EMWCon Spring 2022

The Enterprise MediaWiki Conference Spring 2022, or EMWCon Spring 2022, will be held April 6-8 in Houston, TX. EMWCon is a three-day conference featuring discussions of topics related to "Enterprise MediaWiki", i.e. the usage of MediaWiki software by and within companies, non-profits, governments, and other organizations. The intended audience of EMWCon Spring 2022 is anyone who uses, or would like to learn more about, MediaWiki within organizations.

This is the seventh EMWCon. EMWCon began as a spinoff of the Semantic MediaWiki Conference, or SMWCon, which is an annual conference held each fall in Europe. EMWCon and SMWCon are both three-day conferences with similar topics of discussion, though EMWCon has a broader scope.

For those who cannot attend in person for any reason, this will be a "hybrid" conference, with online/virtual capability that is intended to be as integrated into the conference as possible. All presentations will be available on Hopin live and we are accepting talks from remote speakers. There is no cost for online/virtual attendance.

Event details

 * Dates: April 6-8 2022
 * Times: 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM CDT
 * Location: Hilton Houston Westchase

Platform
Hopin - Remote attendees and speakers needed to create a free account on Hopin. Please use the following link to sign-up and attend:
 * https://hopin.com/events/emwcon-2022

Kosy - We will be using Kosy as a fun way to connect virtually to other remote and in-person attendees. The platform will be opened during conference hours and a moderator will give you access when you request to join. Kosy is a RPG like virtual meeting area with avatars and spaces for large discussions (20 people), small groups (both private and open), and 1-on-1s.
 * https://emwcon2022.kosy.online/?guest=cl1lcfj0i00000hl567846tdq

YouTube - The main platform will be Hopin, but the conference Main Stage will be simulcasted on YouTube:
 * Day 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnADYss429s
 * Day 2: (coming soon)

Element - An instant messaging platform used for EMWCon and general MediaWiki discussions:
 * EMWCon Room: https://matrix.to/#/#emwcon:matrix.org
 * General Room: https://matrix.to/#/#mwstake-general:matrix.org

Registration
To register for EMWCon, please go to the EMWCon Spring 2022 page at Eventbrite or click the button below. Tickets come with breakfast, lunch, & snacks for all 3 days of the conference and one social dinner (Thursday night). There is no cost to attend remotely.

The cost for the three-day event is: (If you would be paying your own way, go with the lower rate. If your company or organization is paying, the regular rate applies.)
 * $450 - Regular Rate
 * $150 - Students and Freelancers



Sign-up
Also, feel free to add your name to the informal registration signup, below:

In-person

 * Bryan Hilderbrand
 * Jeffrey Wang
 * Yaron Koren
 * Ike Hecht
 * David Every
 * Margaret Gainsley
 * Lane Becker (WMF)
 * Matthew Westerby
 * Ayushi Dokwal
 * Rich Evans
 * Lexi McGillivray
 * Vincent Brooks
 * Cindy Cicalese (WMF)
 * Daren Welsh
 * Mark A. Hershberger
 * Peter B Meyer
 * Maciej Czyz

Online

 * Tina Tenbergen
 * Megan Cutrofello
 * Tom Fellows
 * Jared Olson (working on attending in-person)
 * Justin C Lloyd
 * Der leder haas
 * Alex Tanchoco (working on attending in-person)
 * Jeroen De Dauw (Professional.Wiki)
 * Wolfgang Fahl
 * Barb Evenson
 * Tom O'Neill
 * Phil Keith
 * Eric-Jan van Kakerken (Wikibase Solutions)
 * Viktor Schelling (Wikibase Solutions)
 * Gemma Neeleman (Wikibase Solutions)
 * Ad Strack van Schijndel (Wikibase Solutions)
 * Charlot Cobben (Wikibase Solutions)
 * Morne Alberts
 * Martin Ringel
 * Michael Erdmann (DIQA Projektmanagement GmbH)
 * Gary Foster
 * Bernhard Krabina (KMA Knowledge Management Associates)
 * TheDJ (CEST, will try to catch as much as I can)
 * Jessica Clifford
 * Rich Simon
 * Lex Sulzer

Program
Here is the tentative program for the conference:

Talks
It's not too late to add talks! To give a talk, demo, or lightning talk at EMWCon, please add its title below.


