[wsfii-discuss] Onward to Africa

[Juergen Neumann]

Hi Armin and all, 

> as plans are already made for Africa, those who did not make it to 
> India like me still wonder how it was. Could anyone post a report?

I can only speek for myself here, but others can always join
in/disagree, of course - please!

This answer will be al little longer and needs to be split in some
sections I think:

- The people who came

Where all great! I made so many new friends and the whole atmosphere
amongst us, the late night sessions, the party - everything about that
was great. I am very happy I went there, as I thought to be happy
meeting just a few I could get along with - that turned into everyone
who came!!! I am very much looking forward to seeing you all again!
Thanks again to Fred and Thomas and many others for their engagement to
make the socializing happen! It also gave us a change to meet some of
the local helpers/supporters from the staff and make friends.

- The place and local hosting 

A great venue - a beautiful place. Locations, food, etc. were all
perfect. I felt save and really enjoyed the good logistics, food and tea
every day.

- The number of asian/local attendees

Was very poor. There were about 150 people over all, may be thirty or
forty locals. I was expecting much more people from asia. I think Thomas
has addressed this issue in his last mail quite well.

- The airjaldi.summit

Was a long days panel talk with many speakers with "high reputation",
like e.g. Richard Stallman (see website). I am very thankful towards Jim
Foster who came in and gave us, the WSFIIers a little (more) space on
this. Otherwise I think, we wouldn't have had a chance to say anything
there at all - because of:

- The culture clash

... Was not amongst the the people who came, but between the local
organizer and very many of the rest. Technically we had all the support
but from the heart, there was a deep gap! I must reinsist on something,
a rule, we WSFIIers had made early after Djursland: Those who are going
to host a WSFII should have been visiting one before hand. We did not
stick to this rule in this case. We had lots of promblems in advance,
because of that. It was topped shortly before, by a heavy attac towards
one of us that was really in a tone which I found completely
unacceptable. But we were so close to the event that many people tryed
to save us from a desaster. Especially Bjarke helped a lot with his
engagement.
 
So I thought, may be things might change once we will meet. But it
really didn't change. The official side ignored the whole WSFII
activists until Jim Foster turned in. At the end of the conference there
was not a word of thanks or a mentioning to those who had also helped to
make airjaldi happen (especially Fred who was on place before and did
much more to let it happen). I am not angry about that, but I am very
sad! We missed so many chances - just because we coulnd't find a way to
coop. This can't be explained rational by me. It just felt like two too
different mindsets were clashing together. I am sure "the other side" is
not happy about that either.   

- The wireless roadshow

... is such a very important part of WSFII and was really great.
Sebastian and Elektra were very flexible and managed to integrate a lot
of other workshops into the courses, to give everyone a chance not to
miss anything. I think to those attending the worshops it was of great
venue and Elektra has a new fanclub now ;-).

- The free hackers spirit

... was hard to to find on the campus. Those few like Kloshi, cven and
some others had a hard time. One reason was the culture clash mentioned
above. Another reason was, that the number of people not taking part on
the workshops, the hackers and others, were way too few. We all missed
"The London Boys" and their creativity, and many more. As a result of
only so few being there, those who where there not taking part in
workshops felt really like being at the wrong place. That is very sad,
too, and it was really frustrating for them - trying their best to
organize interesting things (like local radio broadcasts or advanced
meshing workshops) that weren't attended by anyone or only too few in
the end.

- My conclusion

With all that frustration from many sides, WSFII is in danger. Some
might think: not again with those hackers, other might think: not again
with the roadshow, others might think: not again a conference. I think,
we really need these three components, but we need more people who
understand why these three components need to stick togehter. And we
have to make sure, that the number of people of all "groups" is of
relevant size and respect each other. And we need organizers who are
able to bring in more locales and support this idea of bridging
different cultures and are able to spread a good atmosphere and respect
to all of the people helping to make it happen and atending. We need
good vibes and free spirit!

- The Future

I am very much looking forward to Barcelona. I think it is a good change
to bring toghether a lot of people again and to build a good ground to
go to Afrika. I am happy that many who are taking us to Afrika have been
to Dharamsala and will hopefully come to Barcelona, so that we hopefully
manage to find back to our roots and spirits: we can work ad-hoc and
practically in place and that we can learn about local needs and how to
contribute techical knowledge and solutions and build real
infrastructures to the local community.

Just my 2 cents.

JuergeN