Wikimania 2012/Bids/Washington, D.C.

Wikimania 2012 candidate cities:

Washington, D.C. (Q&A) - Stellenbosch (Q&A)

Washington, D.C. is a major cultural and technological center in North America, home to many museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions. As the seat of the United States federal government, it is responsible for producing countless volumes of public domain media. The year 2012 is a United States presidential election year, thus giving attendees a unique opportunity to see Washington in the middle of what will be a very busy campaign season.

• Country: United States
• City proposed: Washington, D.C.
• Venue: Georgetown University Conference Center
• Proposed dates: July 12 through 15, 2012 (Hacking Days: July 10 through 11, 2012)
• Planned attendance: 700 attendees
• Contact: James Hare (Harej) jamesmharegmailcom

Introduction

Our city

D.C. on Wikipedia: English, Afrikaans, العربية, Български, Català, Česky, Deutsch, Ελληνικά, Español, فارسی, Français, עברית, हिन्दी, Italiano, 日本語, Polski, Português, Русский, Tiếng Việt, 中文

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. It was founded on July 16, 1790 in accordance with a provision within Article I of the U.S. Constitution, which allowed for the creation of a special district to serve as the permanent national capital. The District is therefore not a part of any U.S. state and is instead directly overseen by the federal government. The District is located on the north bank of the Potomac River and is bordered by the states of Virginia to the southwest and Maryland to the other sides. The city has a resident population of 601,723; because of commuters from the surrounding suburbs, its population rises to over one million during the workweek. The Washington Metropolitan Area, of which the District is a part, has a population of 5.6 million, the eighth-largest metropolitan area in the country.

The iconic United States Capitol, home to the United States Congress.

An International City: The headquarters of all three branches of the U.S. federal government, and of many national and international organizations, are located within the District. Washington, D.C. hosts 174 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). As an international city, Washington, D.C. is home to large immigrant communities, including the second largest Ethiopian community outside of Ethiopia, as well as a large populations from Vietnam, El Salvador, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Colombia, and has a large African-American population. Washington is also religiously diverse, with 10.6% Muslim and 4.5% Jewish populations.

Technology: While the neighboring Dulles corridor area has been home to AOL's offices since its inception, D.C. has since become a hub for tech entrepreneurs, leading it to be referred to in a Huffington Post editorial as "Silicon Hill," alluding to California's Silicon Valley and D.C.'s Capitol Hill. Firms located in the D.C. area include LivingSocial, Clearspring, and JackBe. Within the federal government, members of the Obama administration are looking to open source software to reduce bureaucracy and cut costs. Washington DC has very active open source software and free culture communities, with regular DC tech meetups, and past events including DrupalCon 2009, RubyNation 2011, JSConf 2010, Gov 2.0 Expo, American Libraries Association (ALA) 2010 Conference, and the International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC 2009).

Sightseeing: There are countless opportunities for sightseeing in Washington. The National Mall is a large, open park area in the center of the city. Located in the center of the Mall are the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Pier. Also located on the mall are the Lincoln Memorial, the National World War II Memorial at the east end of the Reflecting Pool, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The National Archives houses thousands of documents important to American history including the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

The Cherry Blossoms of Washington, D.C. — so beautiful, there is an entire festival dedicated to them in the spring.

Located alongside the Mall are several museums comprising the Smithsonian Institution, chartered by Congress in 1846. The Smithsonian museums have free admission, and these museums as well as several other private and public institutions are listed lower on this page. Located directly south of the Mall, the Tidal Basin features rows of Japanese cherry blossom trees that were presented as gifts from the nation of Japan. Located around the Tidal Basin are the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, George Mason Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, and the District of Columbia War Memorial, with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial set to open in August. Outside of downtown D.C., the Metro D.C. area has numerous historical sites and neighborhoods, such as Georgetown and Old Town Alexandria, to name a few.

Food: Washington, D.C. is very easy to navigate, and there is a plethora of restaurants, coffee shops, and bars at varying price ranges. Some famous places to eat in D.C. include Old Ebbitt Grill, a historic restaurant near the White House; Ben's Chili Bowl, an affordable landmark; Busboys and Poets, a combination restaurant, bookstore, and lounge in multiple locations; and Georgetown Cupcake, a cupcake shop featured on a reality television show. There are also numerous food trucks which provide a variety of delicacies for fair prices.

Safety: Most important to us, however, is the safety of the attendees. Washington's safety record is stellar, especially in the Northwest where most of the conference will take place. Murders are at their lowest level since 1966. In total, violent crime declined nearly 47% between 1995 and 2007. Property crime, including thefts and robberies, declined by roughly 48% during the same period. Once plagued with violent crime, many D.C. neighborhoods such as Columbia Heights and Logan Circle are becoming safe and vibrant areas due to overall trends of reduced crime in the District and also through the effects of gentrification. Furthermore, public transportation is readily used by millions of commuters each week as a safe form of transportation in the District, as opposed to other large cities where public transportation is associated with crime. Washington's former reputation as a haven of crime has largely become obsolete.

Washington, D.C. is also at very low risk for natural disasters, with earthquakes rare. It is out of hurricane-vulnerable areas, and it won't be prime hurricane season—factors that made nearby Ashburn, Virginia an attractive location for Wikimedia's new data center. Attendees can come to Washington and expect a safe and pleasant trip.

Parts of this summary have been adapted from the Wikipedia article on Washington, D.C..

Our community

Wiki X DC, January 22, 2011.

A local Wikimedia chapter is being planned.

The Wikimedia community in the Washington Metropolitan Area is one of the most active in the United States, with strong attendance at our regularly held meetups. In January 2011 we held our very successful Wiki X event, with a hundred Wikimedia and free culture enthusiasts gathering at the National Archives and Records Administration for a day of festivities. Long-term projects within the community include our collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives and the FedFlix project. We also have active and highly successful campus ambassador programs at Georgetown University. (Georgetown Voice, NPR) Local Wikimedians also participated in the Wikipedia Academy at the National Institutes of Health and partnered with the Smithsonian American Art Museum for Wikipedia Loves Art.

With the increasing organization of the local community, a local chapter organization is being planned. It is the goal of Wikimedia DC to formalize our existing relations with institutions in the area, acting as a local liaison between organizations such as the Library of Congress and the Wikimedia Foundation and its projects. In the meantime, the community has worked closely with Wikimedia New York City, the only incorporated Wikimedia chapter in North America. Wikimedia NYC, which meets bimonthly, has organized several successful projects, including Wikipedia Takes Manhattan and two heavily attended Wiki-Conferences.

