Wikipedia talk:Meetup/NYC/Wiki-Conference/2009

Attention USians

Please have a look at the plans on the newly-revised meta:Wikimedia United States Chapters Council, and the opportunity for this conference to be the first live venue at which this framework can be developed among aspirant US chapter organizers.--Pharos (talk) 20:53, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Questions?

Any of you good folks have questions about the format or anything? I'm here to help you!--Pharos (talk) 00:10, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

• I'm thinking about having some tutorials for academics separate from the main conference. Do you think this could work out on saturday or should we have a separate day friday? I bet we're more likely to get profs to show up on Friday... +sj+

Session Podcasts?

Any chance these sessions can be audio or video recorded? There are more of us who cannot come in person than there are who can. How can the larger number become engaged? Would such recordings and discussions have to be shared in a non-Wikipedia wiki? Karpinski (talk) 07:12, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

I definitely think this is something that we should work on, and hopefully we can find some people with relevant experience or connections to help out here (anyone?). BTW, I'm unsure what you mean by sharing "in a non-Wikipedia wiki"; the recordings would surely be available to everyone, Wikipedians and non-Wikipedians alike.--Pharos (talk) 14:20, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

An update on this. We had some success recently with an audio recording produced using only a laptop with a built-in mic and the free Audacity program; see Wikipedia:Wikivoices/Episode 43. Since this method (after editing anyway) gets us a pretty decent recording, I think we should start looking for volunteers who will have laptops with built-in mics on hand for some of the sessions.--Pharos (talk) 04:02, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

No need to carry something that big and heavy. Most any cheap little digital camera has a mic and can record an hour or so on a memory card. Or, with occasionally changing the card, video too. And it mounts more easily than a laptop on a little gorillapod tripod that grips the back of a chair or something. Jim.henderson (talk) 04:19, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

I should be able to record and archive video recordings, in a similar fashion to videos available from the Open Video Conference or Meetings@Penn State. There is a bit of pre-conference coordination required (e.g., determining which sessions will be recorded and an announcement that the conference is camera-friendly event). Also, MetaVidWiki integration is in the works. Cheers, GChriss <always listening><c> 17:18, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Sounds great! I think we would want to video record the keynotes, the panels and the lightning talks (but not the open space). There will be a couple of times when we will have two panels running at once, so it would also be great if we could figure out something for that.--Pharos (talk) 19:38, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Topics

Will this be about MediaWiki software, Wikipedia contributions and improvements, or something else? Bud0011 (talk) 17:27, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I would think mostly Wikipedia contributions and improvements (as well as improving other Wikimedia projects), because those topics are accessible to everyone, but of course an unconference is what you make of it, and we'll certainly have a few technically-minded people coming.--Pharos (talk) 01:29, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

I suspect there'll be enough non-Wikipedia chit-chat to keep you interested if it's not your focus. Wikipedians are also interested in related topics. As Pharos says, if you want to make the conference your own, go right ahead. I know I am! :-) GreenReaper (talk) 02:16, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Panels

If we want to add a Panel Proposal, how are we supposed to determine exactly which panel slot (A-1, B-1, A-2, etc.) we want to apply for? I have a proposal and I really don't care which panel slot it's assigned to. (I'll be attending both days.) Apparently some other people were confused too. For example, Panel A-2 doesn't explicitly say "Proposal". Does this mean it's fixed in stone; that panel A-2 will be on "Chapters / Outreach activities"?

Perhaps someone (you?) should re-format the Panels section, especially now that we have (I think) more than six proposals. Also, should a proposal list the already-committed presenters? RoyGoldsmith (talk) 11:52, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

The idea is that you should generally propose something only if you're committed to be a presenter yourself, and that's what the names underneath should indicate. We might play with the times a bit, but I think it will be easier to work things out the current way. BTW, the stuff that doesn't have "Proposal" does count as approved, and we should clarify this.

If you have ideas that you want to suggest for other people to present, then this talk page would be a goods place for that; it's also very possible for new ideas to be incorporated into the existing panel ideas.--Pharos (talk) 00:53, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Discussion should generally be on the talk page

Discussion should generally be on the talk page, not on the front side, so that the front side can look relatively "clean" and unintimidating to the newbies. The exception to this is of course the sign-up area for panels, open space and lightning talks, where we definitely want people to participate. Thanks!--Pharos (talk) 00:13, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

Activism vs. neutrality

Is it possible for activists to edit neutrally? For my first 30,000 edits, no one ever accused me of violating neutrality. It was only when I started working with Wikipedia's most scholarly (and well-funded) fork (New World Encyclopedia), that anyone began leveling charges.

• Maybe at that point I started confusing "objectivity" and "truth" with Neutrality.
• Maybe that was the point where liberal activists realized they couldn't hide in a tiny project any more.
• Or ...?

I was probably unwise (and certainly untactful) to take NPOV issues to the ArbCom. The adverse decisions there were a foregone conclusion, and I regret the breach. Now I have to start all over again and build the trust. It will probably talk much longer this time. (I hear there are 3 or 4 dozen people watching me like a hawk and ready to pounce and devour . . . .)

But I'd be glad to give a talk (short or long) on these or any related issues. --Uncle Ed (talk) 02:20, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

Would be an interesting talk if moderated. This is the sort of topic where each subject is too close to his/her own story to tell it neutrally, but a group well moderated produces a fascinating tapestry. +sj+ 05:20, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

I'll be making the points that some activists do not want to work together but have the time and energy (and numbers!) to game the system. They pay lip service to neutrality while advancing their own POV and dismissing or even censoring opposing POVs. It takes as little as a 6 to 1 majority in some cases to take control of a topic permanently. (I first saw this happening in 2005 and 2006.) --Uncle Ed (talk) 13:54, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

• This would be an interesting discussion to take part in, so if you want someone on a panel I'll join it. Particularly, "What is neutral?" Is it reviewing many different sources and discerning similar themes and facts, or is it giving the three-sided story, "X says A; Y says B; but Z says C"? -->David Shankbone 14:43, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

If you have an article about the moon which treats equally the idea that the moon is made of rocks, and the idea that the moon is made of cheese, you don't have neutrality, you have extreme POV pushing for a radical minority view! How, in practice, to sort out a proper sense of proportion and balance is always going to be tricky and involve thoughtful consultation and dialog, of course. There is no magic formula. But a recognition that some views are widely held and grounded in a reasonable analysis of evidence, and that some views are extreme fringe views and not based in evidence, is pretty important to achieving neutrality.

——Jimbo Wales, 18 May 2008

Which is easy to say when the subject is whether the moon is made of cheese, but not so easy to say when we are talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Bush v. Gore, the Iraq War or the 2008 Minnesota Senate elections, to name but a few. -->David Shankbone 19:18, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

Sounds like a good discussion is brewing!--Pharos (talk) 03:35, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Exactly: the trick is determining when (as Jimbo said) (A) "some views are widely held and grounded in a reasonable analysis of evidence" and (B) "some views are extreme fringe views and not based in evidence"

In the cases I will bring up on the meeting, each side of the dispute is (1) widely held and (2) grounded in a reasonable analysis of evidence. Yet POV pushers have banded together and used majority power to promulgate the view that the opposing side is a minority, or is unreasonable, or both. On that basis, they have gone further than labeling such views "extreme" or "far-fetched" (which is what we correctly have done with the 'moon landing hoax' and 'Holocaust denial'. These contributors censor the side they oppose.

