Talk:Wikimania 2010/Bids/Gdańsk

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Please visit the Wikimania 2010 website for more information, including FAQ, accommodation information. There is also a place to ask questions.

Wikimania 2010 Bid for Gdańsk

Hi Editor Wzpedzich,

I see you have added Gdańsk as a possibility for the 2010, but so far no page has appeared.

My view is this: after having had the recent wikimanias at Alexandria (2008), Taiwan (2007), Boston (USA) (2006) and with 2009 scheduled for Buenos Aires, there is a strong possibility that people may favour Europe for 2010.

My view is that I would prefer Gdańsk. Although living in London, I would not support the Oxford bid. I think the UK is too expensive, and it would be cheaper for visitors to come to Poland. It could then attract a broader range of people. Secondly Wikipedia already has strong anglophone content, and I would like to see development in other languages encouraged. Hosting a wikimania event in such a language area is an excellent way of doing this. There will be a London wikimeet held on Sunday, and it would be useful to me to know whether any progress on the Gdańsk bid has been made, as this is the bid I would most support.

If you can forward me any information on this it would be most useful.

Thanks

Harrypotter 11:40, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Strange as it may seem - this page has been coloured red for quite some time - it is not a hoax, it is a placeholder for an offer we're preparing. Right now we're at the stage of "zipping the main ideas up" - we've contacted city authorities, have a rough idea of what the conference may look like, have an idea of the place as well as attractions, etc. Here you may find our temporary wiki - most of which right now is actually in Polish - where we compile ideas, suggestions, artwork and such.

Don't worry - we'll make it.

Wojciech Pędzich Talk 11:41, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for that. I will give a positive report at the London Wikimeet.Harrypotter 11:44, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Wikimania

Hi Saper, I am afraid my education was so limited that it did not include learning the Polish language. However I am keen to support the Gdansk wikimania bid for Gdansk, which I think has become even more important since Copenhagen dropped out. I am based in london and attend the London wikipedia meets, where I have challenged what some see as the natural assumption that people in london should support the Oxford bid. Bearing in mind there is already a preponderance of the use of the English language I feel that it is importantant to move outside the anglosphere. and would like to offer what little assistance I can. In some ways as I do not speak Polish, perhaps I can have a role copy-editing stuff you put up on the bid page - I've already put some background remarks about Gdansk. Also I previously saw there is page a polish about your bid. It would be good to put that link on, but I can't remember where I saw it. Also note that i do not really want to engage in e-mail discussion about this, and would prefer to use the talk pages. All the best.Harrypotter 14:35, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

Hello, thank you for your interest in our bid! You are more than welcome to join our wiki at [1]. We are working on the English-language letter to sponsors as well as the English-language offer. Feel free to contact me via my talk page there. We also need a summary of previous Wikimanias, in terms of accommodation and social events provided.  « Saper // @talk »  20:28, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

Fares

Prices from there should be given in the currencies of the countries where the airports are situated. Who, flying from Frankfurt, Istanbul, Madrid, London would pay in PLN? Remigiu 02:24, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

I second that. A USD and a EURO column would make a lot of sense for all prices (not just fares, but budget and all). Lots of people are familiar with those two currencies and have a sense of what they mean in their own currency, which is not the case with PLN. :) notafish }<';> 01:37, 22 March 2009 (UTC)

A link to the official daily exhange ratio has been provided. Mieciu K 22:52, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

Carbon neutral?

Will the conference and the flights to it be carbon neutral? -- Jeandré, 2009-03-10t13:14z

As of now there are no plans to make the conference carbon neutral (give us 2 days :) Przykuta 22:34, 23 March 2009 (UTC)).

But we will pay much attention to making this conference eco-friendly. Exept for the VIP party which is currently planed to be held in Sopot all venues of the Wikimania 2010 conference will be held within walking distance of each other. The conference is planed to be organised in the strict city center so the distance between the conference, most of the the hotels and the mojor tourist atractions in Gdańsk can be easily covered on foot. Around 2010 ("before 2011") Gdańsk will be testing hydrogen buses and we hope that we will be able to rent one of them for the "Wikimania 2010 Airport-City Center shuttle bus" if not Gdańsk will be operating hybrid Solaris Urbino 18 buses since 2009 and we hope that we will rent one or two of those for the shuttle bus service. If more people become interested in reducing the carbon footprint of the 2010 Wikimania conference we might work on additional eco-friendly projects like volunteer work for the Regional Directorate of the State Forests in Gdańsk [2] (most of the Forested areas in Poland are owned by the state) or with NGO's. Mieciu K 22:28, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

