News

Wikimedians around the World Prepare for Wikimania 2008

Alexandria— The Fourth annual Wikimania Conference takes place 17-19 July 2008 at the BA. Tomorrow hundreds of Wikimedia volunteers and enthusiasts will converge at the historic center of global knowledge and wisdom, the BA in Alexandria, Egypt, for the annual Wikimania conference. The Wikimania conference is the official conference of Wikimedia's free knowledge projects, which include Wikipedia, the largest free knowledge encyclopedia in human history. Presentations and discussions at this year's conference will address topics related to public collaboration, open source initiatives, free knowledge, wiki technology, open education, and the theme of this year's conference 'change the shape of wisdom.'

"Wikimania is the one time each year when Wikimedia volunteers from all over the world gather together in a single location," said Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director Sue Gardner from the Foundation's headquarters in San Francisco, California. "This year is particularly special, because we will be in Alexandria, at what was once the site of the largest Library of the ancient world. It's an exceptional opportunity for us to explore topics around reach, participation, and quality of the Wikimedia projects in one of the world's most important centers for wisdom and knowledge."

Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria, and the entire planning team from the library have been actively involved in development of Wikimania 2008 alongside the volunteer team. Dr. Serageldin stated “Free-content projects such as Wikipedia are an essential tool for the collection and dissemination of knowledge especially in the developing world. We hope that Wikimania 2008 will raise local awareness of new possibilities and indeed take us towards changing the shape of wisdom. In hosting this event, the BA upholds the values of its ancient namesake.”

Highlighted speakers at this year's conference include:
• Florence Devouard, Chair of the Wikimedia Board of Trustees
• Schuyler Erle and Mikel Maron from Open Street Map - The free editable map of the whole world, created by volunteers
• Eliane Metni, Director of the International Education Association
• Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia
• Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
• Tim Spalding, Creator of LibraryThing
• Usama Fayyad, Yahoo!’s Executive Vice President of Research and Strategic Data Solutions

For the complete Wikimania 2008 program, Click here.

This year conference participants as well as volunteers, who are not able to attend the conference, will be encouraged to upload and share related video content on Kaltura's Wikimania video site.
http://www.kaltura.com/devwiki/index.php/Wikimania_Video_Site

Principal sessions such as those of the keynote speakers and the invited speakers will be webcasted live through the BA Webcast website
http://webcast.bibalex.org

Wikimedia Blog, the Foundation's official blog, will be updated frequently up to and during the Conference with ongoing podcasting information, participant activities, and media coverage.
http://blog.wikimedia.org/

The Wikimania 2008 official wiki will be updated regularly with pictures, information, and logistical details:
http://wikimania2008.wikimedia.org/

For the Wikimedia Foundation
Jay Walsh
Head of Communications
jwalsh@wikimedia.org
+1 415 839 6885

For the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
wikimania@bibalex.org
+2 03 4839999