I'm unfamiliar with the metrics for Wikipedia contributors to determine whether an idea is "fringe". If 5 percent of the world's scientists say they disagree with a certain theory, is that enough to be mentioned in an article. How about 25 percent?

Wikipedia will start being taken seriously when it adheres strictly to Jimbo's standard of NPOV and stops tolerating censorship of unpopular views. But as long as it allows a 6 to 1 (or 20 to 1) majority of contributors to declare a "consensus" in favor of leaving out evidence or arguments which oppose their cherished viewpoints, then what we have is not neutrality but bias. --Uncle Ed (talk) 16:09, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Surely you will agree that there are _more_ or _less_ accurate, objective, fair, [un]biased ways of putting things. We should simply strive to eliminate all the problems that we can, and remain constantly open to sensible revisions. Will this be perfect? Of course not. But it is all we can do *and* it is the least we can do.... if you are trying to say that someone, somewhere will always accuse us of bias, I'm sure you're right. But we should nonetheless try our best to be objective. It doesn't strike me as particularly difficult. We will want to present a broad consensus of mainstream thought.... This does mean that sometimes we will be wrong! All the top scholars in some field will say X, but 50 years from now, we will know more, and X will seem a quaint and old-fashioned opinion. O.k., fine. But still, X is a respectable and valid opinion today, as it is formed in careful consideration of all the available evidence with the greatest care possible. That's the best we can do. And, as I say, that's also the least we can do.

——Jimbo Wales, 21 May 2000

That's a quote from 8 years ago, from a Nupedia thread treading exactly the same water!--Reagle (talk) 14:30, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

I think we have a great topic here. I reorged our panel to stick titles on the various panels, and to give it a coherent order. I recommend adding a few sentences from here over there to summarize your argument -- and you can remove my comments. I think it would be handy to have a moderator, just to make sure we all stay on time.--Reagle (talk) 14:21, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

More from Jimbo on fringe science and NPOV: http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2003-September/006653.html -- Ssilvers (talk) 21:15, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

I had hoped to be able to attend, but I received no response to my request. I have a previous engagement from 8:30 A.M. to 12 noon Sunday. If my presence is still wanted, perhaps it is still possible to juggle the presentations. If not, oh well. --Uncle Ed (talk) 13:16, 25 July 2009 (UTC)

OSM

OSM has some institutional funding now and explicit outreach organizers. They could help bring someone specific to the event if invited. +sj+ 05:20, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

Aude has already signed up, and would of course know best about any other OpenStreetMap people.--Pharos (talk) 03:32, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia Academy, probably not

I've been thinking it over, and it might not be such a good idea for us at this time. The planning of Saturday and Sunday is complex enough by itself, and it would be rather unfortunate if things went wrong on Friday because we couldn't devote full attention to it; as it is, we could certainly call some of the Open Space sessions over the weekend for 'wiki workshops' if folks are interested.

I think for a proper Wikipedia Academy deserving of the name, we can probably wait a few months, and we will likely find space at NYU for this also, and I feel we will be much better prepared to host it then.--Pharos (talk) 02:24, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

agreed on that. we aren;t really able to handle it att he same time. DGG (talk) 01:00, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

OpenSpace Facilitator and General MC

The article notes we need an OpenSpace facilitator, indeed! Also, I think we need a general MC to tell people about the day, make announcements, introduce Keynotes, etc. Pharos, are you interested? --Reagle (talk) 14:24, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

I've talked to John Britton, mastermind of the Open Everything unconferences, and he's expressed interest in helping as an Open Space facilitator. I think I can do some of the MC stuff, particularly things which require on-the-fly knowledge of whatever shifting circumstances we have that day, but I hope this is a role that can be generally shared.--Pharos (talk) 00:01, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Cool. I'm happy to help of course. --Reagle (talk) 13:08, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Helpers/Marshals

Maybe we should create a list for those willing to serve in a helping capacity? That is, information, name tags, errands here and there...? --Reagle (talk) 13:12, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

• Good idea. We'll need a the help of a few general volunteers to make sure things go smoothly.--Pharos (talk) 01:23, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Couchsurfing

I heard rumors that some dorms were getting booked... but if that doesn't happen (or even if it does!) a couchsurfing section would be super for those of us coming out of town. I'll get things started :) -- phoebe / (talk to me) 23:55, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

I need a place to stay

• phoebe / (talk to me), probably coming a couple days early to be a tourist I found a couch too. Would love to go siteseeing with others, however; I'll be around Thursday aft-Sunday.
• GreenReaper, flying in midday Friday, heading out early Monday morning (7:25AM flight)
• Ragesoss, possibly coming in the day or night before, so an open couch for two nights would be peachy. Found a couch.--ragesoss (talk) 13:27, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
• Emufarmers, probably coming on Friday and leaving Sunday or Monday.

I have a place to stay

sign up if you are willing to host guests for a night or two

• User:Pharos, I can host someone for a couple of nights

  Is this offer still open? I tried to contact you but I don't think the email got through. GreenReaper (talk) 23:17, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

  Ah sorry, I have a couch occupant already.--Pharos (talk) 00:03, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

• User:MrBleu, I can host one person as well, this is my couchsurfing profile ( http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/mrbleu/ ) —Preceding undated comment added 18:33, 3 July 2009 (UTC).

Touristic plans?

• I would like to go to a museum or two on Thursday afternoon / Friday. Anyone else? -- phoebe / (talk to me) 18:45, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

I can get one person other than me into museums for free. I may not accompany you round the museum, as I may be busy, but I can at any rate run over and get you your ticket and then leave. I am fairly near the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of Art, the Frick Collection, and can go across to the American Museum of Natural History if necessary. At AMNH, I can get 4 people in for free. Best to you Invertzoo (talk) 21:09, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Woo! I would love to go to AMNH or the Met. Anyone else? -- phoebe / (talk to me) 15:25, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

Please drop me a line to let me know what you want to do and when and I will try to arrange to get you in for free. I will be unavailable from 11 am to 12 15 am, but should be around most of the rest of the time. It will be a bit "catch as catch can" I guess. Invertzoo (talk) 19:37, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