Both the Central bus station and the Railway station are located near the conference venue, so those who will have a map and a strong pair of legs (or little baggage) should have no problems with reaching their hotels or the conference venue on foot in around 20-30 minutes. Mieciu K 23:00, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

I think, that we can do something :) Przykuta 22:28, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

Thanks - looking at the other bids' responses to this I really hope Gdańsk wins. Some clarifications please: will point 1 of Wikimania_2010/Bids/Gdańsk#Carbon neutrality include offsetting the flights to and from the conference? Point 2: will the 10% only be for public transport used all the way from home to the conference, as opposed to flying from another continent, and then taking a bus from the airport? -- Jeandré, 2009-03-28t09:05z

I suggest you swap 2 and 1, putting limiting before neutralising. -- Jeandré, 2009-03-28t09:16z

Clarifications have been set in place :) Wojciech Pędzich Talk 10:17, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Venue pictures

Can you post internal room pictures from the main venue and other key buildings? Floorplans would also be helpful. Thanks, -- sj | help translate |+ 19:47, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

• We are working on it. Making pictures of the interiours of the venue builduings is currently one of our top priorities. A map will also be provided. Mieciu K 21:59, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

I second Sj's request on floorplans. :) notafish }<';> 11:01, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Floorplans of the philharmonic have been added. Mieciu K 11:25, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

Typical daily schedule / transportation times

Can you describe what you expect a daily schedule to look like, focusing on transport times from hotels and between lodging / venues / eating areas? -- sj | help translate |+ 20:05, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

The majority of the recommended accomodation is located in the vicinity of the conference venue and foot transit times are given. Even when considering the more distant Technical University student campus, the transit time ought to take no longer than 40 minutes, including a quarter-long tram/bus ride. The meals will be served on the venue, in the Philharmonic's foyer, so transit time is irrelevant here; those wanting to eat out will reach the Old Town within a few minutes. A walk to the area where the party for attendees will take place (see also location on Wikimapia) will be about 20 minutes from the conference venue on foot. VIP party will be held in Sopot, can be reached from the city centre of Gdańsk within half an hour by car. Wojciech Pędzich Talk 21:15, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

Accomodation

You list only one place of accomodation with more than 100 beds -- the dorm 25 minutes away by foot. Many of the closer accomodation places do not list prices or # of beds.

Where would you recommend students on a budget to stay? Where would you recommend hosting speakers and VIPs? Would people walk or bus to the venue from these places? -- sj | help translate |+ 00:42, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

The accomodation places listed are the ones which are located within the Old Town and its immediate vicinity. The ones listed on the bid page may provide accomocation for 600 participants, mostly in the "budget" zone. Gdańsk University alone has an array of student hostels. Gdańsk Technical Universoty has a few more, located within the university's campus.

There is an obvious trade-off between budget and more expensive accomodation. Our location guarantees access to both; we are confident that even places located further away from the Old Twown can be reached efficiently within 30 minutes using public transport; all of this should not to disadvantage visitors who opt for the cheapest accomodation available.

When considering accomodation for VIPs, Hotel Królewski (located on-site) can provide accomodation with its 60 beds, Podewils a similar number, Novotel (ca. 10 minutes from the venue on foot) could take 158 participants, and Mercure (ca. 15 minutes by foot) - ca. 300. Wojciech Pędzich Talk 20:06, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

I recommend listing sites like en:Couchsurfing; not all people may know about them, but they are perfect student accommodation. --Piotrus 18:40, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Ferry

If I understand correctly, people have to use the ferry to get from the conference venue to the city center (of go for a longer walk). The ferry seems quite small; how many people can use the ferry at the same time, and how many times per hour does it go from the venue island to the city center? Fruggo 18:06, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

No, you don't need to take a ferry at all. You can use the bridge that is nearby. For some locations (e.g. hostels around Długi Targ) taking the brige is a shorter route.  « Saper // @talk »  18:14, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Ok thanks! Fruggo 18:47, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

100MBit-Fibre link

Hello Gdansk team,

thank you very much for your presentation. One of the bigger risk I see in your presentation is the 100MBit-Fibre link that TASK had promised to lay out. That's a big promise and we all know how sometimes it goes when companies or politicians make promises. When it comes to the deed there would be the question: Who pays it. So my question here to you is: If TASK withdraws from their promise, is there a plan B from you? You mentioned a 2 MBit wireless connection in the city, did you made a field check if that connection really covers the venue area and how is the quality of that connection inside the buildings? Thank you very much.--Wing 07:11, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

