Wikimania

Feedback

Lessons for future Wikimanias are most welcome, but documentation of anything which made or ruined your day, or made Wikimania especially (un)productive for you, or you otherwise feel important, is always good.

Compare wm2013:Feedback and wm2014:Brainstorming, wm2012:Feedback and earlier.

Please sign your comments.

General comments

  • Don't know which is the best place to put that: These tiny "no photo" stickers were not a bad idea, but these tiny stickers are not as highly visible, clear and handy as I would have liked them to be. In WikiCon (German language area) lanyards in signal colours do a comparably great job. Man77 (talk) 21:40, 29 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Program

Program structure

  • Good structure in general. Please try to arrange the programme the way that topic does not change significantly between breaks, and make at least 5-10 min break if you change topics like on Sunday 12:30 p.m.. Two examples: on Saturday Board Q&A was followed by Mexican radio (completely different audiences), on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Legal became Education and GLAM became Legal, moving Legal to the same room would have prevented lots of people from changing rooms — NickK (talk) 17:31, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Me pareció adecuado, aunque los tiempos justos, propondría 30min. de conferencia, 15min. preguntas y 15min. cambio de conferencista. petrohs (gracias) 00:37, 13 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Sessions quality

  • Good selection, almost all sessions were helpful and adapted for the audience — NickK (talk) 17:31, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • The sessions I attended were mostly interesting but useless (like user:AKoval_(WMF)'s pitfalls sessions with Educations guys which looked great but these microreports where too short to get anything useful of them, or like user:Amire80's and co session about mass screenshot l10n making which was good but there's almost no way someone can do the same), boring and useless (some guys talking about their experience doing something. Nice guys, nice experiences but too hard to find a useful core in it for myself or sharing with others), or just useless (like discussions and similar. People exchanged already known ideas with yielding nothing at the end. Nice to be part of a talk, that's better than just listening but well I came there to get myself improved with new knowledge, not to listen to ideas widely known). "Making it Count: Programs Evaluation 2015" session which happened to be at the end was kinda the last drop to the vessel of my shock or disappointment whatever I might call it: after some stats being shown my "group" was supposed to plan organising WLM in a fiction country "Discolandia". I am perhaps not most productive but a member of WLM/WLE UA orgcom for 2 years, another guy in the team was AFAIU from the South African team. Unlike the person from WMF who, in my opinion, was supposed to teach us something, we already knew how is it being done. Well, I'm sorry, WTF? Some sessions where shocking in another way. Flow session started with mockery show of current enwiki RfD (or whatever they call it there, I'm not of enwiki) system; On a discussion about Wikidata ("When to include data from Wikidata in a content page, and when not?") I was surprised to hear a question from user:Yurik. Then the impression deepened. Developers and other Foundation guys mostly work in the same office or anyway in the same Foundation but they go as far as Wikimania to talk to each other :/ --Base (talk) 23:25, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • Dear Base,
    • Thank you for sharing your feedback about our session here. It has been noted.
    • It is my opinion that a 30-minute session is simply not long enough to have a meaningful conversation or an in-depth dialogue about the Wikipedia Education Program worldwide. And for the record, our session was actually closer to only 20 minutes long because the preceding session went over time and we were not allowed to take time from the following session.
    • Nevertheless, we still managed to share all of our content, albeit in a more Twitter-like manner, which you aptly called "microreports". Because we knew that more information would be wanted and needed in the future, we linked each "microreport" to extensive on-wiki documentation. 1
    • 26 users filled this sandbox with more than 79,000+ bytes of content on the topic. 2 Additionally, we had 3 in-person notetakers capturing what speakers were saying in an Etherpad 3 and on big poster papers (which have since been photographed and uploaded to Commons). 4
    • We did all this so that those who do wish to dig deeper into this invaluable information about a growing Wikimedia movement program could do so at a later time. We hope you will. And I hope this helps.
    • All the best, Anna Koval (WMF) (talk) 17:34, 27 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • I did enjoy more than half of the sessions I attended, but
    • I do not like workshops which are not workshops
    • my understanding of "community" is quite different from the impression many submissions and part of the programme gave me
    • imho there needs to be more time for discussion (in German language area's WikiCons 45 min slots work way better than the 30 min slots at Wikimanias), even at the cost of having less time slots
    • I have absolutely no excuse for the fact that there were empty spaces in the programme. I guess, it was not because of a lack of submissions?
  • I know that many colleagues disagree, but I enjoyed many of the featured speakers, también de los cuales presentaron en idioma castellano, carajo. Man77 (talk) 21:28, 29 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • I did find gaps in the programme to be particularly noticeable this year, and after having a glance of this year's programme against last year's, it seems to be more than a perception. There are always going to be last minute cancellations, people who oversleep etc. but given how valuable session time is and how many people had their submissions disallowed, gaps need to be minimised as much as possible. Better contingency planning should be considered. For Wikimania 2014, I moderated a session in which the first speaker didn't initially turn-up – in that incidence, I simply swapped some presentations around. CT Cooper · talk 18:54, 30 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Scheduling