Our team

The Washington bid is being organized by a grassroots efforts based in the DC metropolitan area. The bid committee comprises the most dedicated volunteers; committee members are assigned to handle specific issues related to the organization of the conference, with the coordinator ensuring that the bid moves forward in a timely manner. The committee features people of varying backgrounds, including lawyers, individuals well connected with GLAM institutions, attendees of past Wikimanias, and longtime Wikipedians.

We continue to welcome and will recruit additional volunteers, and welcome people to add your name to the volunteer list below. (More volunteer info) Please contact jamesmharegmailcom if you have any questions about volunteering.

Name	Areas of responsibility	Experience
James Hare	Bid coordinator	English Wikipedia editor since 2004 and administrator since 2006. OTRS correspondent, 2009-2011. Presented at Wikimania 2007 in Taipei. Languages: en-N, fr-2.
Racepacket	Venue and catering Coordination	English Wikipedia editor since 2006. Wikimedia DC meetup organizer. Worked for national trade association which conducted two major conferences per year in Washington and other United States cities. Thirty years experience coordinating volunteer staff that conduct major events.
Djembayz	Sponsor outreach	English Wikipedia editor since 2010. Metadata specialist/librarian. Coordinated Santa Cruz County Bike-to-Work Day, 1992; press conferences for International Press Club, Managua, Nicaragua, 1989. Two years exp. in trade show sales, three years exp. in door-to-door environmental fundraising. Fluent speaker in German and Spanish, functional communication in Russian.
Ser Amantio di Nicolao	Sponsor outreach	English Wikipedia editor since 2006. Fluent speaker in English and French; functional in Italian.
Jyothis	Sponsor outreach and general help	Co-organized WikiXDC at the National Archives. Wikipedian since 2006, primarily on Malayalam Wikipedia. Wikimedia steward since 2010, and OTRS member for permissions & info queues. Speaks 5 languages (Malayalam, English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil) and can read and write 3 (Malayalam, English, Hindi). Outside of Wikipedia, Jyothis is software engineer.
Katie Filbert	Program, visas & registration, sponsors + general help	Wikimedia DC meetup organizer (since 2007) and WikiXDC organizer (100 attendees); Wikimania attendee (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011); Wikimania program committee (2009, 2011); Wikimania 2008 tour organizer (Cairo); Co-organizer of International Crime Mapping Research Conferences, 400+ attendees (2005, 2007) and involved w/ 2004, 2009; Active in OpenStreetMap, CrisisCommons and involved with organizing 2010 Haiti CrisisCamps in DC; Also, a long-time resident of the Georgetown neighborhood, with strong ties to the community and local businesses. Langs: en-N, ar-2
Sadads	Program and general	Wikimedia DC meetup organizer (since 2010), Smithsonian collaboration organizer (Summer 2010), Wikipedia Campus Ambassador (Summer 2010-present), Campus Ambassador Steering Committee member, Wikipedia Ambassadors UK coordinator (2011); Langs: en-N, de-2
Tiffany Smith	Program and general	Wikimania speaker and attendee (2010). Former project lead for Diplopedia; has assisted with coordinating Tech@State conferences as well as other Washington, DC, area technology and library-related events. Long-term resident of the area with connections to the library, technology, academic, and Federal Government communities.
Ragesoss	Scholarships	Wikimania program committee (2009) and WMF staff for the Wikimedia Public Policy Initiative
Sarah Stierch	Special events planning, social outings & General help	English Wikipedia editor since 2004. GWU Masters student in Museum Studies, Smithsonian staff, active in GLAMWIKI, soon to be Wikipedian-in-Residence at a major cultural institution in DC (info soon). Lecturer at WIKIXDC among other events.
Jeremyb	Finance & general help	Vice President of Wikimedia NYC
Chad	Technical team	Long-time MediaWiki developer and now WMF contractor, worked on FlaggedRevs in support of its deployment on the English Wikipedia, and other misc. projects; commits as demon.
Dan Rosenthal	Media relations, OTRS & communications	Attorney (American University, locally from D.C.), former Wikimedia Foundation Community Associate (2010 Fundraiser), Communications Committee member, WMF Press Contact, and organizer for local D.C. Wikimeetups and GLAM partnerships with Smithsonian Institution; also did NIH Wikipedia Academy.
Nicholas Bashour	Media relations & communications	B.A. Journalism, 2010 DC Capital Pride Cultural and Educational Events Committee (organized a town hall meeting on aging in the LGBT community), Wayne State University Honors Student Association (created, organized and chaired the first annual Spring Health Fair in 2009), volunteered at various capacities for such events and groups as the Forum on Contemporary Issues in Society, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Michigan's Student Day the Capitol, and Wayne First: Campaign for Wayne State. Languages: en-N, ar-4
Carolmooredc	Local outreach & general help	B.A. economics and politics, longtime feminist, peace and libertarian writer/organizer, DC resident for 23 years, editing Wikipedia since 2006.
Kumioko	General help
Mindspillage	General help	Wikimedia Foundation board member
Kevin Rutherford	General help
treblclef20	General help
EpicAdam	General help
Kirill Lokshin	General help	English Wikipedia editor and administrator since 2005. Wikimania attendee in 2006 and attendee/presenter in 2009.
Wikipelli	General help
Yachtsman1	General help
NickCT	General help
Patrick	General help	Online student ambassador, able to help with local campus logistics.
Qwerty0	General help	Georgetown alum, DC resident
Ed Summers	Programming, General Help	Software Developer at the Library of Congress
Dispenser	Programming, General Help	Toolserver developer
CutOffTies	General Help
Slowking	General Help

Conference

Venue

The view from the Key Bridge Marriott includes Georgetown's campus.	DC-area Wikipedia campus ambassadors at Georgetown University (January 2011)
Georgetown University Conference Center	Rafik B. Hariri Building (McDonough School of Business)
Atrium, Rafik B. Hariri Building	Georgetown Conference Center Terrace
Conference center ballroom	Classroom in the Hariri building

A two-month exploratory process has led to our selection of the Georgetown University Conference Center as our venue of choice.

Georgetown University is a private university, located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. and 2 miles (3.5 km) west of the White House. John Carroll, later the first American bishop, founded the school in 1789, as a Roman Catholic college. After the American Civil War, the college expanded into a branched university under the leadership of Patrick Francis Healy, and today, is governed independently of church authorities. The university is co-educational and has around 7,000 undergraduate and over 8,000 post-graduate students, who in most years come from all 50 U.S. states and over 120 countries. Georgetown's most notable alumni include former U.S. President Bill Clinton and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team has won a record seven Big East championships, has played in five Final Fours, and won the national championship in 1984.

With Georgetown University ranked at the top of the Wikimedia Public Policy Initiative leaderboard, there is a great deal of understanding and appreciation for Wikipedia—as well as considerable potential for continued outreach—on campus. In addition, there are other strong ties between the university and the local Wikimedia volunteer community, especially though the Communication, Culture and Technology program, which would be supportive of the conference at Georgetown.

