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Wikimania Takes Manhattan

From Wikimania 2012 • Washington, D.C., USA
For updates, please see Wikimania Takes Manhattan/Schedule and join the WTM mailing list.
Yes, New York City is this awesome.

Wikimania Takes Manhattan was a special pre-Wikimania weekend in New York City, organized by Wikimedia NYC as a welcome for international visitors eager to experience the Big Apple and self-proclaimed "Capital of the World".[1]

Activities took place from July 4th (Independence Day) to the morning of Monday July 9. See the schedule of activities here.

There will be numerous social activities, tours, and dinners for our Wikimaniac guests. The highlight event will be a "Wiki World's Fair" civic celebration held in a beautiful New York City park, with booths for numerous represented Wikiverse and Free Culture initiatives.

At the end, we will take a special charter wiki-bus together to DC and the exciting start of Wikimania Pre-conference/Hacking Days.

Activities

See details at Wikimania Takes Manhattan/Schedule (tentative outline) and Wiki World's Fair.

The "Wiki World's Fair" / "Free Culture World's Fair" will be a wiki-picnic and civic celebration. held on Governors Island in beautiful New York Harbor, in the area of the FIGMENT participatory art festival's Arcade-themed artist-designed Minigolf Course, Sculpture Garden, and Treehouse.

The event will be led by Wikimedians and Free Culture Alliance NYC, with DIY fair pavilions (6 foot / 1.83 m bamboo poles and twine to be provided!) for numerous represented Wikiverse and Free Culture initiatives.

The "Wiki World's Fair" date will be Saturday July 7 (raindate: Sunday July 8); sign up here to host a Wiki-Pavilion for your group.

Throughout the weekend, there will also be numerous social activities and tours during the day, and big get-together dinners for our Wikimaniac guests in the evenings. Tentatively, we'll do Friday: Upper Manhattan, Saturday: Lower Manhattan & Brooklyn, and Sunday: Midtown.

Transportation and accommodation

It would be good if possible to book your flight into New York City and out of DC; if not, round-trip to NYC would probably be the cheaper flight.

The NYC-DC bus trip can only accommodate 48 people so please please show interest sooner, rather than later, if you wish to take the WikiBus (priority will be given to earlier signers, and to international visitors). The bus will depart from NYC's Port Authority Bus Terminal at 10:00AM July 9th and arrive at the bus terminal near DC's Union Station at ~2:20PM.

For the return DC-NYC trip, there are very inexpensive (~$15) regular commercial buses that which some of us will take (Boltbus or Megabus), but unless there is major demand we may only do an all-Wikimania special charter bus one-way.

Wikimedia NYC recommends the HI-New York hostel for WTM weekend accommodations (quite affordable by local standards) - please purchase your beds individually from hostel reservations (normally, check-in will be on July 6 and check-out on July 9), and be sure to include on the form's third page, in the "Special Instruction & Assistance Needs (Notes)" section, the following text: 

WIKIMANIA group, put in room with others in Wikimania group, for questions contact Richard Knipel.

We are also researching other affordable hostel/dorm accommodation options, in case HI-New York fills up:

An alternative hostel option is Jazz Hostels, which has 4 locations in NYC, including Jazz on the Park which is convenient walking distance from HI-New York. Visitors choosing this option will need to coordinate with their friends if they wish to purchase beds in the same room there.

A relatively affordable non-hostel is Verve Hotel in Long Island City, Queens, which has been popular with some previous Wikimedian visitors to NYC.

Interested locals

  1. Pharos 16:48, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Peter.C 16:55, 1 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Jeremyb 22:15, 13 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Amphiggins 13:26, 23 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Fluffernutter 18:41, 24 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  6. Jweiss11 15:54, 2 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  7. johndbritton 20:08, 2 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  8. Tlevine 03:13, 5 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  9. Aksi great (talk) 16:37, 14 March 2012 (UTC) - please contact me via email if urgent. I can also get a few people into museums free of cost. The number of people varies from museum to museum.[reply]
  10. Lingust (talk) 01:31, 16 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  11. DGG (talk) 03:48, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  12. The Blade of the Northern Lights (話して下さい) 22:08, 19 March 2012 (UTC) I suppose an hour-long train ride is local enough for government work; I'm not sure quite how much I'll be able to do, but I'll certainly try to make it for as much as I can.[reply]
  13. Becksguy (talk) 10:42, 3 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  14. Daedalus042 (talk) 15:09, 17 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  15. Blue Rasberry (talk) 17:35, 15 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    Shujenchang (talk) 13:44, 16 May 2012 (UTC) Sorry, I do not see the title clearly, I'm a visitor, not a local...[reply]
  16. David Shankbone (talk) 17:17, 18 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  17. Mitch32(There is a destiny that makes us... family.) 23:48, 31 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  18. Neo12345292 (talk) 18:22, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  19. Noroi (talk) 04:10, 22 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  20. Thomas-Lowenhaupt
  21. Invertzoo (talk) 20:54, 1 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Interested visitors