  • It would be great to inform speakers that "laptops are not provided" would mean "you need to copy your slides on our computer", knowing this in advance would save some 2 min per speaker — NickK (talk) 17:31, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • Speakers had the option of plug their own computer and/or use the background laptop that we put in every room. --ProtoplasmaKid (talk) 20:10, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
      The issue is that plugging a laptop in the back of the room requires the presence of the speaker in the back of the room (as we have many different laptops in many languages — in my case they were just afraid of touching my laptop showing a message in Cyrillic script...). That's a reasonable approach, but it would be great to inform speakers to come some 15 min before the session and make a test, that would prevent numerous problems like "why my slides are incorrectly displayed" and "how to change slides" — NickK (talk) 09:44, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
      • Only speaking for my presentation, there was a remote control to move slides forward from the front of the room. Some rooms also had screens at the front of the room facing the speaker, which was a big help. Testing the slides was also possible - maybe that was different in other rooms, but I wouldn't automatically expect that kind of information offered to me in advance at a Wikimania. All part of prepping IMO. Braveheart (talk) 07:15, 3 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Handling of failed submissions

Program Committee

  • Thanks to the lack of an explanation I decided to interpret the fact that most submissions got a vote by only half of the committee members or less as disrespectfulness and hope to see those members replaced who did not vote (publicly) for or against at least half of the submissions. Man77 (talk) 21:34, 29 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    This seems to happen every year, and yes it is rather annoying. Being on the Programme Committee should mean having the time to review all submissions. There are plans to radically change how submissions are selected for next year, so I hope this is less of an issue. CT Cooper · talk 18:43, 30 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Board Q&A

If there had not been two rounds presentation (by Phoebe first and by boardee him/herself) there would have been more time for Q&A in the Q&A session. Man77 (talk) 20:58, 29 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Side program

Discussion Room

Other meetups and meetings

  • It would be great to schedule meetups the way the do not clash with social events. It was especially the case on Friday: most people showed up late (as sessions usually ended not on 5:30 p.m. sharp but later) and had to leave earlier (those who went to Antropology Museum had to leave at 6 p.m. to get their tickets), thus leaving just some 30 min for the meetup. In addition, it might be better to have at least three different times for meetups to avoid clashes — NickK (talk) 17:34, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • For whatever reason AFAIR Education meetup was in one room in programme, in another on its page, and yet on another in reality. --Base (talk) 00:06, 26 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Algunas reuniones coincidieron con otras actividades lo que complicó un poco la asistencia, aunque creo que corresponde mayormente a la autorganización de cada comunidad. petrohs (gracias) 00:37, 13 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Wiki takes Antropología!

Visit the Vasconcelos Library

Essential Mexico City Downtown walking tour

  • I missed the main walk I think, but after my bus returned from the Museum Antroplogía unsuccessfully (and too bad, I will have to come back) -- Eduardo and Pepe and Luis guided 15-20 of us on a walk to the Mexico City Metropolitan City and we had a long dinner at a restaurant with exotic local foods and busy with locals. Thanks to them for stepping in -- it was a real experience, very nice late into the night and they walked us to our various hotels safely. -- Econterms (talk) 21:50, 1 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • A pesar de ser una caminata mas relajada, se puede planear para obtener mayor información de los lugares por donde se paso. petrohs (gracias) 00:37, 13 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Other tours