And do you have a network team who could help implement a plan B network solution? In some past years preparing the network has been a significant planning and time sink. -- sj | help translate |+ 17:51, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

• we have not yet checked that 2Mbit connection as we think about that as "last man stand" if anything else fails. We are working on plan B with other telco providers that are present around the venue area. In our organizing team we have people skilled in network setups, and I will coordinate ways of finding alternate solutions in case TASK will not deliver. I am in talks with several providers, due to my many years experience in IT outsourcing, to provide us with possible solutions. Even if it will not be fiber connection a radio link with comparable throughput is possible. There should be several possibilities. I will update as soon as we have more data. Masti 17:22, 2 April 2009 (UTC)
  • A conversation with the network technician from the Philharmonic has revealed that the venue is connected with a 4-megabit radio link. On demand, the venue's operator can increase the speed up to 54 mbit's / sec and the venue can work on 2 such radio antennas. Wojciech Pędzich Talk 13:17, 4 April 2009 (UTC)
• I have personally set-up two Internet autonomous systems and been working for many ISPs for many years so I can help with the overall network design and setup that would provide an excellent connectivity for the conference, using multiple providers if available. With the help of colleagues who have already volunteered I am certain we can make a very good networking team to provide enjoyable Internet access.  « Saper // @talk »  14:13, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

Team structure

I see you have people with many skills on your team list, but it would help to see it organized into major tasks you expect to deal with. Is everyone listed there planning to dedicate significant time to organization over the coming year? -- sj | help translate |+ 17:54, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

I have added our current team structure. This is based on the team responsibilities right now - it will probably change as we will move more into on-site planning.  « Saper // @talk »  16:04, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

"Is everyone listed there planning to dedicate significant time to organization over the coming year?" We are all volunteers and as such we are unable to force anyone to dedicate their time to the organisation of the Wikimania 2010 conference as our family, education and employment must come first. We are certain that we can have enough volunteers as well that we will be able to replace those volunteers who will have to or will chose to leave the team. Our curent estimates show that by our local standards we will have a large budget and as such we will try to outsource as much of the conference work as possible, which should lessen the burden placed on the local team. Mieciu K 07:13, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

Island map

Hi there. You've shown us some Google map during the chat, which helped visualize where the different building are. Can you put this on this page so we have a better idea of the general setup (with the buildings and the little courtyard etc.?). Thanks. notafish }<';> 10:56, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Yes, we now also have some photos (just delivered) that depict the conference site more clearly. This and the map will be ready ASAP.  « Saper // @talk »  18:56, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Done, map can be seen here. Mieciu K 23:40, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

Same Google maps in local langauge. HenkvD 18:14, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Thank you so much for the map. It's helpful to see where everything is. Though, I have some questions and concerns ...

• The common space shown in this picture seems quite small. Would the parking lot area or some other outdoor space also be included as part of the social area? how would the space be setup? where could people sit as small, informal groups and just chat, eat lunch, take a break, etc?
• The museum and concert hall don't appear to be adjacent (next to each other). The distance between the museum and the concert hall is 415 ft / 126 m, which seems enough distance that the sessions in the museum will have less people in attendance (even in perfect weather). If it's raining, that would be really unpleasant, meaning that sessions over in the museum would not be well attended.

• Gdansk map (415 ft / 126 m) and other questions
• Alexandria map (415 ft / 126 m) - Bibliotheca Alexandrina
• Taipei map (205 ft / 62 m) between buildings at the youth conference center
• Savannah, Georgia (172 ft / 52 m) between buildings - this is for another conference I helped organize (similar size to Wikimania) that had sessions split between buildings. My experience with that was that sessions in the secondary space were significantly less attended, even though the weather was terrific. It also affected the ability for people to gather informally and socialize. It's a challenge to overcome this when organizing a conference, with split venues. Also, if you are providing coffee/tea (I think necessary) during session breaks, it needs to be available in both buildings.

It would be good to hear how you plan to handle these details. That said, I see many other positive factors in this bid that could outweigh the issue of the venue setup. Aude 19:22, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Let me handle this question first, even though I have never lived in Gdańsk and I visited the city and the Ołowianka island many times as a tourist. I hope my local colleagues will be able to correct my eventual mistakes, since I was on the island quite a few years ago, when the Philharmonic was not even there and the Królewski Hotel was under construction. It was a charming place even then (before really revitalized!), so I hope to explain why I like the idea to host the conference there, speaking from the point of view of a visitor.