Plenary sessions

Wikimania will be centered on the university's conference center, which features a 10,500 sq. ft. (975 sq m) ballroom for plenary sessions. The ballroom has a maximum capacity of 881 people with theater seating or 870 with banquet seating, and can be configured into a smaller space with breakout rooms. There are additional smaller rooms, across from the ballroom, that are suitable as speakers' and press rooms or smaller breakout rooms (up to 50 people with theater seating). We will be the sole user of the conference center during the conference period.

The ballroom is recommended as the main plenary session space, possibly configured banquet style and one of the plenaries could be a keynote luncheon. An alternate option for a special keynote session could be the ornate Gaston Hall, with theater seating for 734 attendees, but has some disadvantages including being in an older building, up two flights of stairs (or a small elevator). The conference center (and breakout sessions) is in a very modern building, with full amenities and excellent air conditioning.

Breakout sessions

There is some breakout space within the conference center. In addition, the university will provide additional space for breakout sessions, most likely in the adjacent Rafik B. Hariri Building, home to the Georgetown McDonough School of Business, which was recently built and opened in August 2009. The Hariri building includes 15 classrooms and a 400-seat theater, and is a LEED-certified green building. An alternative option for breakout session space is the Bunn Intercultural Center building, which opened in 1982 and features solar panels on the roof. Both the Hariri and ICC buildings have auditoriums that seat 350-400 (theater seating), that could be used for larger breakout sessions.

Registration area

The conference center contains several areas that can be used for registration and check-in, including the west lobby, the south gallery, and the east hallway areas.

Lounge space

The Hariri building is connected to the conference center via an outdoor terrace, which provides comfortable lounge space. In addition, indoor lounge space is located just inside the Hariri building, and abundant additional space and comfortable seating is available in the Hariri building's atrium. The ICC building also has a large atrium, and there are a variety of additional spaces that could be used for lounges (e.g. Copley Formal Lounge—200 max capacity—connected with one of the dormitories).

Amenities

The university conference center is connected and adjacent to the Leavey Student Center, which has several coffee shops (Uncommon Grounds, Starbucks), a Cosi cafe, a food court (Taco Bell, KFC, Subway, Pizza Hut), a convenience store, a bookstore, a bank, and ATMs. Inside the conference center is the Faculty Club, a nice sit-down restaurant that is open to everyone for breakfast and lunch. Epicurean is another eating option, with hot/cold buffets, sushi, pizza, etc., as well as a lounge/bar, located in a building adjacent to the conference center.

Transportation

The university shuttle bus stop is located just outside the Conference Center and Leavey Student Center, running every 15 minutes with transportation directly to/from the Dupont Circle station on the Metro's Red Line. The shuttle bus is free for university visitors and conference attendees. The Wikimania organizing team will work with the university to ensure the shuttle bus service is available very frequently, and with plenty of capacity to serve attendees. In addition, numerous other local transportation options are available.

Accessibility

The Conference Center, Hariri Building, Leavey Center and other campus buildings and facilities are accessible for the disabled.

Wi-fi

Reliable wi-fi Internet access throughout the conference center and campus buildings is available at no-cost, with full open access and ability to handle extensive usage. As a member of Internet2, Georgetown University has excellent network connectivity and capacity, and handles many thousands of students using the network each day.

Maps

Map of Georgetown University campus

Overview map of the University and surroundings; Numerous shops and restaurants are located along M St & Wisconsin Avenue.

• Georgetown on OpenStreetMap

Suggested agenda

Possible conference theme

• "Free Culture Capital"
• "GLAM, Outreach and Collaboration: Bringing Other Communities Into Wikimedia Projects"

Possible tracks

• GLAM & outreach - Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums
• Wikis, policy, & government
• Academic/research track
• Wikis & collaboration
• Disaster response and crisis coordination
• Technical
• Community
• Workshops
• Others to be determined

Keynote speakers

A big advantage of holding Wikimania in DC is the ease of getting keynote speakers and presenters that might already be in DC or willing to come to DC from elsewhere in North America, Europe, and other areas. Major conferences in Washington, DC, frequently welcome keynote speakers from the White House, Congress, and Federal Government agencies; academia; major news outlets; and nonprofit organizations. As many such US-based organizations are headquartered in Washington, DC, it's generally not very difficult for those who would be otherwise unable to clear their schedules for travel to stop by a local event to give an inspiring and motivating talk. The bid team plans to invite appropriate keynote speakers based on the conference theme.

Draft schedule

We suggest the following agenda for the conference:

Pre-conference
Tuesday	Wednesday
9:00 - 17:00 Hacking days Morning coffee break + snacks Lunch Afternoon coffee break + snacks 17:00 - 19:00 Group hackers dinner 19:00+ More hacking	9:00 - 17:00 Hacking days Morning coffee break + snacks Lunch Afternoon coffee break + snacks 9:00 - 17:00 Board meeting Morning coffee break + snacks Lunch Afternoon coffee break + snacks 13:00 - 17:00 OpenStreetMap mapping party Evening - Group tours & dinner led by volunteers

Conference
Thursday	Friday	Saturday
9:00 - 10:20 Opening + welcome plenary 10:20 - 10:40 Morning break + snacks 10:40 - 12:00 Conference sessions 12:00 - 13:30 Outdoor BBQ lunch! 13:30 - 14:50 Conference sessions 14:50 - 16:10 Conference sessions 16:10 - 16:30 Afternoon break + snacks 16:30 - 17:50 Conference sessions Evening - VIP party Evening - Group tours & dinner led by volunteers	9:00 - 10:20 Conference sessions 10:20 - 10:40 Morning break + snacks 10:40 - 12:00 Conference sessions 12:00 - 13:00 Lunch + Posters 13:00 - 14:20 Conference sessions 14:30 - 15:50 Conference sessions 15:50 - 16:10 Afternoon break + snacks 16:10 - 17:30 Conference sessions Later at night - Attendee party	9:00 - 10:00 Morning break + snacks 10:00 - 11:20 Conference sessions 11:30 - 12:50 Conference sessions 12:50 - 14:00 Lunch 13:00 - 14:20 Conference sessions 14:30 - 15:50 Conference sessions 15:50 - 16:10 Afternoon break + Wikipedia cupcakes! 16:10 - 17:30 Closing plenary Evening - Group tours & dinner led by volunteers

Post-conference
Sunday
10:00 - 17:00 Wiki Unconference! (optional) Morning coffee break + snacks Lunch Afternoon coffee break + snacks 11:00 - ? WikiExpedition!

