Events
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Events at Wikimania will include an attendees party, numerous field trips around the city, and a series of writing and media contests.
We can use your help in organizing these outings; information is available about volunteering for Wikimania.
Parties
Main Party : Saturday night
Date
Saturday Aug 5th
Time
7:30 - 11:30PM
Location
MIT Museum
265 Massachusetts Avenue
Building N52, 2nd Floor
Cambridge, MA 02139
Snacking
Light desserts provided.
Beverages available -- POSITIVE ID REQUIRED!
International Visitors: age 21 is the law. MIT Policy does not make exceptions. Foreign Passports will be accepted at the discretion of the bouncer and accompanying MIT Police Officer.
You will need your Wikimania badge to get in. No non-conference guests allowed.
Performers
Dania Shapes
Daniel Lopatin (aka Dania Shapes) rejects the formalist trappings of electronic music's ambient subgenre by aggressively avoiding a preocupation with tools and process. Lopatin's compositions attempt find the whimsy of a New Romantic inside improvisational, recursive noiseplay. The performance you will see at the Wikimania 2006 Party marks the artist's return to the stage after a hiatus during which he prepared the release of Soundsystem Pastoral on Berlin's Naivsuper label. http://www.zombient.com/
Gifrants
Gifrants is a singer/songwriter/guitarist/arranger who has dedicated his life to preserving and developing Haitian music. Born in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, Gifrants composes songs of hope and determination in Creole, English, and French. His music reflects Haiti's own cultural heritage, incorporating the sounds of African roots, Brazilian rhythms, and the influence of American jazz. In the artist's words, "I can see that more and more we are moving to living closer together. The implications of globalization have already gone far beyond politics and economics. The sight and vision of the artist reaches over the whole world, and the whole universe." http://www.gifrants.com/
Matt Boch
Matt Boch is a video artist with a foot in the nightclub. His VJ sets draw on a wealth and expert knowledge of pop culture inspiring in the attentive a rapidily oscillating experience of nostaligia, confusion, and surprise. http://www.flickr.com/photos/believekevin/136083696/
Thursday night
Hacking Days/Wikimania opening party/Congresspedia.org belated-launch party
Please join Dan Gillmor, Doc Searls, Ethan Zuckerman, Micah Sifry and the Sunlight Foundation for an open-bar reception to celebrate the launch of Congresspedia at the Redline bar in Harvard Square (59 JFK St.) from 9-11PM on Thursday night. Only ages 21 and up by Mass. law.
The Sunlight Foundation was launched this spring with the goal of using the revolutionary power of the Internet and new information technology to enable citizens to learn more about what Congress and their elected representatives are doing, and thus help reduce corruption, ensure greater transparency and accountability by government, and foster public trust in the vital institutions of democracy. One of its first projects was to launch Congresspedia. It has also initiated the Sunlight Labs project to prototype tech ideas to improve government transparency and political influence disclosure.
Congresspedia.org—a joint project of Sunlight and the Center for Media and Democracy—is a collaboratively written, wiki-based citizen journalism project. The site was launched this spring and is designed to shine more light on the workings of the U.S. Congress. Congresspedia is part of SourceWatch.org, a similarly collaborative, wiki-based website documenting the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda.
There will also be a group tour of the Media Lab and its projects for the HD attendees.
Friday night : Film festival
On Friday night there will be a film festival of free-content films, and film about collaborative movements. There may be a replay on Saturday for the curmudgeons amongst us.
9:30 PM in Ropes Gray.
Friday
5:30pm : Wikia party & Jimmy's 40th!
Wikia is celebrating 250,000 articles and Wikia's founders Angela Beesley and Jimmy Wales are both celebrating their birthdays this week. Join them in Ropes Gray at Pound Hall, during the poster and demonstration sessions, on the afternoon of Friday the 4th!
Friday 7:30PM : Wikitravel 10K Party
Wikitravellers will be celebrating 10,000 articles on the English wiki in a pub party on Friday evening; all attendees welcome. Location: Tommy Doyle's Irish Pub, 96 Winthrop Street (Harvard Square). More details at 10K Party on Wikitravel.
Saturday night
see the Main conference party, above
Sunday night
...
Contests
There will be contests for the best free-content writing, photography, and rich media used in a Wikimedia project and created/contributed since the last Wikimania. See Wikimania contests for further information.
Field Trips and Local sightseeing
Field Trips
The entire list of Field trip and local sightseeing proposals has been moved to a separate page, while the topmost suggested tours are listed below. Look for signup sheets and more information at information desk.
