Wikimania talk:Expressions of Interest/2024/London, UK

Visas

London is in the UK, one of the most difficult places for most people to get visas for. This was a problem in 2014, and the UK has not become more open since. Post Brexit it is no longer open for EU visitors using ID cards, they now need a full passport. Much of the movement's growth since 2014 has been in parts of the world where the internet was a rarity in 2014, and these are the very places where it is most difficult to get a visa to visit the UK. Especially if you are a volunteer contributor to a website and earning an average salary in the majority of the world. Short of the UK becoming more open to low income visitors, this is going to be a bigger problem than it was a decade ago. WereSpielChequers (talk) 12:50, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

View from the London meetup

Yesterday at the 188th London meetup we discussed this suggestion of another London Wikimania. As well as the concern about visas, the point was made that in London in August you are competing with the high season of the tourist industry for accommodation. It would probably be much better value to book one of the universities on the edge of London or just outside, one that could provide all the speaking venues and cafe space we need plus accommodation for over a thousand delegates on site. To be fair, there was also a minority view that Dublin would be a better choice. WereSpielChequers (talk) 23:56, 9 January 2023 (UTC)

thanks for sharing the views of the London meetup. As another London-based wikimedian, I concur with your points raised here as well as in your original comment.MassiveEartha (talk) 13:45, 9 February 2023 (UTC)