• I am free to dine with tourists in the evening any day you're in town. I work in midtown but willing to dine in Greenwich Village or elsewhere in Manhattan. -- Ssilvers (talk) 18:48, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
• I'd planned to camp the Avenue Q theater for rush tickets - the chance to pay $21.50 each for up to two front-row seats, assigned by lottery. You turn up two and a bit hours before the show and write your name down. It's at the John Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue), 8PM show (lottery 5:30-6PM) Friday, 2PM (11:30AM-12PM) and 8PM (5:30PM-6) Saturday, 2PM (12-12:30) and 7PM (5-5:30) Sunday. If you prefer Wicked, it's $26.50 at the Gershwin Theatre (222 West 51st St.), 8PM (5:30-6PM) Friday, 2PM (11:30AM-12PM) and 8PM (5:30PM-6) Saturday, 3PM (12:30PM-1) Sunday. No guarantees! GreenReaper (talk) 19:07, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
• I'm coming probably Friday in the early afternoon, and will join phoebe et al. on whatever sightseeing is going on, dinner, etc.--ragesoss (talk) 20:02, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
• I aspire to be a tourist in my own city! Be happy to hang out with visiting Wikipedians sometime.--Pharos (talk) 16:47, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
• I also want to make a small field trip at some point to the NYPL ;) -- phoebe / (talk to me) 15:29, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

• Ooh, now that sounds interesting, phoebe! I arrive Thursday, should be available in the afternoon... Risker (talk) 02:26, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Friday dinner

When and where are people meeting up on Friday evening for dinner or evening activities? I'm not sure when I will arrive, but if I knew people were meeting up at some particular time and place, then I would try to make it. --Aude (talk) 22:17, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

I'll be happy to join others for dinner on Friday if a group want to get acquainted early. I could suggest a couple of possible restaurants in the general area of NYU if people wanted to suggest a cuisine preference, etc. Newyorkbrad (talk) 23:05, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

I just booked the train and arrive around 8:30 pm on Friday. So, it would be a late dinner and/or beer or whatever. Or, I could join the group a little late, if you want to meet earlier. --Aude (talk) 01:06, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

What time does everything begin tomorrow?

dm (talk) 00:51, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Tomorrow? This is for July...Meetare Shappy ^Cunkelfratz! 00:54, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm just realizing that :) dm (talk) 02:27, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Still, how about some clue as to what time things start? I'll be driving in from western Massachusetts and then presumably taking the train in from the last place I can park free, so .... I need to know when I need to be there! It's getting a little late to not have a time announced at least for the opening. --Abd (talk) 02:15, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

The entire schedule isn't done yet, but the opening should be at 10 AM. I'll update the front side of this page accordingly.--Pharos (talk) 18:26, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Ride sharing

Is anybody driving there to / through Pittsburgh? --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk} 04:33, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Off-wiki registration

Everyone is also invited to sign up for the Wiki-Conference at the off-wiki registration, which can help us get more background info on what people want, and is also rather more accessible to our non-Wikipedian guests—this can also be linked as bit.ly/wikiny--Pharos (talk) 00:46, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Is there a cut-off point for this? My plans for this period are quite up in the air at present. Kafka Liz (talk) 01:11, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

I would say it's better to sign up now, and if you're a "maybe" just say so. But no, there isn't really any cut-off, except I suppose if you want to join one of the panel discussions.--Pharos (talk) 01:19, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Will do shortly, then. Things are really quite tentative at this point, though, and I doubt I'm a good candidate for a panel discussion at this point. Thanks, Kafka Liz (talk) 01:30, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Finalizing Panels by July 13

We're going to have the Panels finalized and approved by July 13. If we have a surplus of panel suggestions, some may be merged or shifted to Open Space.

In the meantime, I urge people to keep in touch with their prospective co-panelists, and try to work up some kind of plan. In some cases we might loosen the guideline about one panel per person. Also, we are considering replacing one of the Open Space blocks with a "Free Culture Mega-Panel" of non-Wikipedian luminaries to be held after Saturday's dinner.--Pharos (talk) 02:03, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

I'd like to give a couple of bullet points of updates and ideas on the evolution of the panels, and see what people think.

• B-3's "Barnraisings and cross-wiki collaborations" should probably be moved to the B-2 slot, so Ed does not have to appear in two places at once (a difficult task even for him).
• A-1's "Technical / MediaWiki" is still rather underpopulated.
• A-2's "Chapters / Outreach activities", which I first proposed, I'm thinking we might shift more in the direction of libraries, in response to the positive response we've had from some librarian participants.--Pharos (talk) 03:50, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

I have to say i think we shouldn't focus entirely on libraries for A-2. Being part of that panel I'd rather not change it.Mitch/HC32 14:15, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Certainly we'll do stuff other than just libraries, but I do think in the current context that topic should be a greater portion of the discussion. There'll still be plenty of opportunity for good WTM discussions, and I think one of the TOPP people is also coming and maybe we can call on her at some point too. You should know that the panels will be rather long, something like 90 minutes, so we should have plenty of time to cover everything.--Pharos (talk) 17:03, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Then 45 each? We have 2 priorities in this section, not 1.Mitch/HC32 19:12, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

OK, I have now shifted the slot for "Barnraisings and cross-wiki collaborations", and I hope this works out better.--Pharos (talk) 03:38, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Another problem with Technical / MediaWiki is that the topic isn't sufficiently focused. Just about any modification of or extension of MediaWiki or its environment could count. I could expand my lightning talk, but that would just mean we're talking about three different topics rather than two. GreenReaper (talk) 06:15, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

As you can see, we've now shifted topic to the more specific "Mapping in MediaWiki".--Pharos (talk) 16:45, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Scheduling for panel

I just found out that I will probably have to leave early on the second day of the conference. I'll probably have to bow out of my panel unless it could be moved to Saturday (although I think it would go just fine with the other three panelists without me). It turns out Sunday was the only day that worked for my baby shower, the scheduling of which I didn't get any input on. Really sorry.--ragesoss (talk) 22:15, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

Ah, too bad. What time would you have to leave on Sunday?—maybe the scheduling could be improved.--Pharos (talk) 18:20, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Probably about 11:30 at the latest, more likely about 10:30 or 11:00.--ragesoss (talk) 21:55, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Hmm, it probably wouldn't be a big deal to switch the panel and open space slots on Sunday, in which case the panel would end at about 11:30. Would that be better?--Pharos (talk) 01:55, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

That would be better; at worst, I could say what I have to say and leave before the discussion is over. No chance for moving that session back to a Saturday slot?--ragesoss (talk) 02:08, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

It's probably a lot more practicable to move the panel within the same day, which means we really don't need to get anyone's permission, while if we switched panels between different days we would have to talk to each member of both panels, which could get quite messy.--Pharos (talk) 04:34, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

Okay.--ragesoss (talk) 04:37, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

OK, I've moved it.--Pharos (talk) 16:46, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Web access

I've never been to an event like this before. Will people be bringing their laptops? (Will there be wireless access?) When I'm giving my lightening talk, I plan to mention certain web pages, and it would be cool if people could follow along. Agradman ^talk/_contribs 20:40, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

Many people do bring laptops to this type of thing, and there should be wireless. Unless there are serious problems, we should also have a projector hooked up during the lightning talks to supplement your presentations.--Pharos (talk) 23:22, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

I can confirm now there will be projectors available for the presentations, and wireless.--Pharos (talk) 19:07, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Technical Issues

At NYU, will participants have access to wifi? Will we have projectors? --Reagle (talk) 12:47, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Look one question up. :) – ClockworkSoul 17:17, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Finalizing Collaboration and WikiProjects

Moved discussion here to keep the page clean. GreenReaper (talk)