Special events

Attendee party

Artisphere logo

Artisphere venue from above

The attendee party will take place at the Artisphere, a cool, hip new venue located just across the Potomac River from Georgetown, in the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. Resident companies of the Artisphere include the Aurora Opera Theatre, Fashion Fights Poverty, and the Washington Shakespeare Company; these companies and others host frequent successful events as well as parties at the venue.

VIP party

The VIP will be at the Phillips Collection in Dupont Circle, which boasts a prestigious art collection and an outdoor patio that is very cool for events. Please see images on The Phillips 2010 Gala page for a sense of what the space looks like during an event.

Other special events

OpenStreetMap mapping party: On Wednesday, July 11, there will be an OpenStreetMap (OSM) mapping party (workshop + party!), at a special location in the DC area. Participants can be newbies, and experienced folks are welcome too. This is a learning opportunity, no GPS required! There will be an introduction to OSM, then we will go out and map, collecting information and map data, come back and enter the data into OSM.

WikiExpedition: On Sunday, July 15, there will be a WikiExpedition event, which would be a photo safari + scavenger hunt, with points for taking photographs and bonus points for collecting coordinates / locations for OpenStreetMap. Participants would be organized into small teams, and the event will be in style of Wiki Takes Manhattan.

Guided tours and activities: During the evenings, volunteers will lead guided tours, group dinners (self-paid), and and outings for attendees, in smaller groups (20-40), to various sites and neighborhoods of Washington D.C., including U Street/Shaw, Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, Capitol Hill, Foggy Bottom, downtown DC/Chinatown, and Old Town Alexandria, as well as walking tours of the Georgetown neighborhood, visits to the Smithsonian museums, and behind-the-scenes tours of sites such as the National Archives. Some tours and activities may also be arranged as pre-conference and/or post-conference activities.

Example activities

• Behind-the-scenes tour of the historic National Archives building on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. and dinner in Chinatown.
• Tour of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, followed by dinner in Chinatown. Highlights will include the The Art of Video Games special exhibition.
• Special tour of the Library of Congress and explore the Capitol Hill neighborhood, highlights including Eastern Market.
• Enjoy the shops and charm of Adams Morgan, a center for Latino culture, and with its numerous colorful murals, eat at one of Adams Morgan's numerous popular restaurants, and take in some nightlife at the Madam's Organ Blues Bar, the Black Squirrel, or on The Reef's rooftop deck.
• Visit U Street, once known as "Black Broadway", stop by the iconic Ben's Chili Bowl, try delicious Ethiopian cuisine at one of our renowned restaurants, see a show at Black Cat.
• Enjoy wonderful cuisine of Georgetown, outdoors at one of the waterfront Washington Harbour restaurants, and take in a show at the famed Blues Alley.
• Join Wikipedians for a ride on the Potomac River, ending up at Nationals' Park to see a baseball game.
• Tour of the United States Capitol.
• Tours of Georgetown University campus and historic neighborhood.
• Special tour of the White House. (if possible)

Note: Group dinners, any shows and sporting events will cost extra and will not be included in the conference fee, but we can try to arrange group discounts. Nearly all of the museums and sites like the Library of Congress have free admission.

Logistics

Accommodations

Hotels

(section blanked, new venue is in a different location)

Dorms and Hostels

Marymount University dorms, which we have arrangments to use.

We have confirmed arrangements with Marymount University, in nearby Arlington, to use their dormitories as a more affordable option. Prices for 2012 are not yet available but this year's prices are $45/night for a single room and $70/night for a double room. We would provide shuttle buses to/from the dorms throughout the day.

Copley Hall residence hall at Georgetown, a possible dorm option that we are pursuing.

We are continuing to investigate other low-cost housing options, including dorms at Georgetown, but they can't be reserved until November at the soonest, and the university gives priority to recurring programs from Summer 2011. We will work hard, with support of our university contacts, to pursue this dorm option but don't have a guarantee at this time. Summer 2010 conference rates for most of Georgetown's dorm rooms were $48/night for a double room or $24/night per person, if sharing a room. [1]

Other options could be dorms at George Washington University's Mount Vernon Campus, located 1.4 miles (2.2 km) away, and dorms at American University, located 2.4 miles (3.8 km) away.

There also are numerous inexpensive hostels in DC, including:

• Hosteling International, Chinatown
• International House of United Tel, Shaw/Mount Vernon
• Washington International Student Center, Adams Morgan
• DC Trekker, Columbia Heights
• William Penn House, Capitol Hill
• DC Lofty, 2 Locations: Capitol View & Shaw/Mt. Vernon

Sustainability

Recycling bins are located throughout the Georgetown campus

Georgetown shuttles

The Sustainable Endowments Institute conducts an annual rating of universities in the United States, and in 2011, Georgetown University received a "B" green report card rating overall and an "A" for food and recycling. Georgetown recycles 45 percent of its solid waste. The dorms at Marymount also offer a full recycling program. In addition, the bid team encourages use of the existing Georgetown shuttle buses and Washington Metro and Bus lines for sustainability as well as efficient transit.

Travel and transportation

Get to DC

Washington is a convenient site for an international conference, with numerous transportation options.

Air travel:

• Reagan Washington National Airport is conveniently located in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from DC and is Metro-accessible. National Airport has scheduled non-stop flights to 77 cities.

• Washington Dulles International Airport has scheduled non-stop flights to 79 domestic and 43 international cities. Dulles has express bus services that connects the airport with DC's Metro system. Metrobus 5A (pdf) to Rosslyn and Washington Flyer Coach has express service to West Falls Church Metro Station.

• Baltimore Washington International (BWI) Airport is located less than one hour away and has scheduled non-stop flights to 65 domestic and 5 international cities. The B30 Metrobus (pdf) connects the airport and the Greenbelt Metro station, and MARC commuter train operates on weekdays, connecting BWI with Union Station in DC.

Rail: Amtrak runs out of Union Station, served by the Acela Express, Capitol Limited, Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, and Vermonter services. Regionally, Washington is accessible through MARC Train and Virginia Railway Express.

Bus: There are numerous affordable, non-stop, wi-fi equipped bus services between Washington and New York City. Bolt Bus and DC2NY both pick up/drop off passengers near Union Station and DC2NY also has pick up/drop off at Dupont Circle. Tripper Bus and Vamoose pick-up/drop-off in nearby Bethesda, Maryland and Rosslyn, Virginia.

Roads: Washington is also the hub of a national highway network, making it convenient for attendees to drive to Wikimedia. Interstate 495, the Capital Beltway, runs the perimeter of DC, and Interstate 95 connects DC with northeast corridor cities and the southeast United States. Cities within a 5 hour drive of Washington include Baltimore (1 hour), Richmond, Virginia (2 hours), Philadelphia (3 hours), Pittsburgh (4 1/2 hours), New York City (4 1/2 hours), Raleigh, North Carolina (4 1/2 hours).

