Last August, was held in Singapore Wikimania 2023 the annual gathering of Wikimedians from around the world. This edition was the first in person since 2019 (when Wikimania was held in Stockholm) and, therefore, the opportunity for people who had joined the Wikimedia universe during the pandemic years to attend an international meeting. This was the case of our Wikisphere partner Isa Zapico (Zapipedia), who was able to travel to Singapore thanks to the support of a partial scholarship granted by the Wikimedia Foundation.
Wikimania 2023, with the motto ‘Diversity. Collaboration. Future”, has been the edition with more participants in its history: 1,500 virtually and 670 face-to-face. It was the perfect occasion to connect with Wikimedians from all over the world, learn from their experiences, talk about our concerns and, above all, share good times together.
The program was tremendously intense and since the day before the official start of Wikimania several side events were held, such as the Mind the Gap This took place at Google's headquarters in Asia-Pacific. There was an interesting presentation that raised the need to empower women in Wikimedia projects to share knowledge in a more inclusive way.
This talk was included in the program of the WikiWomen Summit, It held its first edition at Wikimania 2023. Our partner Maria Sefidari (disambiguation) was in charge of giving the Keynote during the Summit and many other Wikimedians were able to share their projects and learnings in a day in which we left with a lot of energy and desire to continue collaborating to close the gender gap. Many of the attendees will meet again in October to continue work on the Wikiwomen Camp 2023 that will be held in India, and in which our colleague Isa Zapico will also be present. In addition, as is tradition in every Wikimania, the WikiWomen’s Lunch Table. A date that we Spanish-speaking women do not miss.
Wikimania 2023 also allowed the reunion of the people who make up Ibercoop to continue the work and challenges raised last February during the Iberoconf held in Colombia in February 2023.
How could it be otherwise, Wikimania 2023 ended with a Party at Singapore's iconic Gardens by the Bay, where more reunions took place and even a Wikipedian wedding was officiated!
And as if all this were not enough, the day after Wikimania several Wikipedians went on an excursion to the city of Johor Bahru by the hand of Dody Ismoyo, president of the Malaysian Wikimedians ' Group.
Now we just have to wait for it to arrive Wikimania 2024 in Krakow, edition in which the companions of Wikiesfera hope to be present to continue closing the gender gap together.
Wikimania 2023 has been the first international event I attend within the Wikimedia universe since I became a Wikimedian in 2019. The experience could not have been better. Being able to meet and share ideas, experiences and projects with so many people from all over the world, with such different contexts and situations, was truly inspiring and enriching. Undoubtedly, having the opportunity to attend these types of meetings is a key tool to be able to join forces in the fight to close the gender gap.
I have returned from Singapore full of ideas and energy to share everything I learned with my colleagues. from Wikisphere. Hopefully in the next edition of Wikimania 2024, we can all be together in Krakow.
Isa Zapico
All images are from Wikimedia Commons and are licensed CC-BY-SA-4.0. Attributions, in order of appearance of the images: Zarah Ziadi (WMDE) (cover image), ZMcCune (WMF), Raystorm, Raystorm, Kirito404, MMulaudzi - WMF, Pedro J Pacheco, Robert Sim, Phoebe, Pedro J Pacheco y Dody Ismoyo.
English (UK)