Wikimania 2006
In the course of informal discussions at Wikimania in Frankfurt the possibility of having Wikimania 2006 in Vancouver was raised.  What makes Canada desirable for such a meeting is the capacity to draw delegates from the United States.  For many overseas delegates, however, U.S. visa requirements make that country less attractive.  All else being equal, Europeans see Vancouver as a more interesting Canadian city to visit than Toronto, the only other Canadian city to receive significant consideration.

Preliminary bids from various cities need to be made by Sept. 30, 2005.  A short list will be drawn from those bids.  Is there enough interest and energy to put together such a conference in Vancouver for August 2006?  The people in Frankfurt put on a tremendous gathering, with a core organizational group of about a dozen people.  Some 400 people attended from 52 different countries.

I expect that a North American Wikimania could be a little smaller, but we would still need a suitable facility.  It would be good to know that such a facility is available for a conference; the type of youth hostel facility that was used in Frankfurt does not exist in North America.  What would be the cost of hosting such a conference at UBC?

I'm looking for interest and commitment.  To that end I am proposing a Vancouver meetup for Saturday, Sept. 24.  If someone has a reasonably accesible place for such a meeting please let me know.  (I live in Richmond, but something in the city of Vancouver would be more appropriate.)

I am spammiong this to all Vancouver area Wikipedians that I can find.  Please reply to my talk page.  Eclecticology 21:50:16, 2005-09-03 (UTC)