Visas

Note: This page does not constitute legal advice.

Citizens of the following countries do not need a visa in order to enter the United States:

Andorra Australia Austria Belgium Bermuda Brunei Canada Czech Republic Denmark (including Greenland and Faroe Islands) Estonia Finland (including Åland Islands) France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Japan

Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Monaco Netherlands (including Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten) New Zealand Norway Portugal San Marino Singapore Slovakia Slovenia South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom (full British citizens only)

Those who are not in those countries will need a B-1 or B-2 visa, a temporary, non-immigrant visa for business or pleasure purposes.

Our organizing team has excellent, close contacts within the U.S. State Department and an official endorsement of support from them. Ultimately, the decision on granting a visa is up to individual consulate officers, but we will do everything possible, including providing attendees with letters of invitation (upon registering for the conference), making sure consulates are informed about the conference and who is attending/applying for a visa, to help ensure it's as easy and painless as possible for attendees to obtain visas.

Estimation of travel costs from all continents

Round trip to Washington, D.C.; best price on Expedia for July 12 to 17, 2011 as of March 21, 2011

From	Airline	Price (USD)
Beijing	Continental Airlines	$1,598
Boston	JetBlue Airways	$108
Cape Town	United Airlines	$1,945
Delhi	Turkish Airlines	$1,350
London	Delta Airlines	$1,153
Los Angeles	Frontier Airlines	$358
Melbourne	Qantas	$2,699
Moscow	Aeroflot/Delta	$1,004
Paris	Icelandair	$1,374
Rio de Janeiro	Copa Airlines	$1,378
Tel Aviv	Lufthansa/Austrian Airlines	$1,170
Tokyo	All Nippon Airways/United	$1,211
Vancouver	Air Canada	$800

Get around

Metro stations in DC are known for their high, vaulted ceilings

• Washington Metro: A convenient and fairly inexpensive way to get to the heart of DC. Fare ranges from $1.60 to $5.00, depending on the time of day and distance traveled. The most convenient metro station is Dupont Circle (red line), easily accessed via Georgetown University's campus shuttle or the Metrobus D6 or G2 routes. The Rosslyn metro station is also a good option for getting to/from Georgetown's campus, via a campus shuttle bus to the south part of campus, the DC Circulator to M St, or a 20 minute walk.
• Metrobus: A bus system with stops throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area. The D6 route will take you to Dupont Circle metro, stopping across the street from campus on Reservoir Road, and the G2 stop is on the edge of campus at 37th & O St NW, also taking you to the Dupont Circle metro station. Fare varies based on the bus route, $1.75 with cash and slightly less if you use a SmarTrip card. Express buses to the airport cost $6.00.

DC Circulator serves the Georgetown neighborhood, with routes along M St and Wisconsin Ave NW, connecting with downtown DC.

• DC Circulator: A bus which connects the Georgetown neighborhood with downtown DC, Rosslyn, Dupont Circle and Union Station. There is the Georgetown-Union Station route, which comes up Wisconsin Ave NW through Georgetown and takes you via M St to Foggy Bottom, downtown DC / Chinatown, and Union Station. Another Circulator route runs between Rosslyn and Dupont Circle, via Georgetown's M St. Fare is $1.00.
• Capital Bikeshare: Capital Bikeshare is a bicycle sharing system with service in Washington, D.C. and Arlington County, Virginia. A one-day membership is $5.00, a five-day membership is $15.00, and usage fees range based on time per use. There is a Capital Bikeshare station at the main gates of Georgetown's campus, at 37th & O St NW. There also are numerous bike rental shops located in Georgetown.
• Taxis are readily available and meters are used for fares. The starting rate is $3.00 for the first 1/6 mile, and $0.25 per additional 1/6 mile. The maximum fare is $19.00. Numbers for two taxi services are (202) 387-6200 and (202) 829-4222. Taxis between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Georgetown cost $20, including tip, and it's a quick 5-10 minute ride.(Taxi Fare calculator)

The Georgetown neighborhood, established in 1751, predates the rest of the city which was built after Washington DC was chosen to be the capital. Historic remnants include these old streetcar tracks on P St NW in Georgetown.

• Walking is another good option for getting many places, as the campus and Georgetown neighborhood are highly walkable. The main commercial strips are M St and Wisconsin Ave NW, with a large number of restaurants, bars, shops, and amenities. There is a CVS pharmacy (open 24 hours) on Wisconsin Avenue between O & P St NW. The nearest supermarket is the newly rebuilt and massive "Social" Safeway on Wisconsin Avenue, just north of R St NW. For a nice walk or jog, the C&O Canal tow path runs through the heart of Georgetown, Rock Creek Park is on the east end of Georgetown, the Mount Vernon bike path is just across the Potomac on the Virginia side, and another nice walk (45 minutes) is along the DC side of the Potomac, from Georgetown, past the Kennedy Center and to the Lincoln Memorial and National Mall.

Embassies

Washington has embassies for most nations. This not only means readily available consular services for visitors from these nations, but also a chance to reach out to these nations and seek their involvement in Wikimania:

Full list of embassies in Washington, D.C.

