User:Theodoranian/some statements
I write specifically to thank Delphine for defending Wikimania 2007 so passionately, for her trying to iron out the fights and for her positive thinking to make the bidding process better. I want also to thank all those who help to coordinate between Foundation and the organizing team.
Last August, we saw an opportunity; we were sure that the diversity of Asia would make Wikimania 2007 a significant event.
The Asian diversity will definitely be an exciting part of this year's mania. No matter where the conference takes place, there will be concerns over travel distance. We want to thank our far away registrars/applicants for willing to go the distance, literally. Present representations of Africa and the Latin and South Americas are weak, the North America is stronger, a major part of Wikimedians confirmed and interested in coming represent a belt extending from the Far East all the way to Western Europe, connecting some very old cultures with very young ones, of very different social and political communities and, of course, very different languages. It is just like the old silk road, in a modern way.
As has been pointed out by Jollyroger, Taiwan was not even a chapter of the Foundation when we made the bid. It is not surprising to us that misunderstanding would arise concerning how we have been handling the process. It is daily life here. Our entire country is immersed in the same sort of debate. But of course, that is the kind of things which convinced us that we should hold Wikimania in Taipei!! (Hey, we have received significant aid from Wikipedians who have no access to Wikipedia in their own country.)
Taiwan, being a nascent democracy with unrestrained free speech, our geo-political position was symbolism in itself considered in the Wikipedian spirit; in this light, we see the bumps and hurdles of this year's mania as an empowering experience for the neighbors of the region. I and my team thank the jury for making such a bold decision and the foundation for sticking with us through the very inconvenient ways we do things here in our country.
Certainly, my team and I are outraged to be called liars and frauds by Jollyrogers. We will continue to ignore him for now and concentrate on the organizational business at hand.
My team and I, however, must denounce Jollyroger's insults and insinuating remarks hurled at sponsors; we find his action deplorable especially when it is done through implication. Our sponsorship situation was solid when the bid was made. It is solid now. It has never been vague.
We do have something to say pertaining to the comment below from Jollyroger:
"The board…Ignored the support of institutions (in Turin, London and Alexandria), preferring the promises of a chapter not even founded."
We don't know why a charge of ignorance is made against the board. We are sure that those are very fine institutions. We also feel strongly for the actual sponsors we have now, those that dropped out(the used-to-be's) ,and those that are still under negotiation(still prospective). We do want to do more than just getting Wikipedians together. Our team contacted them because we feel that they have a very direct interest in or even a role to play in the development of Wikimedia projects, or they constitute a potential second-order expansion of the work on Wikimedia projects such as being an organized and collective user body. They make a meaningful list.--Theodoranian 15:50, 20 April 2007 (UTC)