Socialization

  • General socialization point: please avoid loud music in situations where everyone is supposed to be able to take part. It's not just the Museo Soumaya reception, but also the evening party where a fair bunch of people huddled together in the rain towards the far end of the outdoor area since they had problems keeping up a conversation. Some of us left to go elsewhere. I'm not saying this is a universally held opinion: some love the loud music, some have no strong opinion, some find it annoying, some can't stand it. But if possible, it'd be great if party organizers tried to find a quiet(er) room as well, since a really successful social setting wouldn't just cater to those who like loud music. Remember that Wikimania attracts a lot of people who aren't native speakers of English (or Spanish, in this case), which can make loud surroundings even more challenging. /Julle (talk) 13:52, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the valuable feedback, Julle. Since Saturday we heard comments about it and for the Sunday party we had a space for socialization outside the venue and the volume of the music was reduced significantly. --ProtoplasmaKid (talk) 16:12, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Agree with the point about the music. It was also disappointing that this Wikimania did not have THE place where participants could have drinks in the evening (like hotel lobby bar in London): Hilton's lobby bar was not adapted for it because of, again, loud music on most days, thus many people were just staying in groups in various bars around the hotel. It would be great to have a place where one can meet many random Wikimedians in the evening — NickK (talk) 17:57, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Welcome reception

  • I personally found the room designated for the scholarships reception to be too small for the number of people in there and rather hot. I did not stay for long because of this. CT Cooper · talk 16:12, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Museo Soumaya reception

  • Copy some comments from mailarchive:wikimania-l
    • DON'T rely on buses to make round trips to get to venues
    • DON'T try to squeeze the whole attendance of the event through one revolving door to a venue
    • DON'T advertise "food and drink" when you mean a glass of fruit juice and finger food
    • DON'T hold the group photo at a venue away from the main conference
    • DON'T have music so loud it obliterates conversation
—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Nemo bis (talk) 08:10, 19 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • DO warn people ahead of time when a place has stricter "security" checks than airports —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Anomie (talk) 14:08, 19 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • The reception had several problems
    • Food distribution was chaotic at best and the amount was minuscule
    • "Music" was unbearable due to the use of very loud speakers indoors where the cross echo made it noise. I later learned that it was Beatles.
    • In the group photo we were asked to "move" which was very dangerous as people pushed each other inadvertently. It could have caused injuries. Do NOT do this ever again. A group photo on the 6th floor roof with Mexico as the background would have been far better.
    • There was barely enough time to tour the museum. We are Wikipedians, some of us were frantically photographing the PD-Old paintings for commons.
-- とある白い猫 chi? 00:35, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • When taking a group photo, please remind everyone not to wave in it. Keeping your arm(s) above your head is an excellent way of making sure someone else's face is obscured in the photo. /Julle (talk) 14:07, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • I concur with the above. The main problem was the acoustics of the venue which simply isn't suited for any music. --Pgallert (talk) 14:21, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Holding a group photo outside the venue meant that all attendees went there. This caused a lot of problems:
    • Not enough buses ("first come first served" principle had terrible consequences: people leaving meetups before the end, impossible to find a lift from low floors of Hilton etc.), and as a result, travelling by other means
    • Too little time for visiting museums. Museum hosts a lot of notable works of art, and Wikipedians tended to take photos of many of them. The museum is great, but is worth being visited not in a hurry.
    • Disorganised party: many people could neither eat or drink (little food, barely any vegeterian/vegan options) nor talk (too loud music) or have fun (venue not adapted for disco parties). As a result, many people left the venue on the first occasion — NickK (talk) 17:57, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • One unfortunate accident: as most people had to give their bags to cloakroom, and of course most of them where Wikimania bags, cloakroom staf accidently gave wrong bags to two attendees, hopefully an exchange was quickly arranged — NickK (talk) 17:57, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • A group from bus I was going there in was said to wait for a guided tour. Having waiting for some time we encounter Yurik who says that the museum closes upper floors in 10 minutes. This way I was able to just briefly see 2nd and 3rd floors and don't see the 4th at all (numeration where ground is 1st applicable). --Base (talk) 23:33, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • I have trouble understanding words well in noisy environments so I had difficulty at the reception, and would have liked more time to see the art on the upper floors. -- Econterms (talk) 21:50, 1 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Los alimentos no estaban marcados para vegetarianos, fueron solo una botana. Seguramente la acustica debe ser mejor, supongo que por tiempo no se ajusto el audio. Mover a tal cantidad de personas en medio de la lluvia y el trafico de la ciudad debe ser un gran reto. petrohs (gracias) 00:37, 13 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Laboratorio Arte Alameda closing reception

