Official Wikimania host bids identified, two finalists chosen
Wikimania will take place in North America in 2006, after the bids to host the event were narrowed down to two finalists on Sunday. The final determination, between Boston and Toronto, is expected by 15 October.
As of the deadline for submitting bids on Friday, four cities officially submitted bids to host Wikimania next year. Besides Toronto and Boston, the other cities competing for the opportunity were London and Milan. In addition to the two finalists, the US and Canada each had one other city preparing a possible bid (Cleveland and Vancouver, respectively), but these were not officially submitted due to a shortage of people committed to the work of organizing the event. Other locations in the UK were also considered before settling on the London bid, and a Romanian bid was started but never got off the ground.
Originally, it had been planned to choose three finalists to consider for two weeks before making the official selection. However, the panel in charge of selecting the host city indicated that having only four bids left them with fewer good options. The panel decided that the proposed venue in London was too expensive; in the case of Milan, the suggested accommodations were too far away from the proposed conference location. Since Wikimania was held in Frankfurt this past August, having the next gathering outside of Europe was also a consideration.
Both of the finalist cities take advantage of opportunities made possible by working with local universities, the University of Toronto and Harvard University. In the Toronto bid, most events would be at the university's Bahen Centre for Information Technology. The Boston proposal would actually make Wikimania a joint event with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, of which Jimmy Wales is a fellow.
While a precise date has not yet been set (and will depend on the availability of the venue), it likely will happen around the same time of year as Wikimania 2005. July or August are considered preferable as many students will be out of school and have more flexibility to attend, and with respect to the finalist bids, it may also reduce competition for space at the facilities.
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