Wikimania 2008/Bids/Atlanta/Meeting 8/29/07

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<WM-Thunderhead> ==meeting start==
<CraigSpurrier> We should probably come up with some sort of response to the visa issue
<Disavian> :)
<Mike_H> The visa issue?
<WM-Thunderhead> Indeed so,
<Mike_H> What issue?
<jwales> the visa issue was no problem with boston, so unless georgia has seceeded again...
<CraigSpurrier> much of the world can not get visas easily
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<Mike_H> ah, there you are again
<andicat> sorry sorry
<Mike_H> it's okay
<Mike_H> we just started
<andicat> accidentally closed a window :)
<WM-Thunderhead> andicat, meeting started, being logged by me
<kylu> there's some "visa issues" already mentioned on the meta page
<Mike_H> What, our bid page?
<CraigSpurrier> jwales: great, from reading the 06 pages it looked to be quite an issue
<kylu> the 27 countries not needing visas
<Mike_H> yeah
<Mike_H> The 27 countries are basically all of Western Europe
<Mike_H> Australia, New Zealand
<Mike_H> and Japan.
<CraigSpurrier> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2008/Bids/Atlanta#Visas_2
<kylu> jwales: do you happen to know if there were any outstanding visa issues at the boston wikimania?
<kylu> that way we can address them ahead of time this year, if there were
<WM-Thunderhead> By the way, let me bring up a copy of the ID card that I've designed for Wikimania 2008
<Mike_H> Someone said last night we need to contact Senators Isakson and Chambliss?
<WM-Thunderhead> When did the Senate get involved with Wikimania?
<CraigSpurrier> I did, Boston's page said they had gotten help from Kennedy
<CraigSpurrier> with visa stuff
<Mike_H> WM-Thunderhead: Apparently Ted Kennedy helped speed up some visas?
<Mike_H> for Boston?
<CraigSpurrier> not sure if in the end he actually helped, but his office offered to help with any that got rejected
<WM-Thunderhead> Mike_H Mk
<WM-Thunderhead> This is a copy of the ID card I've designed:
<WM-Thunderhead> http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/6026/wmbadgepc3.png
<Mike_H> What about Governor Perdue
<Mike_H> does he have any say in it
<CraigSpurrier> maybe we should ask sj next time he is seen
<Disavian> WM-Thunderhead: those look good
<WM-Thunderhead> Thank you, Disavian
<WM-Thunderhead> Jimmy, don't sue me for using your name =]
<Niayre> the badges look good.
<CraigSpurrier> Mike_H: as far as officially it looks none of them have any power to do it, but it is something they commonly help with and have all the right contacts
<CraigSpurrier> WM-Thunderhead: looks nice
<jwales> WM-Thunderhead, no that is awesome I will print it out and make a badge of it and be all like "What? You weren't at Wikimania Atlanta?" and I will do it in January :)
<WM-Thunderhead> Thanks :)
<Mike_H> Today I made the most inroad with WSB-TV and the City of Atlanta
<WM-Thunderhead> I thought it would be a good idea to have the persons' most feasable language on the badege to help the volunteers
<CraigSpurrier> we may want to do something to make it distinct to this one. A peach or something on it :P
<Mike_H> Mayor Franklin actually responds rather fast to inquiries
<Mike_H> and I talked to the webmaster/sponsorship contact of WSB
<Mike_H> and he seemed interested
<Mike_H> but only after he grilled me for 20 minutes
<andicat> so how formal do the sponsorships need to be before the vote?
<Mike_H> I think we should try to have commitments from SOME of them
<andicat> like, written commitments with absolute dollar amounts?
<WM-Thunderhead> I was speaking earlier in the CPG meeting about possibly doing a live broadcast from Wikimania 2008. G4TV broadcasted all 3 days of CES this year, so that's an oppurtunity
<Disavian> I have my doubts about G4TV's interest, though; they go more for things involving boobies and explosions these days.
<Disavian> CES is also much larger than Wikimania.
<Mike_H> I say right now, the Georgia Tourism Board is probably a no-go
<CraigSpurrier> <nods> we are much less glamorous then CES
<Mike_H> The woman I talked to knew NOTHING about Wikipedia
<Mike_H> it was like I was talking to someone from 1995
<WM-Thunderhead> I thought everyone knew about Wikipedia. =[
<Mike_H> Yeah, well, the Georgia Tourism Board lady did not
<WM-Thunderhead> *gasps*
<Mike_H> Now I'm used to being able to explain to people what the WMF is
<Mike_H> because usually people know about Wikipedia
<Mike_H> and it's an easy explanation from there
<Mike_H> but she knew NOTHING about it
<Mike_H> she had to put me on hold
<Mike_H> obviously asked someone
<Mike_H> and came back and said
<Mike_H> "Is it that online thing?"
<Mike_H> I sighed and said yes.
<jwales> I have some connections at G4TV due to Wikia's big push into gaming.  I met with them at E3 (big gaming convention) this year, where they were doing 3 days of coverage.  And basically it would shock me if they are interested in wikimania. :(  boobies and explosions, yeah, wikimania... not so much. That's my guess.