Please establish your signup at the googleform, and let us know if you'd be interested in organizing a second bus, or part of a bus.
  1. CT Cooper 21:00, 2 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  2. The program is good and I am certainly interested. BTW, international visitors usually book a round-trip flight either to New York or Washington DC. It would be helpful if you provide some information about how to get to New York from DC before/after Wikimania. --taweethaも (talk) 22:41, 3 January 2012 (UTC) [reply]
    • It would be good if possible to book into New York and out of Washington; if not, round-trip to New York would probably be the cheaper flight. There are very inexpensive (~$15) regular commercial buses that which some of us will take for the return to NY, but unless there is extra demand, we might only do an all-Wikimania special charter bus for the NY-DC trip on July 9.--Pharos 22:01, 13 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
      • Thanks, Pharos. It does not need to be a special charter bus, just a general advice on the available options plus links to operator site(s) should be enough. --taweethaも (talk) 23:26, 22 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
        • Taweetham: there are many options to go from DC to NYC. Flying might be expensive. You could do the trip by train (www.amtrak.com) or bus (check this article). The other option being to rent a car, it only takes 4.5 to 5 hours of driving. --Olivier
  3. Potentially interested. Lodewijk 08:35, 4 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Strongly interested Yuyu 04:57, 14 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Strongly interested Rangilo Gujarati 16:09, 18 January 2012 (UTC) (Got the visa, HI NYC reserved for 4th-9th July)[reply]
  6. Depends on schedule. 220.237.36.242 06:35, 20 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  7. yes! yes! me! me! -- Duesentrieb 19:16, 30 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  8. I am in Big apple always one of 2 go list --Sarouk7 19:33, 30 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  9. Lilaroja 140.247.241.76
  10. I am getting married on July 5 and will leave for Spain (honeymoon) afterwards so I cannot go. I'd like to get information on future events around the Northeast. Surge79uwf 18:14, 2 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  11. I will try to bring my daughter but we have to be in Philadelphia on the 4th jps 06:47, 3 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  12. Potentially interested. Manuel de Sousa 15:57, 5 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  13. Very interested Raidarmax
  14. Strongly interested --Tanuyeiro 14:08, 12 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  15. Pete F. Not sure how things will look in July, but would love to participate (and possibly help with planning) if possible!
  16. Sounds interesting! Ziko 00:57, 15 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  17. Definitely coming, and also interested in taking the Wikibus to DC after WTM. Booked HI-NYC from 4th-9th. Rehman 10:20, 15 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  18. I am arriving into NYC on the morning of the 8th of July, so I'll be around. :-) Werdna 22:14, 15 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  19. Adam Wight 17:12, 16 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  20. --Prolineserver 22:01, 16 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  21. Bináris 10:30, 17 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  22. Juliana 20:51, 17 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  23. Never visited NY before, but would love to, especially on a free-culture-themed trip. MartinPoulter 15:48, 18 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  24. Strongly interested and this way I get to explore the city too. Noopur28
  25. Strongly interested ! That'll be my first time visiting NYC ! Nonoxb
  26. Would be awesome if I could. —Tom Morris 22:41, 20 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  27. Oh yes. MikeLynch 13:11, 21 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  28. Want to see as much of America as possible :) Gotta see NY! Steven Zhang (talk) 14:50, 24 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  29. Would really like to, but don't know what I'll be doing after 5 June. Undead q (talk) 19:27, 28 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  30. Most likely. Any interest in a wiki fair booth selling WP/WM merchandise? Jalexander (talk) 02:18, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  31. Probably. I need to figure out the logistics, but I'd love to see NYC. --Tango (talk) 22:05, 12 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  32. Deror avi (talk) 07:25, 13 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  33. Yes, great idea! Ainali (talk) 10:57, 14 March 2012 (UTC) (booked my flight ticket now to include this)[reply]
  34. Yeah, Big Apple! Sebastian Wallroth (talk) 19:18, 15 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  35. Would be awesome! SPQRobin (talk) 21:26, 15 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  36. Potentially interested. --Dmitri Lytov (talk) 01:54, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  37. Will be great to explore the city - Piyush.Aggarwal
  38. Will try to add a sciency spin. -- Daniel Mietchen - WiR/OS (talk) 13:35, 20 March 2012 (UTC) Can't make it. -- Daniel Mietchen - WiR/OS (talk) 23:27, 24 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  39. Sounds awesome :) Léna (talk) 13:43, 20 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  40. PierreSelim
  41. -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 14:02, 20 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  42. Theo10011 (talk) 18:41, 23 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  43. Would be interested in taking the wikibus from NY to DC! Daria Cybulska (talk) 18:37, 24 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  44. Strongly interested :) --Theredmonkey (talk) 17:33, 29 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  45. are you kidding? MEGA-interested!!!--Saintfevrier (talk) 20:43, 30 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  46. why not, NYC is a must on my list, if I come to wikimania. So, count me in.--Dsvyas (talk) 23:05, 2 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  47. Kristo (talk) 09:41, 3 April 2012 (UTC) (and possibly half a dozen other Swedes)[reply]