Based on your suggestions, do people feel OK about this title, and this order? Alternatively, we can put GreenReaper 3rd, if people feel that would work better. (Will we be able to show PowerPoint presentations? I have been putting together a simple one. Invertzoo (talk) 18:45, 15 July 2009 (UTC))

The title works nicely for me! I'm going to be bold and move Green's talk to the front though, for the reasons I emailed out. – ClockworkSoul 19:09, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Looking good. I'll refocus my talk to include an overview of why people might want to start a WikiProject (and when it might be better to start a separate wiki), as this probably isn't clear to everyone. GreenReaper (talk) 19:39, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Good, this is much better, thanks, GreenReaper. Does anyone know if our panel will have about an hour's time, or is it more? And whether (sorry to repeat myself) we will have a PowerPoint projector and screen? I can make do without one, but I do have a PP presentation set up and ready to go now. Thanks to everyone, Invertzoo (talk) 20:16, 15 July 2009 (UTC) Oh, duh... I did not read the previous posts. Now I see about the projector, probably yes. Invertzoo (talk) 20:17, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Panel A-2 (outreach)

So... how are we going to do this? I added myself through Phraros' nudging :) because I can speak some about libraries & Wikimedia, but am not really sure what direction to go in. -- phoebe / (talk to me) 21:03, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

See in the same thread - because I want it 45-45 - libraries are not our only priority.Mitch/HC32 21:16, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

We'll follow the same general plan as the other panels, which is each panelist gets a 10-15 minute spiel on their own particular topic of interest, and then we move into more of a back-and-forth. For this particular panel, I think there are also a few non-Wikimedians that we would want to recognize for a couple of minutes on the basis of their collaborative work with outreach projects.--Pharos (talk) 15:18, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

I'll be happy to talk about whatever topics people want to hear about. If no other ideas pop up I'll probably just talk for a little bit about chapters, the role of the chapcom, the status of new and potential chapters, outreach activities, and other stuff like that. Basically, I would really like to hear about what the audience is interested in hearing before I break off into a 10 minute speech. --Whiteknight (books) (page) 17:32, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

I was thinking about : uni and grad students, guilds and topic experts, professional contributors to fact-books and subject encyclopedias with their own experience with standards of authority file creation and style. Also systemic bias, outreach to smaller countries and regions and languages; use of better tools to identify what languages have the best new material on a topic/category, and outreach across sister Projects. +sj+ 14:56, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Travel from the Boston area

Is there any ride sharing planned, or are people just going to take the train, horse and buggy, etc.? —Emufarmers^(T/C) 00:59, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

I'm going to drive or bus down late Friday aft - you're welcome to join in either case. +sj+ 13:57, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Name tags

Will there be name tags available for us at the conference? If not, I will gladly bring in my Speaker tag from Wikimania 2007. —harej (talk) (cool!) 06:33, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, we'll have a whole bunch of the type of stick-on name tags that you fill out yourself with a pen or marker. If you want to bring along your own fancy-schmancy preprinted name tag, that's cool too.--Pharos (talk) 15:10, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Tinkering with panel scheduling

I was thinking that if we reduced the panels from 90 minutes (which may be a bit long) to 60 minutes, then we could just about accommodate running them one at time, which means no conflicts, and would give everyone a larger audience. Thoughts from panel members?--Pharos (talk) 19:47, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

I would rather run the two panels at once. 90 minutes sounds long, but not when it's divided by four or five people's thoughts plus questions. Plus if you don't like one panel, you can go see the other one. But maybe it would make more sense to have them sequentially, and in parallel with open space? GreenReaper (talk) 20:12, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

How does the math work on that? I assume you'd need to shorten something else as well. In any case, maybe it's worth dealing with more on a case-by-case basis: for instance, A-1 (which I'm on) and B-1, assuming they both get approved as they are, would probably need less time than others, since they have less panelists (three each currently) and their subject matters are I think more cut-and-dry. Yaron K. (talk) 21:34, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

I think the math would be that we make the day a little longer. Two 90 minute panel blocks on Saturday makes three hours long, but we could run sequential 60 minutes blocks in four hours, which isn't much longer, and then we just push the later stuff back an hour.--Pharos (talk) 21:54, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

For the sequentially option? It would be that we would have 90 minute panels but that some would come after dinner. Half of the space would be open space, half would be panels, throughout. GreenReaper (talk) 22:58, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Hm, it now strikes me that another advantage of sequential scheduling would be that our limited volunteer group would not have to run and coordinate two sessions at once, which would be a real potential source of problems. On 60 minutes vs 90 minutes, what is the thought of people on the other panels?–my impression was that a few others may have also thought 90 minutes long.--Pharos (talk) 18:51, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

Realistically, we're not going to be able to get a full 90 minutes, anyway. You've going to need at least five or ten minutes for bathroom breaks and the like. Perhaps aim for 75 minutes with 15 minutes of padding at the end? That way, if they run a bit long but people are still interested in the topic, it's no biggie, and people have time to have a break between panels. If run sequentially, there will also be open space activities during this time, so it shouldn't be "wasted". Or you could shorten a panel if the presenters agrees that a shorter time is warranted. GreenReaper (talk) 19:02, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, I'm going to be speaking about efficient organization. What I've seen work with short conferences is that, first day, longer sessions in different spaces, an hour and a half is about minimal. Then each session would present a "report" in the evening or on the second day, to everyone, very brief (and kept to that) and then the community assembled decides what to review all together and maybe even to find a preliminary consensus on "take home messages." I've seen this get amazing amounts of stuff done, it is as if each session the in the first set is a virtual committee. This isn't a business meeting, but .... it could be quite interesting. In the second part, one would hear a little bit of each earlier session. --Abd (talk) 20:33, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

Eh, I guess we'll stick with 90 minutes and the current parallel system.--Pharos (talk) 17:05, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Final Questions for Last Week

Some of the answers to these should go on the main page (as soon as you know).

• When will registration open? RoyGoldsmith (talk) 11:42, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
  • 9 AM.--Pharos (talk) 14:45, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
• When and where will the decisions be made regarding the Open Space sessions and the Lightning Talks? Especially for the first Open Space at 11:10 on Saturday. RoyGoldsmith (talk) 11:42, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
  • Basically on the spot. You will talk to an organizer about getting your lightning talk on the list, and the open space will be decided by magical consensus.--Pharos (talk) 14:45, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
• Will there be a schedule with rooms posted, distributed and/or announced for all Open Space sessions? RoyGoldsmith (talk) 12:03, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
  • There will be a wall where we post and play around with index cards, per the open space philosophy.--Pharos (talk) 14:45, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
• Will there be a cafeteria open at Vanderbilt Hall thru 6 pm on Saturday? Or do we all fan out and try to score a hot dog in the 40 minutes you've allocated for lunch and dinner? RoyGoldsmith (talk) 11:42, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
  • There will be food brought in for lunch and dinner (pizza and similar). We're not actually using a cafeteria.--Pharos (talk) 14:45, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
• Where's the party (and how much)? RoyGoldsmith (talk) 12:03, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
  • This is a perceptive question; "party" is a bit of an overstatement—really it means we can hang around till 11 PM at NYU if we want to, and I should make that clearer--Pharos (talk) 14:45, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Schedule thoughts

1. Meals and breaks can be the most important parts of great event! Consider

   adding at least 15 min between any pair of successive sessions. (10min for open space is fine)

   leaving at least 1 hr for lunch, especially since people have to get their own food.