<jwales> "Ya'll are writing an encyclopeeedia?"
<jwales> :)
* WM-Thunderhead laughs
<WM-Thunderhead> :)
<WM-Thunderhead> We need to get you to say "Y'all come back now, ya hear?" when we leave. IF Atlanta is chosen, of course...
<kylu> maybe they could help us video gfdl media for articles such as [[Breasts]] and [[Explosives]] ?
<andicat> well in any case we have a "count us in" from the GVU Center at Georgia Tech re: sponsorship, but nothing final or official
<Disavian> while the [[Breasts]] article has plenty of pictures, [[Explosives]] does not.
<andicat> they are also a potential host for hacking days
<WM-Thunderhead> Excellent
<Mike_H> andicat: Can you ask for even an estimate? Nothing final needs to be decided now
<Mike_H> but it's good to know where they stand, if even vaguely
<andicat> yes, i will follow up
<WM-Thunderhead> andicat, was that you that edited anonymously earlier?
<andicat> oops, yes :)
<WM-Thunderhead> :)
<CraigSpurrier> if it would work, it would be nice to be able to have the Wikiworkshop on a diffrent day then the CJU
<CraigSpurrier> many of the people who needed the Wikiworkshop were at this last CJU
<Mike_H> At this point, it seems too cumbersome to have the first day of an event in a different area
<Mike_H> and the second day in the permanent area
<Mike_H> it just seems
<Mike_H> well, to be blunt
<Mike_H> weird
<andicat> not at all
<andicat> in 06 hacking days was at the OLPC lab
<Niayre> i think that also depends on the venues
<andicat> and then mania was at harvard
<Niayre> they can be close by just be different buildings
<andicat> it was awesome
<CraigSpurrier> since the the CJU attracts a lot of people who have never been on a wiki much
<Disavian> and it's not like the buildings are that far apart
<Mike_H> Craig, I wanted the CJU and the Wikiworkshop to be in the same room, actually
<Mike_H> in my vision
<Mike_H> CJU happening first
<Mike_H> then a braek
<Mike_H> *break
<Mike_H> of an hour or so
<Mike_H> then the WikiWorkshop
<Niayre> regarding housing -- i've been trading emails with the housing people at GT and he is quite enthusastic about the conference
<andicat> how many people is the cju?
<Niayre> he didn't have an estimate yet
<Niayre> but we are likely to get one early tomorrow
<Mike_H> andicat: I think 140 last year?
<Mike_H> Jessica, that's wonderful
<Mike_H> keep me posted
<Niayre> i've got to hop off for a while, but i will try to check back when i can.
<CraigSpurrier> 40-60 actually in the room last time
<Mike_H> send me an e-mail and I'll update it
<Mike_H> tomorrow
<CraigSpurrier> we need space to break into groups though
<Niayre> excellent. thanks all -- in a few days i'll be back to a more regular schedule and will be able to focus significantly more on yall.
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<WM-Thunderhead> How did the live streaming in Taipei go?
<andicat> one possibility is that these events could be held in the Technology Square Research Building and we could ask GVU center if this is something they would sponsor
<CraigSpurrier> fair at least according to IRC
<WM-Thunderhead> Do we have the campus, or how much of the campus?
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<CraigSpurrier> a tiny bit  Georgia Tech is big :)
<Disavian> it's not *that* big
<WM-Thunderhead> But we have plenty of space, correct?
<Disavian> but any event will only take up a small part of campus, I agree
<CraigSpurrier> depends on what you are used to I suppose :)
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<Disavian> yeah, I'm used to the campus, but there are still buildings every semester where I have to look at a map
<CraigSpurrier> andicat: that would be cool, from their website it looks like it would be perfect
<andicat> oh it would be :) i practically live there and i know the space well
<Mike_H> Andrew, I IMed you on AIM
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<Mike_H> The359: now you behave
<The359> :(
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<Mike_H> lol
<andicat> that was great
<Mike_H> ;)
<Mike_H> Okay
<Mike_H> So sponsorships
<andicat> so i am going to follow up with other sposorship possibilities at GAtech college of computing
<Mike_H> Craig, you never told us last night what your luck was
<andicat> but i would like to know how pushy i should be at this point
<andicat> as far as trying to get things pinned down
<CraigSpurrier> Georgia-Pacific foundation wants us to submit a request and will get back to us in 45days
<Mike_H> Did you tell them it was more time-sensitive than that?
<jwales> pushy!
<CraigSpurrier> if worded well it looks as if it could be within their scope
<jwales> be pushy!
<jwales> :)
<andicat> :P
<Mike_H> jwales: I got the City of Atlanta from "a few weeks" to "a few days" by mentioning it was time-sensitive
<Mike_H> They told me Mayor Franklin reads all the emails
<Mike_H> and discusses them with her staff
<Mike_H> so she's very hands-on
<WM-Thunderhead> That's good.
<CraigSpurrier> I have the contact info for the guy that runs Georgia-Pacific foundation and will talk to him Thursday or friday
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<WM-Thunderhead> Excellent, excellent
<Mike_H> JodyB: I was wondering what happened to you!
