Wikivoyage talk:Get-together

Geonotice

Swept in from the pub

I would like to propose the Geonotice feature on this wiki. Those who don't know what a Geonotice is, please see Wikipedia:Geonotice. With Geonotice enabled, we can announce events related to WV such as above proposed edit-a-thon, meetups and even when a Wikivoyager is travelling to another location and would like to meet local Wikivoyagers in person. --Saqib (talk) 18:09, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

To me it would be a shame to miss out on an event in a location I regularly visit. Also basing physical location off IP address assumes people are not running of remote proxies or simply travelling. One of my annoyances of hotel chain and airline sites is them trying to be clever about what language I prefer to read in based on the access route I am using into the internet or where I just happen to be logged into at the time. This is a site about travelling, keep it global.--Traveler100 (talk) 20:50, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

It's a good idea, but it could probably wait until our meetups page is overflowing. That currently it doesn't seem to be. --Inas (talk) 22:16, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

Well, this can advertise Wikimedia-wide events, and I didn't even know that the meetups page existed until 2 seconds ago. Meanwhile, a geonotice is seen by everyone in the location. --Rschen7754 07:05, 10 October 2013 (UTC)

I have gone to a Wikimedia meetup in Glasgow as a result of a Geonotice on WP. It would be useful to advertise the edit-a-thon (see above) to all editors (all readers?) in SE England, rather than just those that look at a few project pages. AlasdairW (talk) 20:51, 10 October 2013 (UTC)

Experiences with Wikivoyage writing workshops

Swept in from the pub

Hi everyone,

I've a general request. Does anybody have experiences with Wikivoyage writing workshops? I imagine it as a place where authors and people who haven't contributed to any wikis yet meet. They write travel guides about their city, take pictures and publish it on Wikivoyage. Did anything similar to this happened so far? How was it? What did you learn out of it? Pointing me to related discussions and pages would also be nice.

Warm regards, — T.seppelt (talk) 18:36, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

To the best of my knowledge, it never happened. It would be very interesting to have such an event, but the community is likely too small to organize it. --Alexander (talk) 19:28, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

I cannot remember reading Wikivoyage has arranged such events. It's possible that other Wikimedia projects have. ϒpsilon (talk) 19:33, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

Check out your local Wikimedia Chapter. For example, the Australian Chapter has some upcoming events for Wikipedia editing workshops. Also there is an annual conference called Wikimania that would probably have such workshops. Next one is in Esino Lario in Italy 21st to 28th June --Andrewssi2 (talk) 23:17, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

I think the community at en-WV (especially if you only count frequent editors) is too small and too spread out geographically for this to make much sense... We could apply for a Amtrak writer's residence though ;-) At least those of us who have any nerve getting on a train in the US. Hobbitschuster (talk) 19:17, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

T.seppelt, in Wikipedia, these things are called edit-a-thons, a special case of the more general term meetup. I have never gone to anything like this but would love to have one in my city. I think a combined event for Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, and other sister projects would be best: WV is probably too small to get much attention, and the basic wiki skills are similar across projects. Peter Chastain (talk) 09:05, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

I recently had an invite to a [https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Creating_an_Open_Body_of_Knowledge_editathon_series Wikipedia editathon that is on this week. This is a three day event hosted by a university which has a Wikimedian in Residence (someone who works in a joint venture between WMF and a GLAM partner), so is obviously much bigger than anything for Wikivoyage. It may also be worth looking back in the history of the pub a few months ago (6 Nov 2015) at "We have some Korean guests on board", where we had a class of students editing articles. AlasdairW (talk) 21:16, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

T.seppelt, I think you want to look into the outreach: wiki. There have been many edit-a-thons – just AFAIK none that are solely about Wikivoyage. A small event, with a handful of new editors, really only needs one or two people in person, plus an admin/accountcreator online (because sometimes there are problems with everyone creating accounts from the same site at the same time).

