Jimmy Wales founder of Wikipedia spoke at the Institute for International Economics today on the topic of “Wikipedia and Global Development.” It was a packed room- all I could see was the top half of the projection screen over the heads of the taller people in front of me.
It was an interesting presentation- there was a good chunk of introductory material towards the beginning, an overview of what Wikipedia it is and how popular it is for the non-geeks in the room (probably 1/3 of the attendees said they have edited Wikipedia articles). But then he got into a particularly interesting topic to me- the regulation of content and community. Not being a Wikipedia editor myself, I hadn’t realized that the vote-for-deletion and discussion pages are things that had grown out of the community and aren’t software-driven at all.
I’m a recruiter- how did I get into such an interesting event? For free, even? Like anything else in DC, it’s about who you know. Or in this case, which professional associations’ listservs you join. I think I count three DC Metrobloggers on the 501techclub list these days… Alas, my partner and I had to get back to work, so we didn’t get to hang out for the Q&A session afterwards, but it was a pretty worthy way to spend an hour out of the office.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
Tiffany Baxendell Bridge is an Internet enthusiast and an incurable smartass. When not heckling the neighborhood political scene on Twitter, she can be found goofing off with her ukulele, Bollywood dancing, or obsessing about cult TV. She is That Woman With the Baby In the Bar.
Tiffany lives in Brookland with her husband Tom, son Charlie, and two high-maintenance cats. Read why Tiffany loves DC.