  • It was OK but I think it was a tad bit too small for the group of our size. A good chunk of people left because there wasn't enough space. Music was a bit too loud for conversations. -- とある白い猫 chi? 00:35, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • I liked it. IIRC the first Wikimania party ever where organisers didn't run out of (free) alcohol. Beer was warm, though. The outdoor space would have been remote enough to have a conversation. Unfortunately (and apart from the rain) there were no chairs there. Please consider older folks who cannot remain standing for several hours. --Pgallert (talk) 14:21, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • I am happy to know that you liked the party! Some comments, cold beer was provided from 10pm. I attended six Wikimanias and in my humble opinion there was no other with this amount of free alcoholic drinks! We also had sponsored free liquors, sodas, waitresses and two cool DJs! Just for the numbers, near to 1700 cans of beer were consumed during the party by our attendees! --ProtoplasmaKid (talk) 16:41, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
      • In general, I think the final party was a nice setup -- close the hotel, so it was walkable for everyone, and it had a cool vibe with dancing while also providing a location just outside for people who wanted to talk. I thought it was a great combination of elements that had something for everyone. Also appreciated that we did not have to wait in line for drinks or pay for alcohol. It really allowed us to enjoy the company of other Wikimedians. In all, a really nice way of doing the final party, where with other Wikimanias the logistics of just getting to the place and getting drinks overshadowed everything. Kudos! -- Fuzheado (talk) 21:58, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Fun music and a chance to talk. --Econterms (talk) 21:50, 1 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Un poco de señalización para los baños (y que estos fueron pocos). Es una pena la lluvia pero es algo que no se puede controlar. petrohs (gracias) 00:37, 13 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Venue

  • Several thefts have occurred. It is a metropolitan area and thefts are normal but we should not have thefts particularly in the hackathon room where we should be able to leave our stuff. -- とある白い猫 chi? 00:35, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • Hi Julle, just to clarify, we have only the report of 1 theft (Joseph's case) in the event. Many people lost their belongings and they were returned by Hilton's staff and/or our volunteers. Some of them were not sure where they lost their belongings. In fact the hackathon area was the most monitored area of the event. Personally I returned two backpacks with passport, money and expensive items which were forgotten by their owners! My opinion is that we need to emphasize next year with signage and reminders about keeping the personal belongings safe and taking care about others'. --ProtoplasmaKid (talk) 15:58, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Having something small to nibble on (e.g. fruit) during much of the day was great. /Julle (talk) 13:54, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • More prominent signage would be welcome. It was especially bad on Friday, as screens were already closed by Community Village stands and wi-fi was down, so it was not quite easy to find the right room — NickK (talk) 18:04, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    +1. It usually took a small discussion of volunteers to answer a question where is Don Someone located which isn't very nice. In the end I learned where are all these rooms but it took a while. --Base (talk) 23:49, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Usually I'm a person who can bear cold quite fine (I can walk in t-shirt since 10-12°C or above). But I'm badly suited to *sit* in rooms with 18 degrees in them. In some places as near WMUA stand in Community Village there was a wind to boot. A climate control panel nearby didn't work (well it did work in terms that buttons could be pressed and it showed that it hooked that action but it did not affect the climate) and no Hilton serving men were seen then. I suppose that for some people it was worse. --Base (talk) 23:49, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • This is hard to deal due it's perception and we have an international group of attendees. What is warm for someone for others are cold. In the Don Alberto 3 room, for an example, one day the people asked for climate changes 12 times in the first part of the day! I'm sorry if you don't have volunteers and/or Hilton's staff when you need it. --ProtoplasmaKid (talk) 20:51, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Obviously, Hilton staff knows how a big conference works, and I liked that all rooms where really close to each other (compare, for example, Hong Kong). However, having an event Global South in a Global North brand hotel is … inconsistent. Man77 (talk) 21:12, 29 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • It was cold in the rooms, but the U.S. hotel chains can't be stopped from doing this, in my experience. It's nobody's fault. They also jam chairs too close together for the size of current North Americans. -- Econterms (talk) 22:00, 1 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Me hubiera gustado continuar en una sede publica y creo que la inversión para la infraestructura de la red debia ser puesta en gran medida por la administración publica federal. Pero eso esta mas alla de esta organización. petrohs (gracias) 00:37, 13 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Scholarships

