wikimania in the course of informal discussions at wikimania in frankfurt the possibility of having wikimania 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 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 the people in frankfurt put on a tremendous gathering with a core organizational group of about a dozen people some people attended from 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 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 utc