Embassy of Argentina Embassy of Australia Embassy of Canada Embassy of Germany Embassy of Israel Embassy of South Africa Embassy Address Neighborhood Afghanistan 2341 Wyoming Avenue NW Kalorama Albania 2100 S Street NW Kalorama Algeria 2118 Kalorama Road NW Kalorama Angola 2100-2108 16th Street NW U Street Corridor Antigua and Barbuda 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW Wesley Heights Argentina 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW Dupont Circle Armenia 2225 R Street NW Embassy Row Australia 1601 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Austria 3524 International Court NW Cleveland Park Azerbaijan 2741 34th Street NW Embassy Row Bahamas 2220 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Bahrain 3502 International Drive NW Cleveland Park Bangladesh 3510 International Drive NW Cleveland Park Barbados 2144 Wyoming Avenue NW Kalorama Belarus 1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW Dupont Circle Belgium 3330 Garfield Street NW Woodley Park Belize 2535 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Benin 2124 Kalorama Road NW Kalorama Bolivia 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Bosnia and Herzegovina 2109 E Street NW Foggy Bottom Botswana 1531-3 New Hampshire Avenue NW Dupont Circle Brazil 3006 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Brunei Darussalam 3520 International Court NW Cleveland Park Bulgaria 1621 22nd Street NW Embassy Row Burkina Faso 2340 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Burundi 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW Glover Park Cambodia 4530 16th Street NW Crestwood Cameroon 2349 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Canada 501 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Penn Quarter Cape Verde 3415 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Central African Republic 1618 22nd Street NW Embassy Row Chad 2401 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Chile 1732 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row China 3505 International Place NW Cleveland Park Colombia 2118 Leroy Place NW Kalorama Congo, Republic of 4891 Colorado Avenue NW Crestwood Congo, Dem. Republic of 1726 M Street NW Dupont Circle Costa Rica 2114 S Street NW Kalorama Cote d'Ivoire 2424 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Croatia 2343 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Cyprus 2211 R Street NW Kalorama Czech Republic 3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW Cleveland Park Denmark 3200 Whitehaven Street NW Embassy Row Djibouti 1156 15th Street NW Downtown Dominica 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW Wesley Heights Dominican Republic 1715 22nd Street NW Kalorama East Timor (Timor-Leste) 3415 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Ecuador 2535 15th Street NW Columbia Heights Egypt 3521 International Court NW Cleveland Park El Salvador 1400 16th Street NW Dupont Circle Equatorial Guinea 2020 16th Street NW U Street Corridor Eritrea 1708 New Hampshire Ave NW Dupont Circle Estonia 2131 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Ethiopia 3506 International Drive NW Cleveland Park Fiji 2000 M Street NW Downtown Finland 3301 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row France 4101 Reservoir Road NW Georgetown Gabon 2034 20th Street NW Adams Morgan Gambia 1155 15th Street NW Downtown Georgia 2209 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Germany 4645 Reservoir Road NW Colony Hill Ghana 3512 International Drive NW Cleveland Park Greece 2221 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Grenada 1701 New Hampshire Avenue NW Dupont Circle Guatemala 2220 R Street NW Embassy Row Guinea 2112 Leroy Place NW Kalorama Guyana 2490 Tracy Place NW Kalorama Haiti 2311 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Holy See (Vatican City) 3339 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Honduras 3007 Tilden Street NW Cleveland Park Hungary 3910 Shoemaker Street NW Cleveland Park Iceland 2900 K Street NW Georgetown India 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Indonesia 2020 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Iraq 3421 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Ireland 2234 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Israel 3514 International Drive NW Cleveland Park Italy 3000 Whitehaven Street NW Embassy Row Jamaica 1520 New Hampshire Avenue NW Dupont Circle Japan 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Jordan 3504 International Drive NW Cleveland Park Kazakhstan 1401 16th Street NW Dupont Circle Kenya 2249 R Street NW Kalorama Kosovo 1101 30th Street NW Downtown Kuwait 3500 International Drive NW Cleveland Park Kyrgyzstan 2360 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Laos 2222 S Street NW Kalorama Latvia 2306 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Lebanon 2560 28th Street NW Woodley Park Lesotho 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Liberia 5201 16th Street NW Sixteenth Street Heights Libya 2600 Virginia Avenue NW Foggy Bottom Liechtenstein 2900 K Street NW Georgetown Lithuania 2622 16th Street NW Adams Morgan Luxembourg 2200 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Macedonia 2129 Wyoming Avenue NW Kalorama Madagascar 2374 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Malawi 1029 Vermont Avenue NW Downtown Malaysia 3516 International Court NW Cleveland Park Mali 2130 R Street NW Kalorama Malta 2017 Connecticut Avenue NW Kalorama Marshall Islands 2433 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Mauritania 2129 Leroy Place NW Kalorama Mauritius 1709 N Street NW Downtown Mexico 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Downtown Micronesia 1725 N Street NW Dupont Circle Moldova 2101 S Street NW Kalorama Monaco 3400 International Drive NW Cleveland Park Mongolia 2833 M Street NW Georgetown Montenegro 1610 New Hampshire Avenue NW Dupont Circle Morocco 1601 21st Street NW Dupont Circle Mozambique 1990 M Street NW Dupont Circle Myanmar 2300 S Street NW Kalorama Namibia 1605 New Hampshire Avenue NW Dupont Circle Nepal 2131 Leroy Place NW Kalorama Netherlands 4200 Linnean Avenue NW Forest Hills New Zealand 37 Observatory Circle NW Embassy Row Nicaragua 1627 New Hampshire Avenue NW Dupont Circle Niger 2204 R Street NW Embassy Row Nigeria 3519 International Court NW Cleveland Park Norway 2720 34th Street NW Embassy Row Oman 2535 Belmont Road NW Kalorama Pakistan 3517 International Court NW Cleveland Park Palau 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Downtown Panama 2862 McGill Terrace NW Woodley Park Papua New Guinea 1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Paraguay 2400 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Peru 1700 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Philippines 1600 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Poland 2640 16th Street NW Adams Morgan Portugal 2012 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Qatar 2555 M Street NW West End Romania 1607 23rd Street NW Embassy Row Russia 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW Cathedral Heights Rwanda 1714 New Hampshire Avenue NW Dupont Circle Saint Kitts and Nevis 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW Wesley Heights Saint Lucia 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW Wesley Heights Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW Wesley Heights Saudi Arabia 601 New Hampshire Avenue NW Foggy Bottom Senegal 2112 Wyoming Avenue NW Kalorama Serbia 2134 Kalorama Road NW Kalorama Sierra Leone 1701 19th Street NW Dupont Circle Singapore 3501 International Place NW Cleveland Park Slovakia 3523 International Court NW Cleveland Park Slovenia 2410 California Street NW Kalorama South Africa 3051 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row South Korea 2450 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Spain 2375 Pennsylvania Avenue NW West End Sri Lanka 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW Kalorama Sudan 2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Suriname 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW Cleveland Park Swaziland 1712 New Hampshire Avenue NW Dupont Circle Sweden 2900 K Street NW Georgetown Switzerland 2900 Cathedral Avenue NW Woodley Park Syria 2215 Wyoming Avenue NW Kalorama Tajikistan 1005 New Hampshire Avenue NW West End Tanzania 2139 R Street NW Kalorama Thailand 1024 Wisconsin Ave NW Georgetown Togo 2208 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Trinidad and Tobago 1708 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Tunisia 1515 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Turkey 2525 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Turkmenistan 2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Uganda 5911 16th Street NW Sixteenth Street Heights Ukraine 3350 M Street NW Georgetown United Arab Emirates 3522 International Court NW Cleveland Park United Kingdom 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Uruguay 1913 I Street NW Downtown Uzbekistan 1746 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Venezuela 1099 30th Street NW Georgetown Vietnam 1233 20th Street NW Dupont Circle Yemen 2319 Wyoming Avenue NW Kalorama Zambia 2419 Massachusetts Avenue NW Embassy Row Zimbabwe 1608 New Hampshire Avenue NW Dupont Circle

Financials

Budget

Submitted before the jury is a realistic estimate of the cost of the conference based on research and our collective prior experiences with conferences, including Wikimania. We plan for every dollar spent, and as stated above, we have many potential sponsors in the area. Assuming 700 attendees, the amount of money spent is about $445 per attendee for the main conference.

All amounts are in USD.

