Wikimania 2011

Opening session of Wikimania Israel, August 2011
Group photo
First Day of Issue Cover of the "Wikimania 2011 - Haifa, Israel" stamp, issued by Israel Post on August 2, 2011.

Wikimania 2011 was the seventh Wikimania conference. It was held in Haifa, Israel, on August 4–7, 2011.[1]

History

The conference venue was the Haifa Auditorium and adjoining Beit Hecht cultural center on Mount Carmel. Keynote speakers at the conference included Yochai Benkler, a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University and Joseph M. Reagle Jr. of MIT, author of Good Faith Collaboration: The Culture of Wikipedia.[2] Head of the Science and Technology Committee at the Knesset, Meir Sheetrit, also spoke at the conference, as did Yonah Yahav, the Mayor of Haifa.[3] One of the sponsors of the event was Haifa University.[4] The conference featured 125 sessions in five simultaneous tracks and was attended by 720 Wikimedians[5] from 56 different countries,[3] including some that have no diplomatic relations with Israel.[6]

In an interview with Haaretz, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales noted that there had been boycott calls against the conference in Israel, as there had been against having it in Egypt in 2008. He said that despite conflicts among editors on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and efforts by a pro-Israel group to recruit more Wikipedia editors, he believes Wikipedia articles largely remained neutral on the topic; he stated "NPOV is non-negotiable."[7]

Wikimedia Foundation executive director Sue Gardner spoke to the conference about the Western, male-dominated mind-set that characterizes Wikipedia today.[8] At the end of the August 7 closing ceremony, Jimmy Wales was presented with the first day cover of a special stamp edition issued by the Israeli postal service in honor of Wikipedia's 10th anniversary.[9] Among new projects discussed was collaboration with cultural institutions such as galleries, libraries, archives and museums.[10] After the conference, participants were offered a free tour of Haifa, Jerusalem, Nazareth or Acre. Shay Yakir, outgoing chairman of Wikimedia Israel, said that for Israel, holding the conference in Haifa was like hosting the Olympic Games.[11]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wikimania 2011.
  1. ↑ Wikimania 2011 main page. Wikimania2011.wikimedia.org. Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
  2. ↑ Avigayil Kadesh (July 14, 2011). "Israel hosts Wikimania 2011". mfa.gov.il. Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Levin, Verony (August 5, 2011). "Wikimania Conference at Its Peak; Founder Jimmy Wales to Speak Tomorrow". TheMarker (in Hebrew). Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  4. ↑ Editor (Aug 7, 2011). "Wikimania 2011-Haifa". University of Haifa. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  5. ↑ Wikimania 2011 in Haifa
  6. ↑ Wikimania hits Israel as conference opens. The Jewish Chronicle (2011-08-05). Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
  7. ↑ Aliyana Traison, Wikipedia founder: Israel-Palestine is heavily debated, but we're vigilant on neutrality, Haaretz, August 5, 2011.
  8. ↑ When Knowledge Isn't Written, Does It Still Count?, New York Times
  9. ↑ Israel Philatelic Federation
  10. ↑ Yaron, Oded. (2008-04-02) Wikipedia leaders outline their vision as conference opens in Haifa. Haaretz.com. Retrieved on April 20, 2012.
  11. ↑ Haifa hosts Wikimania Conference. Ynetnews.com (1995-06-20). Retrieved on April 20, 2012.