As a place to get started, I think Peter's on the right track: Talk to people who have done Wikipedia edit-a-thons in your area, and maybe help with one of those or ask to add a plug for Wikivoyage. I would expect WMDE to have information about the ones in Germany. WhatamIdoing (talk) 00:31, 17 February 2016 (UTC)

Thank you all for your feedback. I will think about it. The problem is that the edit-a-thon would be in Romania, a country even without local Wikimedia chapter. Additionally I am not very familiar with the internal structure of Wikivoyage and its requirements for articles. I am alone and would be in uncharted waters in many ways. I will let you now when I have something more concrete. Warm regards, -- T.seppelt (talk) 21:09, 17 February 2016 (UTC)

Wikivoyage meetup?

Swept in from the pub

Wikipedians get together in the face-to-face world all the time, and if anything, as travel guide writers, the concept lends itself even more to our community than it does to theirs. Whether a Wikivoyage meetup would be feasible is something I've been thinking a lot about lately.

It strikes me that Buffalo has a strong argument in favor of being the most logical place for one. Not only are our U.S. and Canadian editor bases heavily concentrated within easy striking distance, in the Northeast (Ikan Kekek, Powers, ButteBag, ChubbyWimbus) and Windsor-Quebec corridor (Ground Zero, K7L, Pashley) respectively, but by the standards of North American destinations, Buffalo is fairly easily accessible for our European contingent as well: JFK is one of the main international gateways to the U.S., with service from pretty much everywhere, and onward travel from there to Buffalo is a snap (JetBlue flights between JFK and BUF depart several times daily, take about an hour, and are usually available for less than US$100). Furthermore, Niagara Falls is just a thirty-minute drive or one-hour trip on public transit, and Buffalo itself has some of the best Wikivoyage coverage of any city in the world.

Other than location, I don't have any specifics in mind just yet; I mostly wanted to gauge what the level of interest in a meetup, hypothetically, would be. Is this worth looking further into?

-- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 20:46, 30 August 2018 (UTC)

I notice the Buffalo bias here... No, this is actually a good idea. --Comment by Selfie City (talk about my contributions) 20:51, 30 August 2018 (UTC)

Sorry for the accidental revert. Of course, whenever I do a fingerslip like that, my Wi-Fi slows to a crawl and I can't restore the correct version quickly. I like the idea of a meet-up, but I'll be honest that I don't know if I'd travel for it. If I were going to Buffalo for other reasons (e.g. to take advantage of its most excellent Wikivoyage guides), I'd consider it. Ground Zero (talk) 20:58, 30 August 2018 (UTC)

I think a meetup is a great idea, though I highly doubt I'll have the time to travel to Buffalo for it. But if any future meetups are scheduled in a place I happen to be at, I'm happy to join. The dog2 (talk) 21:26, 30 August 2018 (UTC)

The basic idea is good, though we could just go to Wikimania & meet people from a wider range of projects. Perhaps recruit some folk to contribute here too?

Buffalo seems a good suggestion in some ways, but in winter I think most of us would prefer somewhere warmer. Also, anywhere in the US or Europe tends to be expensive. Maybe one of the places listed at Retiring_abroad#Destinations, or a Caribbean destination? Pashley (talk) 22:06, 30 August 2018 (UTC)

Pashley - "Anywhere in the US or Europe tends to be expensive" - yes, but let's look at this in the aggregate. Long-distance travel itself is expensive. Our active editing community consists of about 40-45% North Americans and about 40-45% Europeans, with the remainder widely scattered among the other four continents with no particular one predominating. So it makes the most sense to have a meetup in either a centralized location within North America or a centralized location within Europe. Going either of those routes would be a pain in the ass for roughly half of us but comparatively convenient for the other half, whereas having a meetup in a place like the Caribbean where none of us actually live would be a pain in the ass for all of us. As this meetup was my idea, and the logistical end of things would likely be my responsibility were such a thing to ever actually happen, it wouldn't make sense for me to plan a European meetup (one that I most likely would not be able to attend anyway), so that's where my advocacy for Buffalo comes in. Also, while winter in Buffalo is not anyone's idea of a good time, our weather is at least serviceable for eight months out of the year, and downright beautiful for six. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 23:52, 30 August 2018 (UTC)

Good idea, but wrong continent. --Alexander (talk) 22:18, 30 August 2018 (UTC)