Revenue
Regular Registrations	$11,250.00	225 people, $40 early, $60 late
Student & Wikimedian Registrations	$14,000.00	400 people, $25 early, $45 late
Comped registration	$0	VIPs, scholarship recipients, and conference volunteers (e.g. Georgetown University students)
Diamond Sponsorship	$50,000.00	1 sponsor @ $50K. Naming rights to a lounge space, 5 VIP tickets, full-page ad in the program, exhibit table, name & logo prominent on conference website, promotional items in attendee bag, logo prominent on slideshow prior to start of plenary sessions
Platinum Sponsorship	$40,000.00	1 sponsor @ $40K. Naming rights to attendee party, 4 VIP tickets, full-page ad in the program, exhibit table, name & logo prominent on conference website, promotional items in attendee bag, logo prominent on slideshow prior to start of plenary sessions
Gold Sponsorships	$75,000.00	3 sponsors @ $25K. Naming rights to a lunch break, 3 VIP tickets, half-page ad in the program, exhibit table, name & logo prominent on conference website, promotional items in attendee bag, logo prominent on slideshow prior to start of plenary sessions
Silver Sponsorships	$80,000.00	8 sponsors @ $10K. Two VIP tickets, naming rights to a coffee break or breakfast, quarter-page ad in the program, exhibit table, name & logo on conference website, promotional items in attendee bag, logo on slideshow prior to start of plenary sessions
Bronze Sponsorships	$60,000.00	12 sponsors @ $5K. Two VIP tickets, acknowledgement in the program, name & logo on conference website, name on slideshow prior to start of plenary sessions
Total Revenue	$330,250.00
Expenditures
Meals	$137,500.00	Includes a light breakfast and lunch, as well as coffee breaks. We can adjust the meal budget depending on how sponsorships develop. Here is a breakdown of the budgeted total and a minimal, "bare-bones" version: Budgeted total $7,440 - pre-conference $108,995 - main conference $11,200 - post-conference $9,865 ($8 x ~410 for breakfast) - Served in lounge area $137,500 - grand total Minimal budget $7,440 - pre-conference $83,448 - main conference, lowest budget option $90,888 - grand total Detailed catering breakdown
Meeting space	$0	The $25,000 fee for meeting space will be waived at $100,000 of catering expenditures
Accommodations for VIPs	$5,000.00	5 @ $1000. For out-of-town VIPs.
Travel for VIPs	$5,000.00	VIPs accounted for in this line item are primarily keynote speakers and community leaders
Insurance	$5,000.00
Licences, taxes	$1,000.00
Scholarships	$50,000.00	A "full ride" to Wikimania for someone outside the continent would be about $1500.
Technical	$5,000.00
Promotional materials & supplies	$15,000.00	Includes t-shirts.
Participant gift bags	$3,000.00	800 bags — we will use in-kind donations for the items
Attendee party	$40,000.00
VIP reception	$20,000.00
WikiExpedition	$1,000.00	Scavenger hunt/photo contest
Volunteer appreciation	$1,000.00	Comped registration and goodies for volunteering Georgetown students
Conference consultant	$2,000.00
Contingency	$39,750.00	11%
Total Expenditures	$330,250.00

Sponsorship opportunities

The Washington DC area is one of the top hubs for technology and innovation in the United States, including numerous startups and companies that work on social media, open source software and technology. Larger companies are also increasingly interested and involved with open source technology, as emphasis is placed on open government and open data within both government and international organizations. Local companies in DC, Virginia, and Maryland include Living Social, JackBe, Clearspring, MicroStrategy, AOL (which owns MapQuest, a big supporter of OpenStreetMap [2]), Rosetta Stone, Blackboard, Gannett, Booz Allen Hamilton, and OPOWER. Other tech companies, including Microsoft and Google, have offices and a significant presence in DC.

Our bid team has personal connections with many of DC's Tech Titans, and will actively reach out to them and others in our network to connect with and attract sponsors for Wikimania 2012. We will also reach out to perennial Wikimania sponsors, such as WikiHow and the Open Society Institute. We also will seek advice on sponsorships from contacts at the Online News Association, which had a major conference in DC last fall, as well as from our contacts at the Sunlight Foundation and at iStrategyLabs which organizes the annual Digital Capital Week festival, to name a few. At this point, the sponsorship levels are suggested but we can adjust them as we work with sponsors and get feedback. We are confident about the prospects for obtaining sponsorships. In addition to the listed benefits, sponsorships also give companies the opportunity to associate their brand with goodwill, and open source knowledge and technology, which are very hot topics in DC.

Financial logistics

We have taken the first steps to form a DC-based corporation, with help of an attorney on our bid team, and through this entity, we can handle financial aspects for the conference. We hope it will eventually become recognized as the Wikimedia DC chapter, after going through the chapters committee process and broad community input. Additionally, we have worked closely with Wikimedia New York City, Inc., which has agreed to support our bid, including handling any financial details needed through them.

Media and public relations

NPR headquarters, located at Mount Vernon Square

Discovery Communications headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.

As the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C. and the surrounding metro region has become the home of numerous national and international media and press outlets. The headquarters for Discovery Communications, National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting System (PBS) are located in this area. The Washington Post, an internationally recognized and award-winning newspaper, is the largest newspaper in the region and the oldest still in circulation. CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox all have local television studios. International broadcasters with studios in Washington, DC include Al Jazeera English, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and Japan's NHK, to name a few. National print news media based in DC include The Atlantic and US News and World Report, which is based in Georgetown. There are many radio stations in the area as well, including WAMU, a public radio station; WTOP-FM, an all-news station; its sister government-centered news station, WFED; and a wide variety of music stations. New and social media is very popular in the Washington, DC, area as well: DC is ranked the "most socially networked" city in the US, and local events are frequently included in top 10 trends on Twitter as they happen. This region also ranks 9th largest designated market area in the nation, with 2,389,710 TV homes and the 9th largest radio market in the United States with a Metro 12+ Population of 4,394,600.

Local media outlets

A variety of media outlets exist in the region that we would include as a part of our media outreach.

Full list of media outlets in Washington, D.C.

