[okfn-discuss] Open Knowledge Festival 2015 - Location Thoughts

Wed Oct 8 19:01:56 UTC 2014

Hey all,

Just a quick thought because we are all speaking of immigration policies.
It is unfortunately quite a mistake to consider that Europe because of
Schengen is the worst place on Earth. Africa is not much better: visas are
required for any country. Even though I am a European citizen, I don't get
that easily through. Visas are applied to other African nationals too, for
granting an entry to an African country. Personally, I am quite uneasy
spending money on visas (80 euros minimum for a visa to Ivory Coast for
instance); I am especially uneasy leaving my fingerprints and being
physically searched upon arrival and departure in African airports.

I have no idea how it is handled in LatAm or Asia, but I fear there is no
safe haven :(

As much as I would argue in favour of a non-Western location, I think that
very few of the actual community will be able to make it without financial
aid. And it might be far more expensive to take in charge 6-10-hour flights
for people, for example.

I would thus argue in favour of Berlin for the 2015 edition, and support
the suggestion someone had in a previous email to start thinking of a new
non-Western location for 2016 right now. It would more specifically allow
for a sort of sustainability plan to emerge. I would also vote against
London not because I don't like it (quite the contrary!) but because Berlin
is way cheaper in terms of everyday activities and accommodation. Lastly,
you could also bootstrap some mapping of who has more troubles going to
Berlin rather than to London.

My 2 cents,
Rayna
 On Wed, 8 Oct 2014 17:35:15 +0100, Rufus Pollock <rufus.pollock at okfn.org>
said:

    > Also and thoughts on the *specific criteria* by which we should
    > evaluate location options?

In addition to the venue itself:

  - A place with a humane immigration apparatus so as to allow people
    wishing to attend to do so with as little barrier as possible and
    that treats them with resepect as they cross borders.

  - Also a place where good food and decent accommodation is available
    at as low a cost as possible.

In my opinion the first criterion could well do with being extended
beyond those attending and meetings should not be scheduled in places
with generally discriminatory immigration policies. Sadly that means
most of Europe, but if it must be Europe we can pick the best of a bad
lot.

-w
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