omit too many variables to be useful.) Deryck C. 16:34, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • I have seen that you have studied a system of sponsorship by level (Diamond, Platinum, etc.). Are the two local sponsors considering to be in these system of sponsorship?
  • Are the costs of the scholarships, included in the budget, covered by the Wikimania team or they includes also the support of the chapters?--Ilario (talk) 21:35, 8 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • As we don't know how much can pay by Foundation but we know that Hong Kong is a far far away in some peoples mind, we would like to pay and let more wikipedians to join Wikimania 2013 as many as possible! --Tsugiko (talk) 14:00, 10 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • One notable piece of feedback given after the 2011 conference was that scholarships should be decided earlier (that year applications were taken in January and the first announcements were made on 28 March 2011), in order to allow recipients to take cheaper flights by booking earlier. This current schedule seems to be pushing them even later into the year. Why is this? Also, the 2011 "turnaround" between the closure of applications and the results was just under two months (end of January to end of March), and it is currently expected to be about the same for the 2012 conference (mid-February to mid-April). The current schedule seems to be planning to halve this time. How is this going to be achieved? CT Cooper · talk 22:02, 13 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    • Thank you for the suggestion, I think things on this timeline is subjected to change, and currently only base on the local manpower estimation to project the order. We put the scholarship in that time frame, because we will have a stall to promote the event in the Chinese New Year Fair, as well as volunteer training, which will happen in early February 2012. Considering the manpower issue, things may better start after that. However we may change the schedule after we have a scholarship committee convened, so the int'l committee members will share the workload, and take up a better schedule. We also have some team member will provide help from overseas (in different timezones), so they can dedicated on such matter do not required to handle it locally. So I think these measures will generally speed up our process on things, and we hope we can put the scholarship items earlier if possible as the feedback suggests. -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  03:43, 14 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
      • Thank you for your swift response. I would recommended starting the scholarship process as early as possible, and/or boosting manpower compared to previous years to give a quicker "turnaround". I have only seen the scholarship process from the point of view of an applicant, but my experience tells me that earlier results should save money. In any case, I wish you the best of luck with the Hong Kong bid. CT Cooper · talk 10:58, 15 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
        • We totally aware of "earlier results should save money", as you see in our timeline, we will put all possible booking as early as possible, we are actually already going through the process of booking the auditorium (which we can undo if we fail to get the bid). This publish timeline is just a mid-points of our estimation, which we estimate, some items may happened earlier than we expect, and most of them will be later, so we think we will adjust this from time to time. However the deadlines are sth we should not compromise normally. -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  15:26, 15 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
          • That's good to hear. On the deadline issue, unfortunately the original self-imposed scholarship results deadlines for Wikimania 2012 have been compromised resulting in two push backs, possibly due to an over-ambitious timetable, leaving things rather tight. CT Cooper · talk 16:34, 15 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Partners / Support[edit]

Hi,

You mention several partners/supporters. Could you please indicate in those instances what they will contribute tangibly to the conference? Will it be mental support ("Go Wikimedia Hong Kong!") or rather providing money, funds, locations, parties, network etc? Effeietsanders (talk) 22:33, 9 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

See sections "DotAsia" and the first item of "Some comments" above. -Pete F (talk) 12:06, 10 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
This only answers the question for some part. I hope they will be able to also answer the rest for all mentioned partners, including the Government and Venue. If necessary for negotiations, this information can be sent to the jury privately Effeietsanders (talk) 14:46, 10 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Government: see #MEHK on our bid page for the in-kind support we're expecting from the government department supporting the bid.
  • Venue (PolyU): in addition to helping us book the auditorium and classrooms, the PolyU School of Design will also sponsor much of the cost of the venue. Deryck C. 15:36, 10 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Local support outside the chapter[edit]

The chapter is clearly committed to ths bid - most members of the team are chapter officers. And you have a good list of international supporters. Are there other local wikimedians or volunteers who support the bid? –SJ talk  14:07, 28 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • Sure, there is! May be it is our fault that we only set up an "International Support" section, so the locals didn't speak (a one or two still speak up, so we listed them separately.) Actually, during this bidding period, I got facebook (or whatever messengers) messages from some more local Wikipedians to express their support, and willing to help if we win. And particularly I would like to mention Alan Lai, he was just a supporter at the beginning, and take up more and more roles now.
  • Other volunteers, yes! Actually we have quite a number of volunteers (or more precisely supporters) within opensource & free culture to support the bid and actually try to make bridges between the bidding team and institutions. Take the venue as an example, we didn't get it by ourselves. Thanks for Isaac Mao , a great supporter of our bid, who went through his contact in PolyU School of Design, then we recently really secure the main hall, we just get the rent paid (and highly possible fully-sponsored), the auditorium will be ours at the conference time. (Btw Isaac recently spend quite a lot of time in HK, that I can treat him as a local)
  • Also in the earlier stage, there is also some other suporters from different groups like Barcamp HK, helped us to seek venue, by engaging with other Universities and institutions. They are still helping us to seek different kinds of support, especially sponsorships. As there are still some negotiations and lobbying going on, so it is better not to revealed their identity at this moment. (and many of them really depends on if we get the bid :) -- ※ JéRRy ~ 雨雨  ※  Was?  ※  15:33, 28 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How would the developer days before the conference be organized? –SJ talk  14:07, 28 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Congratulations![edit]

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