   Hopefully we can put some more breaks in informally. Also, we're bringing food in.--Pharos (talk) 00:20, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

2. Some people tend to be up early :-) Why not start the schedule at 9 with a casual session and coffee? I'll score coffee and bagels on Sunday in case people want breakfast @ the conf.

   What people do you know! —harej (talk) (cool!) 17:27, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

   Well, my coffee contact is out of town; I'll see what I can do for Sat but will have time that day to set things up for Sun. I'll try to find a local coffee sponsor and pick up goods at night. +sj+ 03:54, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

   MOXA on LaGuardia half a block south of the park. Good coffee, chocolate and scones; excellent muffins. Jim.henderson (talk) 02:53, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

   Thanks for the advice. (but can they cater for a crowd?)

3. Can we picnic at 2 on Sunday? I'd like a little more time indoors where people can hear one another to share ideas at the open space. I will bring bagels Sunday so noone is starving.

4. Paley has some interesting video to show; is there a room convenient to where people are eating that could show some of it, perhaps over lunch Sat? That would be a good focus for later discussions about artists producing free art, and the value an audience brings to a work.

   This shouldn't be a problem, we can show the video in one of the larger rooms we're using.--Pharos (talk) 00:16, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

+sj+ 13:56, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

It looks like we might need to have two sessions of lightning talks, too -- these are good for an evening activity as they're pretty informal and fun. Maybe after the panels, or after the open space? --phoebe / (talk to me) 03:03, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

This idea has a lot of merit. Ideally we want everyone to have a chance to present.--Pharos (talk) 00:10, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Open space

Feel free to add thoughts for open space on this list --Pharos (talk) 00:29, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Wi-Fi?

Someone who knows that we'll have Wi-Fi accessibility in all the rooms we're using at NYU should say so on the main page. If we don't, a lot of people can leave their laptops at home. RoyGoldsmith (talk) 23:52, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

Has the food been decided yet for Saturday and Sunday

Have we chosen who we are ordering from yet? I can make those decisions if you want :P - so we can cater to lots.Mitch/HC32 00:22, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, feel free to make recommendations. We were thinking maybe sandwiches in the afternoon, and pizza in the evening.--Pharos (talk) 00:27, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, there's a place in Queens if we could bribe them enough to deliver the pizza. I've eaten there for 18 years, they are great. Also, how much do we have to spend?Mitch/HC32 00:29, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

I like Polito's in LIC but John's in Carmine Street is as good and much closer. Jim.henderson (talk) 00:35, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

John's is an issue in terms of paying for it. They want cash or traveler's checks. I am reading Polito's reviews. They're in Queens too. My place I thought of was Pizza Chef in Whitestone. I have eaten there for 18 years, they are great. Lemme keep looking, then we'll take a vote on the best place.Mitch/HC32 00:40, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Or well, instead of delivery, one (or a couple of us could go get the pizzas) :P - Mitch/HC32 00:58, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

For hard-core traditionalism, Lombardi's. My own experience in that genre however, is limited to the excellent Totonno's in Coney Island. Jim.henderson (talk) 03:17, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

I saw Lombardi's, but we've run into a few issues with a lot of places, including finding 1 that was out of business yet their site was up. I found a place in the Financial Distrtict which is good, but we need something called delivery to go pick it up.Mitch/HC32 03:21, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Lombardi's is another payment issue.Mitch/HC32 03:23, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

(outdent) - you'd seriously consider shipping pizza in from Queens to the Village? Do you particularly like cold pizza? If you mean Adrienes in the Financial district, you're going to have the same problem. There's a patsys pizza on a few blocks away on University Place. Or Otto if you're trying to go high-end. And of course Joes. I've never ordered delivery for any of these, but the pies are all good. My personal choice of those, probably Patsys for value. dm (talk) 06:56, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes, the financial district one was Adrianne's Pizzabar. I checked out Joes, and is majorly a no-go. There are a number of issues we are running to.Mitch/HC32 16:09, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Delivery? Even among pizzagobbling nerds some of us are strong enough to walk a couple blocks with a few pizza boxes. Jim.henderson (talk) 16:58, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

I am aware of that, but you're talking 15-20 blocks with pizza boxes. I do like the proposal that Adrianne's gave us when I called.Mitch/HC32 17:04, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Dmadeo - I look into your places. Patsy's has a payment problem, and Otto has a site completely different than their name. Still looking for places.Mitch/HC32 18:14, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Here is Otto's default website I pointed you at menupages.com since its easier to see at one glance. What is the payment problem you keep referring to? Is it that you need to use a check? I love Adrienne's pizza, but it's 2.6 miles away dm (talk) 02:07, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

I have set up a straw poll. See here. Mitch/HC32 18:50, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Eh, I'm pretty sure we'll do Francesco's as it's by far most convenient (talked about this with Mitch off-wiki).--Pharos (talk) 02:52, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Works for me, as long as we're not shipping in Pizza to the Village. dm (talk) 04:55, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Picnic in Central Park on Sunday: what if it's raining or stormy?

The National Weather Service forecast for Sunday (as it currently stands, it will almost certainly change between now and then) gives a 40% chance of thunderstorms.

Any ideas about what we should do if the weather does not cooperate for the picnic?

Thanks, Invertzoo (talk) 19:57, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

We'll still have the rooms reserved at NYU for the remainder of Sunday, so my thought would be some bonus open space sessions if we're rained out of the picnic.--Pharos (talk) 23:15, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Things for the picnic

Last year, there was a list of things that people were bringing for the picnic. [1] What's the deal for this year? Is food being provided? --Aude (talk) 20:13, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

We'll try to get some food centrally also, but potluck is definitely the wiki way, and we certainly encourage that. Edit this picnic!--Pharos (talk) 23:18, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Vegetarian and other options

Please make sure for sandwiches on Saturday, the pizza, and anything else, that there are vegetarian options. There always are people who require that. --Aude (talk) 20:15, 23 July 2009 (UTC)\

That's fine, as soon as I can order from some place.Mitch/HC32 20:16, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Sure, we'll have vegetarian options.--Pharos (talk) 23:10, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

What about Kosher and Halal (Muslim) meals? Or are we getting too PC here? How about Ital (Rastafarian) food? RoyGoldsmith (talk) 16:23, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Sick

It's probable that I can't give my talk on Saturday, as I have been sick with a respiratory infection and cough. If I get drastically better in the next 24-36 hours, then I might still be able to give a brief talk. But, I'm not hopeful. I might be okay just attending and listening, but not sure of that either. --Aude (talk) 04:04, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Hope you are feeling better soon. Regards, Newyorkbrad (talk) 15:39, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Please get some rest, and don't worry about it. Here's to hoping you're well enough to sit in and share some of the pizza.--Pharos (talk) 17:12, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

That's too bad... I hope you can make it, and if not, hopefully we can get SlippyMap covered in one way or another. Yaron K. (talk) 21:10, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Twitter

Anyone else want to establish a Twitter presence for the weekend? I myself used the hashtag #wikinyc last night, but if there's something else we want to use, that's fine. --Izno (talk) 14:20, 25 July 2009 (UTC)

@Bastique and I (@harej) are tweeting this using the hash tag #nywikiconference. —harej (talk) (cool!) 17:06, 25 July 2009 (UTC)

Video?