Selection

  • One of criteria of phase 1 was to show English knowledge. But half the programme was in Spanish and on the conference were some Latin America guys who were about en-1 or lower. It would be common sense to either extend the criteria to English or Spanish or make the programme just in English and don't allow guys without English knowledge to participate. I attended a session in Education Pre-Conference where half the time was spend on translation from Spanish to English and vice versa. It was really hard to follow it this way. AFAIK other sessions in there were no better. Perhaps it was better in main programme but with this experience I was avoiding all Spanish sessions in it. --Base (talk) 23:00, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • This criterion was put in on the presumption that the conference would take place primarily in English, long before the final programme was developed. In any case, this criterion was applied loosely and there was no shortage of Latin American scholarship recipients this year. I would also emphasise that there is a big difference between not giving non-English speakers scholarships and not allowing them to attend at all. This shouldn't be too much of an issue next year, as Wikimania 2016 conference itself will be entirely in English from reports I have received. CT Cooper · talk 16:22, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    Just a small confirmation that do understand the difference mentioned and that I said what I meant to say. --Base (talk) 19:38, 7 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    Good, so did I. CT Cooper · talk 23:03, 7 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Coverage

Other

Logistics

WiFi

Power

 
 
Italian plugs and sockets (Type L) 		 
PLEASE have loads of something similar to this available! Particularly in accomodaiton rooms and hackathon rooms
CEE 7/4 (German), CEE 7/7 (German/French), Italian 10/16 A, NEMA 1-15 (US/Japan)

Catering

  • Excellent but better labeling would be nice where ingredients of the food is listed allowing people with dietary restrictions to better choose. A digital menu may help with this. -- とある白い猫 chi? 00:35, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • The food was excellent, and they worked hard to make sure everyone knew what was vegetarian, vegan etc. Well done. Perhaps better labeling would have been helpful – sometimes marking food as e.g. vegetarian seemed to take precedence over informing us of what was actually in it. /Julle (talk) 13:47, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Excellent food and drinks, both for breakfast, lunches and social events, and seems like vegetarian/vegan options were widely available as well. Great coffee breaks, it was nice to have a wide choise of cold and hot drinks plus some pastry, cookies and fruits. It would be great to provide Mexican desserts not only on the closing party: it was a bit disappointing that most of desserts were French (éclairs, opéra etc.) — NickK (talk) 18:11, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • I didn't like most of the Mexican food but there was a nice choice so it was quite easy to pick tasty stuff. --Base (talk) 00:12, 26 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • I don't particularly like Mexican food either, but I found the choice and quality of the food available to be very impressive. CT Cooper · talk 16:24, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • I liked the fact that nopales, sopa de tortillas and other real Mexican stuff was made available. And food quality does not need to be questioned. Man77 (talk) 21:17, 29 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Quality and quantity

Variety and diversity

Environment

Visa

for people who require a visa to attend the various conferences

be aware that cross the shengen space is forbidden in some countries without transit visas

explain and specify the type of visa "tourist" is most valid for some countries

it is still not too early to start procedures--Bachounda (talk) 08:24, 26 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

T-shirts

Other for sale items & swag

Badges

Digital program

  • Have the possibility to click a link to add a particular event to google calendar (and other similar calendar applications) -- とある白い猫 chi? 00:35, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • A wikitable is an awkward way to portray the program. The live program should self update hiding past events and prominently displaying what is current and next. This can be achieved with templates (particularly with LUA). It would be a longer term investment for all similar events. -- とある白い猫 chi? 00:35, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • The displays in front of conference rooms were great but had some limitations as they did not auto update. -- とある白い猫 chi? 00:35, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • It was readable with a small hack (one window displays names of the room and another displays sessions), but otherwise it took some time to find out in which room a particular session takes place. It took even more time to find it out if wi-fi is down — NickK (talk) 18:14, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • I recommend conference organizers wikilink the names of rooms to a map or other guiding information. I did that sometimes on this site. Our time to decide where to go is sometimes tight and I was not always in the right room. Accepted submissions can have some submission information commented out on-wiki (e.g., "will you come to the conference if your submission is not accepted") and the time and location of the accepted talk should definitely be there. I volunteer to help with this for future conferences. It's just busywork, not difficult, once the decisions have been made. As it was, the rooms confused me sometimes. --Econterms (talk) 21:50, 1 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Printed program