In professional print media, there are a number of daily and weekly newspapers, as well as monthly magazines, that would be interested in covering various aspects of this event. Newspaper name Format Free/Paid Web site Washington Post Daily broadsheet Paid www.wapo.com The Washington Times Daily broadsheet Paid www.washingtontimes.com Express Daily tabloid Free www.expressnightout.com The Washington Examiner Daily tabloid Free washingtonexaminer.com Washington City Paper Alternative weekly Free www.washingtoncitypaper.com Washington Blade Weekly tabloid Free www.washingtonblade.com The Washington Informer Weekly Free www.washingtoninformer.com Washington Jewish Week Weekly broadsheet Paid www.washingtonjewishweek.com Washingtonian Monthly magazine Paid www.washingtonian.com Metro Weekly Monthly magazine Free www.metroweekly.com Outreach to college newspapers is essential for providing information about Wikimania 2012 to the large graduate and undergraduate student population in the Metro D.C. region. All major universities in the area have student-run newspapers with print and online presence. Newspaper name College 'Web site The Hoya Georgetown university www.thehoya.com The Georgetown Voice Georgetown university georgetownvoice.com The Hilltop Howard University www.thehilltoponline.com The GW Hatchet George Washington University www.gwhatchet.com The Eagle American University www.theeagleonline.com The Diamondback University of Maryland, College Park www.diamondbackonline.com Several television channels are available in the Metro D.C. area. Many of those channels have extensive local news broadcasts, as well as online presence. We plan to reach out to these television channels to cover the event in the region. PBS is of particular interest because PBS programs are syndicated to local PBS stations across the United States. Digital TV Channel Callsign Network City of License Notes 7 WJLA-TV ABC Washington, D.C. Broadcasts from Arlington, Virginia 8 WMDO Telefutura Washington, D.C. - 9 WUSA CBS Washington, D.C. - 15; 14 (Virtual) WFDC-DT Univision Arlington, Virginia Broadcasts from Washington 24; 30 (Virtual) WNVC MHz Networks Fairfax, Virginia Broadcasts from Falls Church, Virginia 27; 26 (Virtual) WETA-TV PBS Washington, D.C. Broadcasts from Arlington, Virginia 28; 62 (Virtual) WFPT PBS Frederick, Maryland Satellite of WMPT, Annapolis, Maryland 30 WNVT MHz Networks Goldvein, Virginia Broadcasts from Falls Church, Virginia 33; 32 (Virtual) WHUT-TV PBS Washington, D.C. - 35; 20 (Virtual) WDCA MyNetworkTV Washington, D.C. - 36; 5 (Virtual) WTTG FOX Washington, D.C. - 42; 22 (Virtual) WMPT PBS Annapolis, Maryland - 43; 33 (Virtual) WPXW-TV ION Manassas, Virginia Broadcasts from Fairfax Station, Virginia 48; 4 (Virtual) WRC-TV NBC Washington, D.C. - 50 WDCW CW Washington, D.C. - The Metro D.C. are is home to a variety of radio stations that offer programming in various languages. Aside from local AM and FM radio channels, we plan to reach out to NPR, whose programing is syndicated to local radio stations across the United States. AM/FM Frequency Callsign Format City of License Notes 570 AM WTNT News/Talk Bethesda, Maryland Broadcasts from Rockville, Maryland 630 AM WMAL News/Talk Washington, D.C. - 1050 AM WZAA News/Talk Silver Spring, Maryland Broadcasts from Washington 1260 AM WWRC News/Talk Washington, D.C. Broadcasts from Rockville, Maryland 1310 AM WDCT Korean Fairfax, Virginia - 1450 AM WOL News/Talk Washington, D.C. Broadcasts from Lanham, Maryland 1460 AM WKDV Spanish Variety Manassas, Virginia - 1480 AM WPWC Mexican Regional Dumfries, Virginia Broadcasts from Woodbridge, Virginia 1500 AM WFED News/Talk Washington, D.C. - 1580 AM WHFS News/Talk Morningside, Maryland Broadcasts from Lanham, Maryland 1600 AM WLXE Spanish Rockville, Maryland - 88.1 FM WMUC-FM Freeform College Park, Maryland UMD college radio 88.5 FM WAMU News/Talk Washington, D.C. NPR 90.1 FM WCSP-FM News/Talk Washington, D.C. C-SPAN 103.5 FM WTOP-FM News Washington, D.C. -

Media interest

The Wikimania conference has been covered nearly every year by the New York Times, and we anticipate that coverage by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other US-based newspapers and magazines would increase were the 2012 conference to be held in Washington, DC. NPR has been very supportive of the CrisisWiki project, and has extensively covered Wikipedia, including the Wikipedia Public Policy Initiative. The many local television and radio outlets would also provide a plethora of opportunities for high-impact public relations connections. In addition, local attendees using social media will help to amplify participation throughout the event. Keynote speakers of high caliber will also help to bring in additional media interest, and the bid team is prepared to coordinate media engagement throughout the event.

Statements of support

Support from the National Archives (NARA)	Support from the Library of Congress	Support from US Department of State's Office of eDiplomacy
Support from Creative Commons	Support from Destination DC	Support from Wikimedia NYC

Self-evaluation

Advantages:

1. Safe neighborhood — Georgetown, as an upscale residential neighborhood, is a very safe neighborhood to hold a conference. Additionally, as it is not right in the heart of the Washington bureaucracy, federal security concerns are not as great.
2. Many exploration opportunities — DC is home to countless cultural institutions, restaurants, parks, etc., linked by a safe and affordable public transit system. Most museums in the city have free admission. Those who don't want to stick around at the conference center all day will have plenty to see in the very walkable Washington, D.C.
3. Opportunities for partnerships — In addition to the many potential sponsors in the region, there are many potential speakers and event partners from cultural institutions, the local tech industry, and local universities. David Ferriero, the Archivist of the United States and avid Wikipedia reader, spoke at WikiXDC in January 2011.
4. Very available for attendees in the Western Hemisphere — Wikimania has not been held in a location convenient for North America users since 2006. Given the remarkable popularity of Wikipedia, this would make the conference available to far more people than in recent years. This is why we are accounting for a higher-than-average attendance rate.
5. Keynote speakers available — Within Washington D.C., as well as within North America, there are many excellent potential keynote speakers for Wikimania who likely can take time out of their busy schedule to speak at Georgetown University, but may not have time to travel halfway around the world. As well, such speakers do not require expensive travel or accommodations. With money saved in our budget, we can allocate funds to bring in some special keynote speakers from more distant places.

Disadvantages:

1. Costs — As a major city in the United States, the costs of goods and services can be relatively high. We hope to remedy this through group discounts, sponsorships, and scholarships for attendees. Furthermore, transportation will be relatively inexpensive for those from North America who will be traveling.
2. Visas and security theater — Due to extremely unfortunate events several years ago, our federal government's attitude has become very focused toward matters of border security. However, within DC, the security theater is surprisingly minimal, especially in Georgetown which does not have as many government institutions as other parts of DC. Furthermore, attendees from outside the country will have ready access to the embassies in the exceedingly rare event it should be necessary. We are also working in conjunction with the State Department, and will minimize hassles of the visa process as much as possible.
3. Dorm availability — The dorms on Georgetown University's campus are not yet guaranteed available for us during the conference. As we work with the university, with department support and likely the university president's office, we very much hope that we can address this and make the dorms on campus an accommodations option.