Through the window - south

Although the island is located on the other bank of en:Motława, opposite the city centre, it is a very quiet place. There is no transit traffic and most tourists visiting the museum arrive by foot or via the ferry. This is a very important point given that Gdańsk is very busy with tourists, especially in the summer. So, once you leave the conference building, you will be in the pleasant area without facing city traffic and crowds immediately. Of course, those attractions are only a bridge or a 5-minute ferry trip away.

Let's have a look through the window of the Królewski hotel, overlooking the south.

If one looks at the upper left hand corner of the photo, there is a small bridge there. That's the way to reach Ołowianka by car, and behind the bridge there is marina and few hotels. The museum (as well as the Hotel Królewski) are built in the old granaries. The first big roof you can see ahead is the first granary of the Central Maritime Museum. So that's how the distance "feels like" in reality.

On the right hand side you will see Żuraw, a large medieval crane, one of the Gdańsk landmarks. This is the Old Town centre and this are can be very crowded with tourists. Fortunately, we are on the opposite side.

The ship permanently moored on the right side, en:SS Sołdek, was the first ship built in Gdańsk after the end of World War II. Given proper setup it it could serve as the Hacking Days or general Internet-access facility.

The common space - the Ołowianka yard

The Philharmonic, the hotel and the Museum share a common yard, marked common space on the map. As we will be sole users of the surrounding buildings, I envision that this space could be turned into some kind of lively Wikimedia village, where people could sit, work, talk while enjoying (hopefully) beautiful Baltic summer. This place could be covered this some kind of roof (to protect from sun and eventual rain) and could make it the #1 social area of the conference. I think that area of this size could suit us well. Weather permitting this could let us to shift the gravity of the event outdoors, something that can rarely be enjoyed during a typical conference, and Wikimania is certainly not the "usual" one. So, with a bit of luck and hard work, we could balance the distances a bit, to reduce potential discouraging effect on the events held either in the Hotel or the Museum. So I hope that we could really turn Ołowianka into the real Wikimania Island in the summer of 2010. Whether SS Soldek could be considered another social place - for example for smaller groups wishing to work on some projects away from the general crowd - this is certainly something to discuss and the Museum authorities are very open to this idea. Certainly there are many options to consider given the fact the we might "own" a larger part of the island into advantage.

This will not come easy, but I am personally very excited to fly over there from Frankfurt (where I live) to work on site on planning and working out details of issues like providing wide-scale wireless access or serving food & beverages outdoors (if possible). But I believe that this gives us a chance to make this Wikimania quite a unique event - at least with less cars, less noise and a bit of sun. And with numerous accommodation options located in the "Długie Ogrody" area, most of the attendees will have a chance to walk to the site. I always reach Ołowianka from surroundings of Brama Złota/Wielka Zbrojownia by foot, like most of the city visitors do. The whole Old Town area is a pedestrian zone, with a very limited car traffic anyway.

I hope my local colleagues will be able to add more on other issues, especially about the prospect of using the second open area as marked on the map i.e. whether we can take the whole island over :)  « Saper // @talk »  21:02, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

• • There is not much we can do about the distance between the main venue and the museum, we will do everything possible so that people who attend meetings in the museum will not have a feeling of being in a second rate Wikimania venue. I think the nature of the conference and the topics of the individual lectures will encourage people to move to the second venue. Even in the worst case scenario traveling on foot 120 meters will be unpleasant but will not do harm to anybody if only the electronic equipment will be propperly protected from the rain. Citing security concerns and a need for additional space, we will try to convince the city president's office and the local Police department to make the area around the venue a limited or closed traffic zone. This should free up additional space in the first meeting place, at this moment we think that the square in front of the philharmonics will be big enough but we will be working on alternartive ideas. We will have tents and chairs set up in the meeting area to protect us from the sun and/or rain. We are considering providing tea and coffee during session brakes but at this time it is not one of our top priorities and it will depend on the size of our budget and local team as even simple tasks like providing refreshments when multiplied by 1200 people can be a major logistical and financial challenge. Mieciu K 09:15, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

Preparations for Wikimania in 2010 in progress :-)

The larger open space north from the Philharmonic is a public place. This space was undergoing renovation as of August 2008 as depicted on the photo. This space can be used a large outdoor are for the Wikimania participants. (Thanks to User:Airwolf for information). Unfortunately we do not have a current photo of this space.  « Saper // @talk »  17:58, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