<Mike_H> Did you ever contact UPS or the other people?
<Mike_H> the Atlanta Braves?
<JodyB> traveling this week
<CraigSpurrier> I missed IBM and Georgia-Pacific corporate today, but will call tomorrow morning
<JodyB> The UPS info should be waitng for me when I get back tomorrow
<JodyB> have not yet talked to the Braves
<Mike_H> Craig, that's good
<CraigSpurrier> I will also talk to Siemens AG since they have sponsored a lot of other conferences
<Mike_H> keep up the good work
<Alkivar> http://rahoi.com/images/blog/manglificence/bathoom.jpg
<WM-Thunderhead> Stroopwaffles for everyone!
<Alkivar> thats how we'll make money for ATLANTA!
<WM-Thunderhead> :-)
<WM-Thunderhead> Okay, we've covered sponsorships, what else is there?
<CraigSpurrier> do we have a place we can put computers for attendee use if we can find someone to donate some
<Mike_H> Right, computers
<Mike_H> laptop rentals
<WM-Thunderhead> Preferablly laptops
<Mike_H> there are nine places in Atlanta where we can rent laptops
<Mike_H> that should be the next places we contact
<Mike_H> ask their rates, etc
<WM-Thunderhead> Exactly, three - five days
<CraigSpurrier> I may have a company that will give/loan us some nice small linux terminals/thick clients if we have a place to put them
<WM-Thunderhead> We should get a discount
<Mike_H> oh, yeah
<Mike_H> and another thing to consider about sponsorships
<Mike_H> we might want to start a grassroots effort in the next week, going to local businesses
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<Mike_H> under our "individual/small business" donation level
<CraigSpurrier> some shinny brochures would help with that :)
<WM-Thunderhead> Mk
<Disavian> bbl, have to pick up Hillary from Technique meeting
<Mike_H> k
<WM-Thunderhead> Alright
<Disavian> and it's probably still raining outside :(
<Mike_H> Who is willing to create brochures?
<Mike_H> The Georgia Tourism Board lady, the same one who didn't know about Wikipedia, was bitchy to me because we didn't have paper brochures.
<Alkivar> NOT IT
<CraigSpurrier> I can do it this weekend if no one else wants to
<WM-Thunderhead> I can try
<WM-Thunderhead> Then again, i can't make great things, especially lately
<WM-Thunderhead> *brochures
<Mike_H> Whatever works and has text is fine with me
<Mike_H> realyl
<Mike_H> *really
<JodyB> Guys, I have to run but I will try and call UPS and the Braves tomorrow afternoon a check-in here tomorrow night...
<JodyB> *and
<Mike_H> JodyB: Great.
<Mike_H> See you at 9:30 tomorrow night!
<JodyB> ok
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<WM-Thunderhead> Alright
<CraigSpurrier> WM-Thunderhead: if you want to thats fine, or I can do it
<WM-Thunderhead> Meh, go ahead =]
<CraigSpurrier> k
<Mike_H> Okay
<Mike_H> I also broke up the bid today into daughter sections
<Mike_H> as it was getting UNRULY in length
<andicat> mike: good call
<jwales> extra points for byte count
<Mike_H> :o
<Mike_H> Looking over the bid, are there any other sections that need to be moved to a daughter article?
<Mike_H> I'm personally thinking "strengths and weaknesses," that is massive.
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<CraigSpurrier> media?
<CraigSpurrier> it is, but very imporant
<CraigSpurrier> it is one of the things people will jump to in looking at the bid
<Mike_H> Yeah, I was thinking, "how do we summarize that?"
<WM-Thunderhead> Points? Since when have we had points?
<Mike_H> I think he was joking
<WM-Thunderhead> You never know, Jimmy could be the cabal behind the Board selection ;)
<Mike_H> haha
<Mike_H> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2008/Bids/Atlanta/To_Do
<Mike_H> That's the to do list right now
<Mike_H> add things you think need to be done
<WM-Thunderhead> jwales, how many points do I have?
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<WM-Thunderhead> Agh, forgot 
<WM-Thunderhead> Alright, it seems we've covered most things. It's been about an hour, let's carry things over to tomorrow's meetings if we've anything else
<andicat> i gotta run too actually
<WM-Thunderhead> Mike_H, last word?
<CraigSpurrier> me too soon :)
<Mike_H> Last word...hold on...let me see
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<Mike_H> pick new sponsorships if you've contacted some already! We need to try to finish the list.
<WM-Thunderhead> Majorly_cold, bad timing!
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<Mike_H> make sure to say things are time-sensitive
<Mike_H> and ask for estimates
<Mike_H> if they don't know yet, don't push estimates
<Mike_H> but DO push time-sensitivity
<Mike_H> and always give contact info
<Mike_H> phone number for you and e-mail
<Mike_H> and ask for their name and their e-mail
<Mike_H> so you can converse with them directly
<Mike_H> and give them your e-mail so they can contact you with more questions or concerns
<Mike_H> I think that's it for now
<WM-Thunderhead> Alright
<WM-Thunderhead> ==meeting closed==