One of my WikiProject Gastropods co-workers is asking me where the video footage that is being shot will be posted. Does anyone know? Thanks everyone, Invertzoo (talk) 00:54, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, it will be posted, but probably it'll take a little while to get it all online.--Pharos (talk) 04:17, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Sunday panel A-3: From porn to Palestinians: What is neutrality?

I have quite a few slides for my section of the panel on neutrality and activism, From porn to Palestinians: What is neutrality?, but my laptop is non-functional. I'm taking it there's a set up for projection - will there be spare laptops around that I can borrow for the duration of my presentation? Hoping, >David Shankbone 02:10, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

No, not available. We'll all be live tweeting the lack of spare laptops...

...

I kid. Yes, there are many laptops and other such media delivery devices here. I'll lend you mine if necessary. --Izno (talk) 03:30, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

• At every Wikipedia event I attend, I walk away with a sense of happiness that when we all meet in person we evidence the smart, open-minded and good people we are who put a lot of thought into the world and how to describe it. I had a great time meeting many of you today. Thank you for listening to me ramble. Anyone would benefit from watching the video of Joseph Reagle and Sage Ross discuss their ideas about neutrality and activism. Joseph and Sage were illuminating, to say the least. Simply a good time. Best, >David Shankbone 19:41, 26 July 2009 (UTC)
  • Oh, and Phoebe: Best. Moderator. Ever. -->David Shankbone 19:53, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

WikiNYC picnic

Did it happen? I live just a block away & was headed out there with ice cream when first my landlord showed up then a neighbor wanted a chat. I was just about to leave when a thunderstorm rolled through. Anyone still hanging out? —Elipongo (Talk contribs) 23:07, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

A formal picnic, as far as I know, never happened. We basically split up into subgroups and went to various restaurants for lunch. —harej (talk) (cool!) 23:30, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

As harej says, there was no real picnic. However, I do remember hearing a vague suggestion that we schedule another day to actually picnic, to make up for it, so stay tuned I guess. keɪɑtɪk flʌfi (talk) 23:34, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Actually, some of us did have a small picnic in nearby Washington Square Park.--Pharos (talk) 23:51, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

That makes me feel better that I didn't miss you all through my own procrastination. Leaves more ice cream for me. Well we should get on with our traditional WikiNYC! How's three weeks from today sound? —Elipongo (Talk contribs) 01:33, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

There should be a real picnic. I couldn't make it today due to some personal things, and it was raining on and off all day anyway. Sign me up if we do have a picnic. Enigma^msg 01:39, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes, we should have a picnic. Shappy ^talk 01:44, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

I wandered around for about 1/2 hour and could not find anyone. I left disappointed. Bearian (talk) 18:05, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Ah, very sorry to hear about this. I tried to put the weather warning on-wiki before 7 AM, but even though it didn't rain immediately as we let out of the morning session, with the impending threat of serious storms we decided as a group it would be better not to venture too far from shelter and the possibility of retreat inside.--Pharos (talk) 01:30, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Photos

Most of the people taking pictures this weekend indicated that they'd be uploading the pics to Commons eventually. Could I ask a favor? When they go up, could someone leave a pointer to them here, for those of us who are not so conversant in commons and might not be able to track them down ourselves? keɪɑtɪk flʌfi (talk) 00:33, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

You weren't kidding when you said you spoke IPA. —harej (talk) (cool!) 00:43, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

I will starting tomorrow. There is a commons cat though.Mitch/HC32 00:47, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

link –Juliancolton | ^Talk 04:43, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Thanks guys! keɪɑtɪk flʌfi (talk) 12:38, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

I uploaded my photos in that category too. I haven't added any names yet, and would appreciate help with that. If there's a picture of you that you don't like, let me know and I'll remove it.--ragesoss (talk) 15:00, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Sigh. I need to get back to the gym. -->David Shankbone 20:06, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Nah, you look fine. Much cuter than I was expecting, actually. Firestorm ^Talk 04:30, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, I'll take that compliment with a big "Thanks!" though I used to be in better shape. -->David Shankbone 14:12, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

No matter what shape you used to be in, I still had to resist the urge to flirt ;) Firestorm ^Talk 02:08, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I need to learn to keep my mouth shut when people are taking pictures. I kinda creep myself out in that one.--ragesoss (talk) 04:47, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

• Sage - you have a cool look in that shot - I liked it! It's not a Glamour Shot, but I liked the action and that I could read thoughts going across your mind in the photo. -->David Shankbone 14:13, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

I like your spin. Although I have to admit, my hair at least is rather Glamour Shot-esque.--ragesoss (talk) 14:48, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes, but it was your homage to the recently-deceased Farrah Fawcett. Wasn't that your obvious intent?  :-) -->David Shankbone 15:05, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

• I had some others where you were positioned even worse; the above is the best I had of the three of you, so its the one I uploaded. Firestorm ^Talk 04:52, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Even worse?!? I think I'd like to see those. Could you send them to my username at gmail if it's no trouble? --ragesoss (talk) 05:13, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

You look a little bit like someone out of The Shining (film) in that one, Sage... keɪɑtɪk flʌfi (talk) 14:51, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for organizing this

Pharos, thanks so much for coordinating this. Everyone who helped out did a great job. I really enjoyed meeting some of the people behind the names and seeing those I've met before. Sorry I couldnt make it today to hear Brad's talk. dm (talk) 04:19, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Ditto, and I'm looking forward to more notes and the videos finding there way onto the wiki. --Reagle (talk) 15:03, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

I was reluctant to come at first, but I'm glad I came. It was very nice meeting everyone in person. Thanks to everyone who organized this! Nishkid64 _{(Make articles, not wikidrama)} 15:11, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

A big thanks to everyone who helped out, and to every single person who participated. You all made it something richer.--Pharos (talk) 18:32, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

The derelict hard drive

During the long trek to lunch, I and another Wikipedian (I think it was User:Ameres) found a 40GB hard drive laying on the curb. It was quite dirty, but luckily, it was not dirty anywhere that mattered. After doing a little bit of cleaning with a tissue, I loaded the hard drive onto my IDE enclosure and plugged it into my MacBook. The drive's volume name was "IBM_PRELOAD" and it appeared to be a vanilla installation of Windows (I was not able to tell which version). While the hard drive was running it was making high-pitched whirring noises, and then the hard drive finally died. This is either because the hard drive was already in bad shape (probably a person tried to reinstall Windows to see if that was the cause of his or her problem, then decided it was the hard drive's fault so the hard drive was chucked) or because it had a rough trip home on NJ Transit. As far as I know, nothing interesting was on the hard drive. About 7GB of space was used up on the hard drive. —harej (talk) (cool!) 11:23, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

