December 12, 2008  

The Chennai wikipedia academy and Jimbo Wales’ visit

Well what do you know, the founder of wikipedia – Jimbo Wales is in town to take part in India’s first wikipedia academy in Chennai on 12 Dec 2008. Kiruba is setting this up after the debut workshop last month.

The funny thing here is that nobody seems to know about this, which is quite strange considering this is on a level similar to a visit of a foreign head of state as far as the webworld is concerned. Maybe its the heightened security around, but it gives me the impression that Jimbo is being moved around the country in a sack so that nobody notices. If it wasnt for a little twitteavesdropping this whole thing would have gone right over my head. Any info on when and where this academy is going to be held is appreciated.

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6 responses to “The Chennai wikipedia academy and Jimbo Wales’ visit”

  1. Shivasubramanian A says :

    I assume its at the same venue as before (i.e., Kiruba’s office), not sure though. Also, last time Kiruba had set up a website. I checked that this time around, but the page seems to have been removed.

    I had planned to visit last time, but could not. This time, it unhappily fell on a Friday, which means I again can’t (have work@office).

    Are you going?

    Reply
  2. Vamsee says :

    He visited earlier, and was at the last version of WikiCamp. Lawdy, it was so boring. And, I gotta say, humility is not one of Jimbo’s strong points :).

    Reply
  3. planemad says :

    @Shivasubramanian
    i was very eager to interact with those who are interested in contributing and share my experiences, but it seems that this was pretty much a closed event, an oxymoron for a wikipedia academy.

    its a good initiative no doubt, but maybe not the best way to go about promoting wikipedia

    @vamsee
    yeah, didnt regret missing that one. but atleast this time, it would have been a great chance to closely interact with those who are really interested in wikipedia and not just publicity

    Reply
  4. Amog says :

    Looks like there will be a next time, anyway.

    He’s come twice already?

    Reply
  5. Shivasubramanian A says :

    @Amog,

    See http://www.kiruba.com/2007/02/announcing-wikicamp-indias-first.html

    Reply
  6. planemad says :

    @amog
    yea, but from the photos, it didnt look like any learning got done, so i dont mind 🙂

    Reply

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