Like The dog2, if I happen to be close to a place where the meetup is happening at a point in time, I'd be happy to join. Also in case anyone is not aware, you can add your hometown or current location to Wikivoyage:Wikivoyagers by location. It gives a good sense of where everyone is around the world. Unfortunately it doesn't distinguish active and inactive editors but it is still interesting. Gizza ^(roam) 22:28, 30 August 2018 (UTC)

Great idea; wish I could go, but there's an ocean in the way, and I have no money. Would like to see photos, though. --ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 22:43, 30 August 2018 (UTC)

I wouldn't be able to make a special trip to Buffalo, as I'm just too busy with a career, a business, and dealing with my father's estate as an artist. However, if any of you are coming through New York City, give me a holler and we can try to schedule a get-together. Ikan Kekek (talk) 23:31, 30 August 2018 (UTC)

I think it's a fun idea, but I actually live very far from the Northeast now, so it would be quite expensive for me. ChubbyWimbus (talk) 12:59, 31 August 2018 (UTC)

If you want to do this fairly soon, then the easiest option might be to piggyback on m:WikiConference North America/2018, which is 18–21 October 2018 in Columbus, Ohio this time. It's unfortunately too late to apply for their $500 travel scholarships (something to keep in mind for the future). WhatamIdoing (talk) 15:25, 31 August 2018 (UTC)

I like the idea, but I don't think I will be making a trip across the pond for it. I have been to a few local Wikimedia meetups - meetings in a physical pub or coffee shop for a couple of hours - they are not just for WP. If the first meetup is successful, I would suggest trying to hold same day US and European meetings, with a video link for part of it. AlasdairW (talk) 18:17, 31 August 2018 (UTC)

We do have quite a number of editors based in the Asia-Pacific region too. Is there a way to be more inclusive of them? The dog2 (talk) 18:42, 31 August 2018 (UTC)

It will always be more challenging for us to organise a meetup than Wikipedia because of our smaller community. Back in its heyday, it would very easy to organise a meetup in any native English-speaking city with a population of a million or above because there would be at least 10-20 active editors from that city. Even other big cities which weren't native English speaking would get many attendees. While Wikivoyage is growing, it will be a very long time before we can match that if ever. Gizza ^(roam) 12:36, 1 September 2018 (UTC)

Woww... This is good idea! but Buffalo is too far for Asian Wikivoyager, I think we can use webcam meetup! --Yuriy kosygin (talk) 18:47, 1 September 2018 (UTC)

I'm not quite sure my math is the same as yours, but transatlantic airfare while substantial is usually dwarfed by the cost of simply being in the US for even a week. Unless you stay in the cheapest of hostel dorms, the same is true for Europe. Costa Rica would be a place that is relatively easy to reach from both north America and Europe, that unlike its northern neighbor hasn't seen political violence on a major scale since the late 1940s and while not dirt cheap, it is quite affordable... At any rate, I like the idea in principle and it can always be accompanied by on the ground research... Hobbitschuster (talk) 18:33, 2 September 2018 (UTC)

This is a cool idea, thanks AndreCarrotflower! Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to make it out that way any time soon. --ButteBag (talk) 21:50, 3 September 2018 (UTC)

Flying across the Atlantic just for a meetup is not only expensive and time consuming, but also ecologically irresponsible. I like the idea of a meetup though, so I'd rather suggest splitting it into a European summit in a (relatively) cheap city close to a Flixbus hub, and a North American meeting. 94.119.64.21 11:41, 5 September 2018 (UTC)

Like many others I think that it is a great idea in theory, but find it difficult to participate in practice. However, changing the Buffalo bias for a Swedish one, is anyone considering coming to Stockholm for m:Wikimania 2019? It is almost a year to go, so it might be a bit too early to start planning. Nevertheless, it has the advantages that we can get a lot of help with logistics (for example there will be plenty of travel scholarships) and that there will be events which are interesting to us as a Wikimedia community. By the way, have we been represented at previous Wikimanias? MartinJacobson (talk) 17:11, 7 September 2018 (UTC)