• Harej, why did you do this? You could have come on here and said some of our theories were right. "Guys, I uploaded the hard drive and suddenly my computer went dead. Two minutes later, the phone rang. The man on the other end told me that if I wanted to live, then I had to leave my house within 10 minutes and get myself to the Avenue X uptown subway platform and wait by the pay phone." *sigh* -->David Shankbone 13:39, 27 July 2009 (UTC)
  • Er, I mean, it caused my computer to shut down then Robert Gibbs came to my house asking where his body double MBisanz was. —harej (talk) (cool!) 15:00, 27 July 2009 (UTC)
    • "...the caller told me to bring the hard drive, that it wasn't just my life, but my family's at stake. When I arrived at Avenue X I waited by the dirty yellow payphone receiver on the platform, but just as it rang and I reached for it, someone hit me on the back of the head. I woke up dazed, in what I later realized was Brighton Beach. Let's just that because of that hard drive, my night involved a Ukranian mafioso named Semyon and his tranny girlfriend "Mo", a bee-keeper's hat, a bottle of Silver Patron I convinced my father to buy as part of the transaction, and the sort of hacking that one has to do to save one's life, and that of his family's... But it was all worth it to see you guys at the Wiki-Conference New York City!" -->David Shankbone 16:11, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

As it turns out, the hard drive is not actually dead. I looked at it some more, and it appears to contain a lot of educational software for young children. I am assuming this computer is an IBM OEM. I have decided that I will wipe it out and use it for my own purposes. —harej (talk) (cool!) 20:47, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

If this is a serious thread, please bear in mind that the hard drive may belong to someone from NYU, having nothing to do with our conference. Newyorkbrad (talk) 21:50, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, if there's any clue to who it belongs to (and there may not be), you should try to get it back to them.--Pharos (talk) 17:46, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

It was found on the street on the quest to find the best burger in NYC, at some distance greater than 5 blocks from NYU. Ameres (talk) 20:59, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

There was no kind of identification on it; there were not even any personal files that could be found. —harej (talk) (cool!) 21:39, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Sunglasses found

There was a pair of sunglasses and their case found left in one of the NYU rooms, and I'd like to give them back to the owner. So if they're yours, let me know :)--Pharos (talk) 01:53, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Any word on my Monopod?Mitch/HC32 01:58, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Unless it happens to be a cleverly designed sunglasses-shaped monopod, sadly there's been no sign of it.--Pharos (talk) 23:28, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

hmm... I'm missing a pair of sunglasses, but not the case. What color are they? Mine were black, wraparound for biking. Anyway, even if they are mine, awkward to mail back :) -- phoebe / (talk to me) 06:39, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

They are black "Serfas" brand wraparounds; look slightly different from this model.--Pharos (talk) 23:28, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Hmm. Those are indeed mine. I'd like to have them back, not sure about the mailing issue. :P I'll send you a note. -- phoebe / (talk to me) 02:19, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

Signpost article

Someone probably should do a little polishing on the article about the conference in the Signpost......... Thanks and regards, Newyorkbrad (talk) 13:16, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

It would be optimal to have the videos up before the Signpost is sent out; at least a few, such as the keynotes. -->David Shankbone 14:11, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

It's already been sent out, actually.... Newyorkbrad (talk) 19:29, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps they could be added as follow-up content in the next issue? GreenReaper (talk) 19:37, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

That's a good idea. Let's meet at NYU on 8:00 on Saturday and we can write next week's article. Newyorkbrad (talk) 19:43, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Will there be free beer? ParkerHiggins ( talk contribs ) 16:24, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

On a more practical note about this Saturday, we wouldn't have free access to the building then. Those rooms have to be reserved in advance.--Pharos (talk) 17:56, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Readers Guide to WP

Yay evangelizing! I have now managed to give away all 6 copies of the Readers Guide that I brought home from the meetup - my coworkers were fascinated! (Of course, they also blinked at me and went, "What do you...DO at a, um, Wikipedia conference?"...but at least they asked instead of just looking at me funny) keɪɑtɪk flʌfi (talk) 15:06, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Ah, great! We have a bunch more left, so let me know if you need more, especially for any folks in the educational/library/nonprofit fields.--Pharos (talk) 18:15, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I missed out on this. Can I perhaps have some mailed to me (I live in NYC)? Thanks, Invertzoo (talk) 19:43, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

Sure. Email me and I'll send some, or could drop them off at AMNH as well.--Pharos (talk) 19:52, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

Are the guides free (as in beer)? If so, I'd also be interested. Firestorm ^Talk 21:36, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

I would love some too. My co-workers have to endure me talking about Wikipedia often enough, now I can push "literature" on them. ;) Seriously, though, I could make good use of them. – ClockworkSoul 23:43, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

OK folks, if you have a good spiel like I said just email and I can get you some, and I'll also be bringing a few to the coming September meetup at Columbia.--Pharos (talk) 03:39, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

Question

Does anyone know if there is video on the interwebs from the conference? thanks, U5K0 (talk) 21:47, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

There will be, but we don't have it online yet.--Pharos (talk) 23:45, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

OK folks, Jimmy's keynote, and the Saturday morning intro session, is here. The first of many more to come.--Pharos (talk) 03:30, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you very much for the link and the upload.U5K0 (talk) 20:35, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

You should thank User:GChriss for the videography and uploads, and also User:TheDevilOnLine who himself did many videos which should be coming online later.--Pharos (talk) 17:35, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

Email me a PDF to!--Ipatrol (talk) 19:55, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

Um, what PDF are you talking about?--Pharos (talk) 20:10, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Meetup/NYC/Wiki-Conference 2009#What Did You Learn at the NYC Wiki-Conference 2009

These are fun, feel free to add more :)--Pharos (talk) 19:39, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

Furthest traveller?

I'm curious: who travelled furthest to attend the conference? - ClockworkSoul 22:50, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

Well, I'm British. :-) But I only flew in from Detroit, where I work. GreenReaper (talk) 01:30, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

I think TheDevilOnline came in from the Netherlands.--ragesoss (talk) 01:52, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

And TSB came from Brazil! Both had already planned trips to the US, but altered their itineraries to fit in the Wiki-Conference. Our farthest North Americans were Phoebe and Cary from San Francisco.--Pharos (talk) 23:13, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

Igor

For those of you who attended my presentation, the (more or less) complete list of wikiprojects (along with activity, participants, etc. data) is now available at http://wiki-igor.net. Remember, it's still in active development and many more functions are in the works, but please feel free to let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions. And yes, I know the sort function is ssslllloooowwwwwww: I need to seriously streamline the javascript. Enjoy! – ClockworkSoul 00:01, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

You need to make it so redirects don't qualify, and then look for the main project page. For example, WP:WP Video games is currently listed as "WP:WikiProject Massively multiplayer online games", which while a redirect to Video games, bugs out the Assessment link supplied on Video games' page. This might also be throwing off the stats, as Video games is a '1.5' on its score, when it is very likely higher. --Izno (talk) 00:28, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

I'll take a look at it. I think I know what the problem is. Video games is unique in the degree to which it employs redirects. – ClockworkSoul 02:12, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

What I learned

I always come away from these things seething with resentment because everyone's smarter and nicer than me and most are younger and cuter, too. Naah, I enjoy spending time with those kinds of people as much as anyone does.