  48. Bdamokos 10:54, 12 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  49. Kolossos (talk) 20:48, 12 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  50. I'm arriving in NYC on July 5 (from Australia). Keen to attend/be involved! Chuq (talk) 02:23, 16 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  51. Oh, yes! Hannibal (talk) 20:55, 17 April 2012 (UTC) (arriving with Ainali and Einar Spetz)[reply]
  52. Hé hé! Benoit Rochon (talk) 18:22, 20 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  53. Very much interested. But I'm not yet sure I can participate in the whole event as I just got the scholarship announcement this morning. So will need to clear out with my school for permission of leave. Is it possible to join some parts of the whole events? Hope to see everyone there! --វ័ណថារិទ្ធ (Vantharith) (talk) 06:21, 21 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  54. Strongly interested. I am participating to the main conference and I would like to visit NYC and follow Hackathon too. Magioladitis (talk) 10:44, 21 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  55. Strongly Interested. Daffy123 (talk) 16:51, 21 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  56. Very interested indeed! Not entirely sure how it'll work out in relation to the "main event" in DC though. Foxj (talk) 17:24, 22 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  57. I'm there, dudes and dudettes. Maximilianklein (talk) 01:14, 23 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  58. I will come to Wikimania and I'm high interested in this event. — Jagro (talk) 12:27, 26 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  59. Mee thee samee. I would like to attend WTM on my way to Wikimania. Baaa --12:35, 26 April 2012 (UTC), Utar (talk) won't be attending --07:43, 15 June 2012 (UTC), Utar (talk)[reply]
  60. I'm interested --B1mbo (talk) 14:37, 27 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  61. Booked into HI hostel; flights being dealt with by WMUK. I'll be there. HJ Mitchell (talk) 17:54, 27 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  62. I am very interested in participating! Jopparn (talk) 12:22, 28 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  63. I am interested, and if there still is some place on the Wikibus, I'm in too! --Edhral (talk) 20:40, 30 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  64. Emw (talk) 03:02, 2 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  65. Absolutely. —Ynhockey (talk) 06:42, 3 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  66. Yes I am interested too. Hope there is some little space left. --RolandAT (talk) 03:47, 4 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  67. Interested, especially if WMDE colleagues also go --Jeroen De Dauw (talk) 15:54, 5 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  68. <- One of the said WMDE colleagues ;-) -- Toblu (talk) 16:54, 6 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  69. yup, me too. Is there any local where I could accomodate for a night? Plus anyone interested in renting a car for a day (or two) from NY to W ? For 4 guys (with fuel) it is about the same price as a bus trip, more comfortable and we could take Philadelphia (and maybe some other places in between) too... --Vince (talk) 07:16, 7 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  70. Interested. --Beat Estermann (talk) 16:02, 7 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  71. Interested, if I can make it -- Duesentrieb (talk) 10:05, 8 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  72. Interested, if I can make it --Aubrey 11:47, 8 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  73. Interested.SusikMkr (talk) 02:39, 9 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  74. I'll do my best to come. --Amir E. Aharoni (talk) 21:12, 10 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  75. Perhaps, not sure. Definitely sure to attend WTM. --Shujenchang (talk) 10:40, 12 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  76. Count me in! Wikitanvir 16:26, 14 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  77. will be there :)Pouyana (talk) 15:29, 16 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  78. Strongly Interested! :) 82.178.105.129 20:20, 16 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  79. I'll be there. Antony-22 (talk) 01:30, 18 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  80. will attend if possible :) --89.103.81.191 12:57, 18 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  81. Srikeit (talk)
  82. Strongly interested--Nurbek Matzhani (talk) 07:53, 22 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  83. --OsamaK (talk) 17:15, 22 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  84. Got my plane tickets. Will be there. Booking the HI Hostel. --Dimi z (talk) 09:04, 25 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  85. I'm coming Mrjohncummings (talk) 14:34, 28 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  86. --Nikerabbit (talk) 17:06, 29 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  87. Mike Peel (talk) 16:51, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  88. Signed up Multichill (talk) 21:38, 10 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  89. From Italy with love :) --87.0.219.107 23:34, 10 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    Oops, forgot to log in :S --Vale maio (talk) 12:34, 15 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  90. --Frieda (talk) 17:26, 12 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  91. --PandaSorn (talk) 14:08, 20 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  92. -- Got my plane tickets. Will be in New York. Would love to take part. Please let me know of activities. Mguss20 (talk) 19:05, 22 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  93. -- Got HI NY reserved. Flight from Los Angeles arrives JFK at 6am, July 6. Oz750 (talk) 14:47, 25 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  94. -- Arriving on 9th July would love to take part Isaac Kosgei
  95. Mike (talk) Potentially, yes.
  96. Laurentius (talk) 10:54, 2 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  97. Einarspetz arriving with Ainali

References

  1. ↑ http://www.nyc.gov/html/lmec/html/about/nycapital.shtml
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