WikiConference North America, an annual gathering to discuss the future of Wikipedia and other projects of the Wikimedia Foundation, took place this year in San Diego. Dr. Waller attended to see how defense and security experts could participate more effectively in the Wiki movement, and how the Wiki movement could benefit.
The 300 or so participants included activists, professors, university librarians, and directors of online networks and databases. Dr. Waller was the only known participant from the defense and security sector.
The event, over Columbus Day weekend, featured “both academic and casual presentations on Wikimedia-related outreach activities, workshops to improve the skills of grassroots organizers, and discussions on the past, present, and future of the Wikimedia projects,” the foundation said. WikiConference featured “tracks on community outreach, online activity, partnerships with institutions of knowledge, and technology.” The conference theme, according to organizers, was “inclusivity,” defined as “community building and sharing knowledge among North American editors.”