Thank you so much for the detailed answers! I like the idea of an outdoor central space between the two buildings, as a focal point, setup so that people have a place to sit, gather informally, and socialize. I hope that can be worked out, along with other issues of having sessions split between two buildings. Aude 20:26, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

• Another picture of the open space behind the philharmonics. Looks like a large public space, an agora or a large square in a park is being built. This area will be fully used when a pedestrian bridge will be built next to the filharmonics (planed to be finished in 2010) but we have doubts if this project will be finished before the Wikimania 2010 conference that is why the new bridge is not mentioned in the bid. Mieciu K 20:10, 19 April 2009 (UTC)
• I found more information about this area. It was formerly an unloading area for trains carrying coal to the Ołowianka Power Plant (now the Philharmonics). As of 2008 there is a large parking lot there which can be closed for some special events (like the annual St. Dominic's fair) photo made in September 2008 for comparison look and weep how the same area looked in 2004 Mieciu K 20:36, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

News and current events

The flagship project of the Polish Wikimedia community pl.wikipedia is currently during the process of implementing "reviewed articles". Over 44% of articles have already been reviewed [3] and this project is planned to be finished before the end of 2009 and will make Polish Wikimedia a much desirable partner for sponsors as there will be less of a possiblity of a small PR-disaster like the Seigenthaler incident

The recent Orange-Wikimedia deal made Orange a likely sponsor of the Wikimania 2010 as Orange group has a strong market share as an internet and cell phone operator in Poland.

Also Gdańsk is bidding to become the European Capital of Culture [4] in 2016 with their theme being "freedom of culture , culture of freedom" so the Gdańsk authorities and personally the President of Gdańsk are as interested in Wikmania 2010 conference being held in Gdańsk as the local Wikimedia team. Mieciu K 22:16, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

Suggestion

Dear sir or madam,

First of all, I am a Wikimedia Brasil volunteer.

I can´t say I am experienced. In the months I've been involved with Wikimedia projects I´ve made some contributions, but most importantly I´ve developed iniciatives using Mediawiki software.

I had planned to go to Wikimania in Buenos Aires but I gave up because my English speaking skills are quite poor.

I would like to suggest that you adopt multilingual presentations. I would be interested in making a presentation in Portuguese.

I look fowward hearing from you soon.

Thank you for your attention.

Nevinho 02:37, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Recent Wikimanias decided to go for English as the universal language for the conferences. The same will probably happen with Wikimania 2010 in Gdańsk. That said, however, I see no obstacles to a BoF session when enough users are interested and will be attending the conference.  « Saper // @talk »  00:14, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

Hi Saper, how are you doing. I wish you have been well. Thanks a lot for the google translation of the polish message you´ve wrote on my talk page. In fact, I have already been using that google tool. Unfortunately it is still confused, I think. But I'am willing to learn a bit more of the Shakespeare's tongue. Meanwhile I beg your patience.

As you said, you are one of the volunteers will be working to create an appropriate setup for the best conference possible. Certainly this should include giving room to people like me, that don't feel confortable making speachs in their not own tongue, shouldn't it. Will you taking care of those BoF sessions? How could one know for sure that they will happen?

Sorry for english mistakes. Best regards, Nevinho 18:09, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Wheelchair Access

Is your city centre wheelchair friendly? What accommodations, meeting venues and transportation facilities are available to delegates in wheelchairs? (Bielle from en.wikipedia) 24.138.121.254 20:11, 15 August 2009 (UTC) Now I have a wikimedia account: BL 20:17, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Our main venue, Filharmonia Bałtycka, is fully accessible. Most of the facilities in the city center are accessible (including ferry across the Motława river), but since most of the accommodation facilities has been built in the recent years we expect them to be fully accessible. We will provide more information with the description of the facilities.  « Saper // @talk »  12:55, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Scholarships

Hi to all of you guys. It would be a great pleasure for me to attend on Wikimania 2010. I am a member of new-established Wikimedia Macedonia (actually, user from Macedonia), and I would like to get some informations about the application process for scholarships, and the conditions required for it. You can write on my talkpage, or send me an e-mail on: kiril.simeonovski@gmail.com. Best regards.--Kiril Simeonovski 11:06, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Hello, there will be a new scholarship program this year, please watch the Scholarships and the Wikimania mailing list page for updates.  « Saper // @talk »  12:55, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Saper meant this list (he linked mirror of this list). LeinaD (t) 14:59, 8 January 2010 (UTC)