WikiConference North America/2025
WikiConference North America 2025 will take place in New York City from October 16–19, 2025. (Pre- or post-conference events may be scheduled for adjacent dates.)
This year's theme is "Wiki World's Fair", celebrating the city's 400th anniversary, adapting the city's previous Wikimania bid.
The local team would be arranged with Wikimedia New York City.
The organizers applied for and received a grant in the September 2024 Conference and Event Fund round.
The "Wiki World's Fair" theme celebrates the contributions of diverse voices and fosters cross-border partnerships. It seeks to fuel the Wikimedia movement’s growth, encouraging participants to reimagine how free knowledge can empower individuals, encourage cross-cultural collaboration, and transform societies worldwide.
This year, approximately 300 attendees are expected at the 4-day event, including scholarship recipients, guest speakers, and Wikimedia affiliates from across the region. The conference will feature workshops, presentations, and networking opportunities, fostering connections among Wikimedians, educators, and cultural organizations.
Conference Details
[edit]Pre-conference (Wiki Culture Crawl)
- Thursday, October 16, 2025 – Culture Crawl
- Location: TBA
Opening Reception
- Time: TBA
Main Conference
- Friday, October 17 – Sunday, October 19, 2025
- Location: Civic Hall, 124 E 14th St, New York, NY 10003
Hashtag
Theme
[edit]Our theme will be "Wiki World's Fair", celebrating the 400th Anniversary of New York City. We will be honoring the contributions of diverse voices and fostering cross-border partnerships, mirroring the diversity and rich history of the host city.
Culture Crawl
[edit]The conference will kick off with a Culture Crawl on Thursday, October 16, 2025, offering attendees the chance to explore New York City’s cultural institutions and community partners through tours, exhibitions, and performances.
Main Conference
[edit]The main conference will take place over three days: Friday, October 17, Saturday, October 18, and Sunday, October 19, 2025. These days will feature keynote talks, workshops, panel discussions, lightning talks, and community meetups focused on free knowledge, Wikimedia projects, and movement strategy.
Submissions
[edit]WikiConference North America is made up of presentations, panels, workshops, and roundtables led by the Wikimedia community and institutions of knowledge and technology.
Proposals are welcome in English, French, and Spanish for both in-person and virtual presenters. WCNA 2025 will be a hybrid event – attendees and presenters may participate fully in-person, fully virtual, or in a hybrid format as suits their needs. We invite submissions that explore the future of Wikipedia, missing pieces (content gaps, editor demographics, etc.), credibility, and editor safety. While these focus areas will shape much of the event, we welcome all proposals relevant to the Wikimedia movement — you do not need to limit your ideas to the theme.
Program proposals were accepted until July 1, 2025.
Submissions can belong to a variety of session types, including:
- Lightning talk (LT): Very short presentation lasting only a few minutes; a data blitz. (5 minutes)
- Lecture (LEC): A lecture or presentation on any topic within the conference themes. Please reserve at least 5 minutes for questions. (15–30 minutes)
- Edit-a-thon or Workshop (ED/WS): Facilitated group tutorial, working session, or collaborative editing on a pre-selected topic. (30–120 minutes)
- Lunch Meetup (LUN): Informal themed meetup during lunch. (60 minutes)
- After-hours Meetup (AFT): Social or interest-based gathering in the evening. (60–120 minutes)
Proposals may be in various formats and cover topics related to Wikimedia projects or the broader free culture movement.
Submissions will be reviewed by a Programming Committee. Each proposal is evaluated on its likely impact and outcomes, expected community interest, and alignment with the theme or focus areas. Committee scores are averaged, and the top-rated submissions will be accepted based on schedule availability.
You will be notified about the committee’s decision via email. If your proposal is not included in the preliminary schedule, don’t be discouraged — WikiConference North America 2025 will include space for self-organized sessions during our lightning talks and unconference blocks.
Submit a proposal on the official Submissions page
Program Tracks
[edit]To help organize and review program submissions, we suggest three broad thematic tracks. If your submission applies to more than one theme, you may specify a secondary track in the form.
- Future of Wikipedia – Topics may include AI, online safety, regional hubs and emerging user groups, emergent technology, new tools, and innovative uses of Wikimedia platforms.
- Missing Pieces – Addressing content gaps related to gender, culture, LGBTQ+ individuals and issues, underrepresented communities, editor retention, and supporting new contributors.
- Credibility – Focusing on source credibility, claims verification, media forensics, content provenance, anti-censorship and anti-harassment strategies, and critical literacies such as media, digital, and information fluency.