I learned that Google gives us top hits, not because there's a special secret deal or because they think commons:Wikipe-tan is pretty, but because they count our massive internal links as showing we are loved. So, any of us who want our particular articles to be hit upon, should tend our Wiki-in-links.

I've still got three copies of the Readers Guide, and late in the month will give away whatever's left then. Should have glommed some more, but I'll do that at next month's chapter meeting. Quite properly they are given out for free, but to raise a bit of cash there ought to a table where some lonely volunteer sells Wiki T-shirts and stickers at 400% markup. I want a jigsaw globe sticker on my helmet. Not the Commons logo, even though the helmet gets used for bicycling around town with my little camera taking picures for Commons. Nobody will recognise that one; they'll think I'm spying for the Royal Martian Air Force or something.

Drat; when the chance arose I didn't tell User:Dmadeo that his photos this year were excellent; how come in the past couple months he's just been handling words and categories instead of beating me in the cutthroat world of Wikiphotography? Jim.henderson (talk) 00:00, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the compliment. I've been enjoying fixing Category:Museums in the United States, I'm already up to Michigan... I'm learning a lot about the museums throughout the county dm (talk) 04:53, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

September meetup date

There are only two Sundays in September that don't conflict with the Jewish holidays, the 5th and 13th, and the reserver of our room at Columbia has told me the latter would be better for them. So is there any great objection to Sunday, September 13th?--Pharos (talk) 22:58, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

FYI, I've started the new meeetup page at Wikipedia:Meetup/NYC.

OK, I've put a provisional date there for Sunday September 13th, and added a couple of early ideas.--Pharos (talk) 22:48, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

OK, I've set it for Sun Sept 13 at Wikipedia:Meetup/NYC, and feel free to sign up there, and/or add your name to our invite list.--Pharos (talk) 19:59, 14 August 2009 (UTC)

Videos?

Could someone update us on the current status of posting some of the videos, with a link? Thanks, Newyorkbrad (talk) 23:15, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

We currently have two videos up, and the whole collection online can be seen here on the Internet Archive. If you want immediate updates by Twitter, you can also follow this stream. There are a rather large number of videos though, and I am afraid it might be a while before they can get all of them online.--Pharos (talk) 23:35, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the reply. A couple of people have asked me for a link to my talk (and the later Q&A), so I just wanted to make sure I'll see them when they're up. Regards, Newyorkbrad (talk) 02:25, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

• I understand the time commitment, but is there perhaps a way that other people adept in how to upload the videos, and whatever it entails, could help? I'm somewhat surprised at how few have been put up this far out. -->David Shankbone 05:15, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

This video is now online.
I am seeking volunteers for the following:

To record future events

To edit then publish/archive the sessions

To annotate and/or transcribe the footage

To develop OpenMeetings.org

Finally, help in documenting this entire process

I apologize for the delay. The conference came at an interesting and busy time for online, open video. More to come. Sincerely, GChriss <always listening><c> 14:14, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

• It's not really a delay three months later. At the risk of sounding like a jerk, I'd prefer not to have the presentations video-taped with the expectation that they would actually be uploaded. But this amount of time, who cares anymore? Newyorkbrad got his bit up, otherwise, don't waste your time and in the future - don't tape and raise expectations. This far along, just drop the idea that video of this conference will be available. It's one thing when the wait is a matter of weeks; it's another thing when the wait is months out. -->David Shankbone 02:39, 30 August 2009 (UTC)
  • David, I don't think you're being entirely fair here. It's only been five weeks by my calendar (i.e., not months), and the people involved are just as much volunteers as we are. I would actually have been surprised, given the number of hours involved, if they'd got much further than this. Lightning talks, for example, have to be edited into their 5-minute components from a single file. Risker (talk) 03:01, 30 August 2009 (UTC)
    • I'm being perfectly fair. We all exist on volunteerism, but that means we actually have to follow-through with our commitments or else we shouldn't commit. I say I'm going to photograph the Tribeca Film Festival, people expect to see the photos. It's my word. Sorry, it hasn't been three months, it has been two (July 25). Regardless, the main guest speakers and the main panels should have been up within a few weeks. We aren't talking rocket science here. We're talking digital video uploads. In the end, don't volunteer if you can't follow-through. As a volunteer on this project who has more than put weight behind the word of what he says he will do, I feel entitled to make the criticism. -->David Shankbone 02:55, 30 August 2009 (UTC)
      • Did I miss four weeks? It's nowhere near September 25th. Risker (talk) 03:01, 30 August 2009 (UTC)
        • Touche. But it's felt like three months. That the videos aren't being uploaded is noticed by many. That it's being portrayed as brain surgery to simply remaster a digital video into OGG is suspect. Get the main videos up. Otherwise, what's the point? When you volunteer to do video, you actually volunteer to do it. Risker, when you volunteer to do ArbCom, you actually volunteer to deliberate and you come under criticism when you don't. It's the same issue. What's the point of video if we don't put it up timely? Simply for historical, documentarian motivations? Get the video up. It's really not that hard, and if it is, then perhaps we should just do video via cell phone, immediately upload the results, and actually have people discuss our ideas in a timely manner. As it is now, our discussions are becoming irrelevant by the day. -->David Shankbone 03:07, 30 August 2009 (UTC)
          • I don't know, David - the topic you spoke on will remain au courant for a long time, I think; your presentation, along with those of your co-panelists, was on one of the perennial issues for Wikipedia and its editors, and I think it will continue to resonate for a long time to come. I do understand your frustration, though. Although I'm really not all that eager to have my lightning talk uploaded, I've had many people inquiring when it will be available; some of them are even Wikipedians in good standing. I guess I see the delay in uploading the videos as something akin to my delaying work on an article because I'm off doing that arb deliberation thing. Which, now that you mention it, I've had to set aside occasionally in order to address matters in the real world. Well, if nothing else, please rest assured that I will stand behind you if you take your time uploading the Tribeca files. Risker (talk) 06:08, 30 August 2009 (UTC)
            • It's not my panel discussion I'm interested in--except I want to blog about the part during the Q&A when everyone said "Noooooo!" when I mentioned we should make an effort to contact BLP subjects--but there were some talks that I missed that I would like to see. -->David Shankbone 15:30, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
      • I would have liked them up, too. But I know how long it can take to schedule a clear block of time to attend to such things - especially when Wikimania is around. The things we talked about will remain of value whether they are up a week, a month, or half a year later. If others wished to discuss the ideas, they should have been there to do so. GreenReaper (talk) 06:04, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for posting the video of my main talk; I'll be glad if in due course (or even sooner :) ), the one of the Q&A session later in the day could be posted also. I don't think the fierce argumentation about the length of time it has taken to post the videos is worth having or continuing. Newyorkbrad (talk) 17:46, 30 August 2009 (UTC)