This August, over 1,100 people met in person (with an additional 1500+ joining online) to celebrate the Wikimedia movement and its contributors, inKatowice,Poland. People came from 143 countries on all continents (exceptthe continent with no countries), and were engaged in discussions about the future of our movement and the direction in which Wikipedia and her sister projects are heading.
The conference lasted from 6 to 10 August, with the main programme held on 7–10 August. It was available in six languages through online translations: Arabic, English, French, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian. In total, over 300 sessions (on 12 tracks in 8 parallel rooms) were available to the community. In addition, theWikiWomen Summit andWikimania 2024 Hackathon, and many otherside events took place during the event.
On the first day of the conference, theWikiWomen Summit took place. This event, created by the community, was attended by a group of female Wikimedians to address gender imbalance within Wikimedia projects. Discussions focused on the challenges faced by women in the movement, the persistence of stereotypes about them on Wikipedia, and the exploration of new technological solutions and other strategies to close the gender gap.
During the official opening of the conference, we met theWikimedians of the year, awarded byJimbo. This included a new category for the award: "Functionary of the Year". This year, the following contributors were recognized:
You can read more stories about this year's winnerson Diff.
Wikimania 2024 was unique in the type of contributors it brought together. Over half of all participants were under the age of 35, representing the generational shift in the structure of the Wikimedia Movement. For almost 50% of all participants, Katowice was the first Wikimania they ever attended. Previous Wikimaniae in Europe (but not theCEE region) wereStockholm, Sweden, in 2019 andEsino Lario, Italy, in 2016). Specialyouth-oriented meetups took place, which allowed community members from various countries to exchange their ideas, learn about new projects, or just get to know each other.
TheWikimania 2024 Hackathon was one of the hottest (and not due to the AC malfunction!) events this year.On Phabricator you can check out the tasks that developers were engaged with during Wikimania. The Wikimedia Foundation presented their strategy for thefuture of MediaWiki and discussed the Foundation's current work on the MediaWiki software's core infrastructure. One of the other topics discussed was theTrust & Safety (T&S) Product's tools that presented the research results of the T&S team that will lead to improving blocks on the Wikimedia projects, with the aim to limit the collateral effects of the blocks, and the current developments in temporary accounts.
Wikimania serves as a means to introduce its participants to the country's culture and the region in which it takes place. This year, the cultural elements of Poland and the Central and Eastern Europe region were present in the conference's design. Polishwycinanki were a base for the Wikimania 2024 graphic design. The attendees of the conference had a chance to visit the museums of Katowice, take guided walks through the historicalNikiszowiec neighborhood, and participate in the traditionalBolesławiec pottery workshops. During the day, thetraditional Łowiczan group performed dances and songs from their region.
With over 200 people attending the Wikimania 2024 Hackathon, the focus on technology and product work was visible throughout the Wikimania program. Sometimes, the interest was so overwhelming that there was no more space in the rooms, and even the in-person attendees had to listen to the session online! The day was dominated by discussions on the Wikimedia Movement's infrastructure and its integration with the broader internet. Among the topics of the sessions werecooperation of Wikipedia with the GenAI developments and the panel on how the Wikimedia Foundation isproceeding with its own Artificial Intelligence activities. In the second part of the day, attendees participated in the poster session, where over 30 different projects were introduced.
All posters are availableon Wikimedia Commons.
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During the last day of Wikimania, we wrapped up the program by thinking about the future of our Movement. Among the topics discussed was theFuture of Wikimania, which guided our thinking about the upcoming Wikimania conferences. We had a chance to talk aboutthe position of Wikipedian in Residence in the Wikimedia Movement and how the role has evolved since it was first introduced, as well as how we canaddress our Future Audiences. There were alsopresentations of the candidates in the upcoming Wikimedia Foundation 2024 elections.
During the closing ceremony, the first-ever international performance of theWikiOrchestra took place. It performed two short pieces of Polish music:Nocturne in E-flat major op. 9 no. 2 byFrédéric Chopin andKarliku, a Silesian traditional folk song byZdzisław Pyzik. The 5th edition of theCoolest Tool Award was presented, with the following winners by category:
Each Wikimania is a Herculean effort by the volunteers who organize it. Over the past 20 months, sincewe learned that Poland would be hosting Wikimania 2024, we have gathered an amazing group of people to work on the event: from theWikimedia Foundation, fromWikimedia Polska, and most importantly, from the community.
In total, over 80 volunteers from 20 countries participated in Wikimania 2024 preparations, to whom I am personally amazingly grateful. We took over 200 meetings together and exchanged more text in e-mails and Slack/Discord messages than there is in theThe Lord of the Rings byJ. R. R. Tolkien.
Special thanks go to the members of the Core Organizing Team(COT) and the Extended Organizing Team:
There are many amazing people on the Wikimania 2024 team who deserve credit for their help in creating this event with us –you can see all of themWikimania-wiki page. I feel proud of leading such an amazing and diverse team, the past 20 months have sure been an adventure!