Topmost things to do and see in Boston:
| Trip | Times/Duration | Location | Cost | Information/Suggestions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom Trail | Daytime (requires 3-4 hours) | Downtown Boston | Zero | Great Walking tour around historic sights in Boston. |
| Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market | Any time | Boston (along Freedom Trail) | Typical lunch would cost about $10.00 per person | Along the freedom trail, this is a great place to stop for a quick bite, or pick up some Boston souveniors. Walking distance from Haymarket, and along the Freedom Trail. |
| Blue Hills Reservation | Not during sessions | Milton, Canton, etc. | Zero | Excellent place for a hike, swim, or mountain bike ride and accessible by public bus or a short drive. Contact jkbaumga for further details. |
| Boston Public Garden |
|
Downtown Boston | $2.75 per ticket | Party Swan Boat tours available. |
| Boston Duck Tours | Every 30 minutes 9:00 am to 5:00 pm | Tours depart at the Museum of Science | $26.00 | Need 20 to rent a DUKW. |
| Hatchshell concerts and events | Fixed times | Charles River Esplanade | Zero |
|
| New England Aquarium |
|
Boston |
|
Great place with 3D Imax shows and Whale Watching Tours
|
| Local Museums | Open daytime | Boston | Approx $10.00 per ticket | Lots of them:
|
More sightseeing/field trip suggestions are here.
We need individual Field trip leaders to lead some of the proposed field trips listed. Some familiarity and/or expertise would be preferable (for example, it would be great if somebody familiar with the history of Boston could lead the Freedom Trail trip), but the important thing is for everbody to have some fun and do something interesting! To volunteer to be a Field Trip Leader, get in touch with Vivek here and feel free to add to the list if you have other interesting ideas!
Dine arounds to experience some of Boston's wonderful ethnic food and neighborhoods
- Union Oyster House
- Purple Shamrock (excellent clam chowder!)
- dim sum in Chinatown or Zhong Shin Yuan (China Pearl a local favorite)
- Russian food in Brookline
- The Helmand (Afghan cuisine)
- The Armenian markets in Watertown
- Italian in the North End
- Asian in Porter Square
- The Elephant Walk; French and Cambodian cuisine - 900 Beacon Street in Boston - 617-247-1500, or 2067 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge (Porter Square)
- Red Bones - bar-b-q - Davis Square
- Brazilian BBQ: Midwest Grill, Cafe Belo
Additional resources
- A few selected free things from The Boston Globe; The Globe also has more information about touring Boston.
- If you belong to AAA, you might want to pick up their guide book(s) and map(s) for the area. If you are able to donate them to the conference attendees, yay! There are several local AAA offices, including one in downtown Boston.
Saturday, August 5th, 5:30-7:30pm, right before the Main conference party.
A fun outing and game of ball!
Organizers
Events calendar & signup
Please sign up for what activities you'd like to do that might require or be nice with a group (e.g., a duck tour, touring BPL, Calvinball deathmatch) on what day. Please note that conference days are likely to be extremely busy.
Monday July 31
Tuesday August 1
- hacking days
Wednesday August 2
- hacking days
Thursday August 3
- hacking days
- proposed: Calvinball warm-up match?
- Wikimaniacs invade the blog and new technologies group that meets at 7 pm at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett Street, Cambridge--on the northern edge of the Harvard Law School campus
Friday August 4
- main conference
- film fest
- wikia/b-day parties
- Wikitravel 10K Party, 7:30PM, Tommy Doyle's Pub, 96 Winthrop Street
- A proposal; after those parties, a brief field tour to Museum of Arts, West building only though, from 19? till 21:45. --Aphaia 10:43, 2 August 2006 (UTC)
Saturday August 5
- main conference
- Attendees Party at MIT Museum. See description above!
- Calvinball death match (in between the end of sessions, dinner, & the party:5:30-7:30pm)
Sunday August 6
- main conference
- Calvinball : 6pm at 210 / registration ==> Cruft Field
- Hack at midnight in front of MIT dome--Drape the WM/WP banner on MIT dome. Simple.
- Did you get a picture? Or pay $250 cuz of guyz who dropped a ladder on a professor?
Monday August 7
- proposed: foundation meetings
- Citizen journalism unconference
- See hack on dome.
Tuesday August 8
- I would love to go on a duck tour right about here. Or perhaps a nice library tour. phoebe 04:13, 24 July 2006 (UTC)
- Qvack! Qvack! jkbaumga 16:02, 25 July 2006 (UTC)
- Er, I meant, if we get about 20 people interested in this very fun, very worth doing tour of Boston, we could perhaps reserve our very own duck.
- Would either of you be interested in signing up as a Field Trip Leader for the DUKW? --Vivekk 19:23, 25 July 2006 (UTC)