WikiConference India 2012/Judging criteria

Objectives

 * 1) To get together Indian Wikimedians for 2 1/2 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday upto Lunch) days to bond with other wikimedians, share best practices, discuss on  future projects and get inspired by the vision of Wikimedia movement. It  is like  a mini Wikimania for India
 * 2) Flagship event of Wikimedia Community at national level to help raise visibility of Wikimedia movement across the country.
 * 3) Preferably held together with Annual General body Meeting (AGM) of Wikimedia Chapter, as it will help broader participation from across India in AGM and make for a vibrant and active membership base.
 * 4) You may want to hold a hackathon just before or just after WCI. It is not recommended to hold a parallel hackathon, as from experience of the first WCI, it has a draining effect on the main event.

Quality of venue

 * General suitability: proximity to lodging, number and size of rooms available, rooms available for organisers to use as storerooms/meeting rooms etc., whether WCI will be the sole user of the venue during the event, venue owner's experience with handling conferences of this size, firmness of commitment, availability of backup venues


 * Internet access: within venue, within lodging, within social areas. Access free of charge. Wireless access with sufficient capacity (installed or would we need to arrange). Provision of laptop rental (and cost). Venue's ability to provide technology infrastructure. Information on local networks, voice and data roaming compatibility for mobile phones/devices.


 * Social areas: whether a space for socialising is available, whether that space is open 24 hours a day, proximity to venue and accommodation, facilities available (food, drinks, internet access)

Location

 * Lodging: proximity to venue (suggested within walking distance), suitability and price, variety of types of lodging available, availability during event and any pre- or post- conference meetings.


 * General location: proximity to an international/national airport (number of direct connections?), nearest railway junction (number of direct connections?), road connections (major highways/expressways), facilities nearby (restaurants, tourist sites for outings, etc)


 * Local laws, customs, attitudes, and culture: anticipated benefits or problems for attendees, and compatibility with Wikimedia's values
 * Separate note about safety and potential catastrophes, for venues that make attendees wary (help needed to measure safety here and avoid this becoming a point for unsourced political/religious debates)


 * Visas/immigration: WCI does tend to have a few foreigners. potential challenges in visiting from any other location, difficulty and cost, possibility of local help, online resources.


 * Rotation of location: location should ideally not be in the same zone/ within 500km as the previous WCI (mainly to balance cost and ease of attendance from other locales from one year to the next). However if a very strong bid in such locations can be placed, do not hesitate to do so. If a city has hosted WCI once, it is unlikely to win a bid for a minimum of two years thereafter.

Organisational support

 * Organising team: Suggested team size of a minimum of 20 volunteers (each spending minimum 2 hours a week on the OC work, increasing as event nears), with a core local group of atleast 5 volunteers (each spending minimum 10 hours a week on the OC work, increasing as event nears) and atleast 1 among the local volunteers be dedicated full time. Local volunteers willing to take a lead role in organizing the event; who is responsible for what areas of the conference; their skills (technical, PR, financial, English language ability, etc.); their experience with similar ventures. A strong support team will be required to ensure good programming. Those in key positions in the OC are expected to have editing experience on Wikipedia, minimum 2 years and 1000 edits.


 * Event Management: How do you intend to manage the floor - will you be managing it yourself (expand on how you intend to do so) or hiring an external agency (expand on what parts you intend to outsource and the cost of doing so).


 * Financial Responsibilities: Teams must make it clear how the conference will be supported in terms of financial logistics. Is there an existing infrastructure that will provide support for financial infrastructure? If not, what financial infrastructure is in place or would need to be put in place.


 * Chapter support: If there is a city SIG or other established organization offering to help with overall oversight of the event, please indicate their experience with logistics and financial accountability for events of similar scope, and what their responsibilities would be. It must be made clear if a city SIG exist but are not willing to provide support. It is a must to have atleast one member of Wikimedia India be a part of the Organising Team (Someone who has been a chapter member for atleast 6 months in the 2012 bidding and 1 year from 2013 onwards - on the date bidding starts)


 * Other organizational support: Support from local governments, universities, venues, and NGOs. Please elaborate on what help they can or cannot provide.


 * Press: Media interest and PR opportunities: prior and expected interest, both locally and internationally. How do you intend to manage media - yourself or via an external agency?

Funding, cost, ease of attendance

 * General cost: of accomodation, food, net access after hours, phone service, etc.


 * Funding: amount of local sponsorship available (Should be a minimum of 50% of your budget).


 * Travel: costs of travel to the location from all capital cities of the country, particularly those with high numbers of Wikimedians, options available for travel (alternatives to flying). Cost of lodging stay for attendees. Cost of travel within city.

Zones
Need: Needless to say that India is a large country. 500km is a large distance and its fair enough to keep such a distance between 2 host cities - anything more than this might not be feasible. However, if you have WCI in say Lucknow one year and Chandigarh the next year or in Chennai one year and Hyderabad the next year, people from the opposite end of the country will still end up travelling large distances, which is why a zonal system is required over and above the 500km rule, which is still required to make sure that two cities on the borders of two different zones dont play host one after another - such as Delhi in the North followed by Jaipur in the West.


 * North: J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarkhand and Delhi
 * South: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
 * East: Andaman & Nicobar, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh and Sikkim
 * West: Gujarat, Western Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Goa