Talk:Wikimedia Summit 2020

Participation as observer in the frame of my Phd thesis

Hi user:Cornelius Kibelka (WMDE), I send you here a public request to be Observer participant during the Wikimedia Summit 2020. I could be participant as board member of WMBelgium association, but User:Geertivp is much more indicated than me for this task. Therefore, I'm asking you if you can check with your team if my arrival as observer during the summit is possible ? As I plan to bring my camera Lumix with a good microphone to film thing and post it on wikimedia commons, my presence maybe could be a plus in the frame of your activity report. Here is a link to my PhD thesis writing in French and in total transparency on fr.wikiversity. For the cost of my coming, I can fundrasing it my self with a low-cost flight and a place in a hostel shared room. Best, Lionel Scheepmans ^{✉ Contact} _{French native speaker, sorry for my dysorthography} 12:20, 7 November 2019 (UTC)

I second the request of Lionel. I did find the presence of an observer in past conferences really worthful. Geert Van Pamel (WMBE) (talk) 07:45, 8 November 2019 (UTC)

Hi @Lionel Scheepmans:,

to be honest and to be fair, I cannot answer this question at the moment. This depends mainly on the capacity of the event and how many participants register. As the registration ends by December 16 and WMF staff members need to be selected in parallel, I can only tell by beginning of January if we have capacity for external observers. Nota bene: I am generally against filming at this event (especially for external purposes), as I want to create a conference with a trustful working atmosphere – this doesn't work if conversations are taped. Best regards, --Cornelius Kibelka (WMDE) (talk) 10:29, 8 November 2019 (UTC)

Sorry for the missunderstood Cornelius Kibelka (WMDE), I wasn't clear enough. My idea was giving a hand for collecting visual document during the summit in respect of the atmosphere as it probably was done last year, not to collect inflammations for a personal purpose. I can also use WMDE material for a better privacy. I'll ask now if I can assist to the summit a WikiJournal board member, I prefer pretty much to be participant than observer. Lionel Scheepmans ^{✉ Contact} _{French native speaker, sorry for my dysorthography} 12:26, 8 November 2019 (UTC)

Hi again Cornelius Kibelka (WMDE), that's a pitty but finaly I wasn't selected to represent the wikijournal group. So can you please just tell me if my participation to the Summit could be accepted or not. Take your time and check the answer with other if necessary, I just want to have a reply soon enough to catch a cheep fly ticket in case of I'm welcome. Lionel Scheepmans ^{✉ Contact} _{French native speaker, sorry for my dysorthography} 14:00, 18 January 2020 (UTC)

Hello @Lionel Scheepmans:

We won't invite "observers" to the Wikimedia Summit 2020, both for program-related reasons as well as capacity reasons. Best regards, --Cornelius Kibelka (WMDE) (talk) 11:30, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

Ok, every thing is clear now. Thanks for your reply Cornelius Kibelka (WMDE) and have a nice day ! Lionel Scheepmans ^{✉ Contact} _{French native speaker, sorry for my dysorthography} 11:36, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

Keeping people on topic

Hi @Cornelius Kibelka (WMDE): in a previous year's report about the Wikimedia Conference/Wikimedia Summit, I remember seeing some discussion that the number of people who participated in conference sessions was lower than expected, and there was a suspicion that at least a few people were treating the conference as if it was a vacation instead of a conference which required their participation. Hopefully that issue did not occur in 2019. Are measures being taken to ensure that people who attend the conference attend events as expected? If an affiliate's representative(s) do not participate as expected then the affiliate could be not invited to send representative(s) for the next year or two, and the representative(s) could be permanently barred from receiving further grant or travel funding from WMF. Thanks, ↠Pine (✉) 20:53, 20 February 2020 (UTC)

FYI: Physical Meetings Cancelled

The Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia Deutschland have now confirmed that "the physical meeting of the Wikimedia Summit 2020 and related side events in Berlin ha[s] been cancelled." You can find the announcement for those that missed it here. They are looking to replace the event with virtual meetings so advise attendees to keep the dates blocked. RhinosF1 (talk) 19:15, 28 February 2020 (UTC)

I've placed a proposal for a wiki-based virtual asynchronous unconference in Talk:Wikimedia Summit 2020/Program and invite comments please. EllenCT (talk) 17:36, 1 March 2020 (UTC)

Pseudonymous participation forbidden

I note that the registration form at [1] requires disclosure of real names and email addresses, with no reason for such given. I am not surprised that there is no way to participate under one's wiki userid. I will not be attending. EllenCT (talk) 22:59, 9 April 2020 (UTC)

@EllenCT:, that's not the form for our conference, neither the physical nor the virtual one. The registration form for the virtual conference is not yet published, but pseudonymous participation will be allowed. Please stay tuned for more information. --Cornelius Kibelka (WMDE) (talk) 13:04, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

@Cornelius Kibelka (WMDE): Thank you. I will. EllenCT (talk) 14:15, 14 April 2020 (UTC)