  • I never had one, the poster sized one on the big board was great. Beyond that printed programs are a complete and utter waste of time, money and energy. I am glad we did not have one. -- とある白い猫 chi? 00:35, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • There were no printed programmes this year. Paper programmes have two advantages compared to regular ones:
    1. Easy to find a room when wi-fi is down (solution: avoid wi-fi outage)
    2. Easy to select sessions you want to attend (solution: make Google Calendar items for sessions or something similar)
    I do understand that there is a strong disadvantage, however, which is a waste of paper — NickK (talk) 18:17, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • While I could live without a printed programme, I did like having one as reliance on an online one is prone to problems. CT Cooper · talk 17:38, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • One in each floor would have been nice Man77 (talk) 21:43, 29 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Accommodation

Principal Hostel

I arrived before 8 am Check in at hotel at the reception I had to pay $ 200 to enter my room;big thanks to john barth help me to have a room..... after 24 hours of traveling a hot bath was welcome --Bachounda (talk) 08:32, 26 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Hotels

  • Hilton was probably the best hotel I ever stayed in. I do understand that it was probably the most expensive hotel we ever had for Wikimania, but it was really nice — NickK (talk) 18:18, 25 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    +1 was nice indeed. Though my room-mate Kruusamägi said that he was charged for using mini-bar which neither I nor, as I understand, he didn't use. --Base (talk) 00:33, 26 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • We are volunteers, and this event is funded with donated money. I was really abashed to learn the price of the room in Hilton Hotel, I was provided with under the received scholarship. Yes, for renting the lecture halls there has probably been a requirement for renting a certain number of rooms in the hotel, and I believe this option has been chosen in best faith, yet I was deeply alarmed. The room was relatively pleasant (not the best though), and the temperatures in the common rooms were uncomfortably low. However, the service provided by the hotel staff was great, I appreciate every aspect of it. Spiritia (talk) 16:03, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • The hotel looked fantastic from what I'd seen of it (I stayed in the more affordable One Hotel nearby), but I don't think housing people in a five star hotel is the best use of donor money and is in sharp contrast to pervious years where scholarship recipients stayed in dorms or other low cost accommodation. CT Cooper · talk 17:37, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Other accommodations

Registration

  • I found that the advertised times for registration didn't always reflect reality i.e. on a Wednesday, the registration desk was long abandoned at 16:30, when registration was supposed to be open until 17:00. This caused myself and others some inconvenience as we'd really could have done with our name badges for the evening socials. I understand that registration is manned by volunteers, but it would probably be better to be more conservative with the advertised times to avoid disappointment. CT Cooper · talk 17:24, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Community Village

  • While it was nice to have the Wikimedia LGBT+ User Group table in a prominent position in the Community Village, having the door of Don Alberto 4 constantly crashing into our table did get rather annoying after a while. Attempts to remedy the situation by putting a notice (in Spanish and English) on a chair asking people to use the door on their right while exiting the room were unfortunately ignored. CT Cooper · talk 17:34, 28 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Communications

Pre-conference

During the conference

Streaming and recording

Some discussion on mailarchive:wikimania-l.

After the conference

Personal service and behaviour of the team

Surrounding

Tourism

City

  • Riot police was concerning initially. We should be made aware of their presence in advance if this is normal. Many cities have such measures. -- とある白い猫 chi? 00:35, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • Their presence outside of the Hilton was for demonstrations, totally out of our reach. But we asked to the Police chief of the riot group about this situation, they understood and they moved from Friday to other part of the Alameda. --ProtoplasmaKid (talk) 20:40, 27 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
      • I merely wish to be informed of stuff I suppose. This is less of a criticism and more of a suggestion for future events. I guess there should be an information portal for such notices so that participants can read about what is going on. -- とある白い猫 chi? 15:01, 5 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Transportation

Transportation was OK, a shuttle service from the airport may be cost effective. Or perhaps a greeting booth or poster explaining where I need to be. This would be difficult on an airport as large as Mexico but Milan airport is much smaller. In the next wikimania taxis are not an option probably given remoteness. -- とある白い猫 chi? 00:35, 23 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Survey

Lessons from other conferences

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