 * "State of Wikimedia Enterprise in 2022" - Lane Becker
 * "Introducing EMWFS - A File Folder and File Attachment project for Mediawiki" - Rich Evans
 * “Project Canasta updates” - Jeffrey Wang
 * "MediaWiki packages" - Ike Hecht
 * "Handling external data in MediaWiki" - Yaron Koren
 * "Custom notifications using Semantic Mediawiki and mwclient" - Lexi McGillivray
 * "Sharing generic functionality between extensions: First experiences with the MWStake 'MediaWiki Components' approach" - Robert Vogel
 * Keywords to Semantics: MediaWiki and the History of Early American Landscape Design - Matthew Westerby
 * MediaWiki API testing: How it works and how it fits in a testing strategy - Markus Glaser
 * ISO 27001 for and with enterprise wikis - Ad Strack van Schijndel
 * FlexForm (WSForm) update and Documentation - Charlot Cobben (Wikibase Solutions)
 * Content Services Platform - Viktor Schelling (Wikibase Solutions)
 * Verifiable content in MediaWiki with hash chains - Markus Glaser

Lightning talks

 * Extension:SemanticActions - Daren Welsh
 * Extension:SemanticTasks - Bernhard Krabina (as it fits so well in your schedule)
 * Extension:WikiSearchFront - Robis Koopmans (Wikibase Solutions) (faceted search updates and future roadmap )
 * Future of semantic text editing - Bernhard Krabina (lighning talk, followed by a create camp session if possible)

Local accommodations
Everyone is encouraged to stay at the Hilton Houston Westchase, a block rate for each room of $105 has been negotiated. Please book with the group code EMWC22 (built into the following button) to receive this rate:
 * There was an issue previously with the special rate ($105) not showing up, but the new link above should be working again now. Please contact the front desk if you purchased your room and did not get the block rate.

Room sharing
If you would like to share a room, please add your name below:

Shared room signup:
 * Name

Social activities

 * Wednesday night - Social night (coming soon)
 * Thursday night - Conference dinner, Saldivia's South American Grill​

Sponsorship
The current sponsors of EMWCon are:

Become a sponsor
If you are interested in sponsoring EMWCon 2022, please contact Ike Hecht, the conference sponsor chair.

Premier ($600)
 * Your logo (large), link, and description in the sponsorship section of the conference website.
 * Your name will be mentioned during the conference and your logo (large) will be visible during talks and conference breaks.
 * Your name will be included in all upcoming announcements of the conference (e-mail, social media).
 * You will have the opportunity to discuss selected topics or demonstrate your products/services or show your short video in breakout sessions during coffee breaks.

Contributor ($250)
 * Your logo (small), link, and description in the sponsorship section of the conference website.
 * Your name will be mentioned during the conference and your logo (small) will be visible during talks and conference breaks.

Entering the United States
In the United States, requirements relating to COVID-19 are mandated by the President of the United States and are administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States' national public health agency.

Foreign travelers from all countries are currently permitted to enter the United States as long as they are fully vaccinated and have a negative test result or a positive result recent documentation of recovery from a doctor.

All travelers to the United States, regardless of citizenship or vaccination status, are required to have a negative COVID-19 test administered either the day of or 1 day before departure of your first flight. For more information on these requirements, or for the criteria of using a certificate of recovery, see this page on CDC.gov.

The United States government is relatively flexible with the kind of tests that can be used for entering the country. All reputable PCR and antigen tests which provide a certification of your result by a lab or a government authority are accepted for entry. Even a remotely-proctored, antigen COVID-19 test authorized by the FDA under an EUA such as Abbott's BinaxNOW is accepted for entry.

Entry requirements are subject to change at any time by presidential proclamation. Always check the CDC website for the latest requirements.

In Texas
This information is accurate as of April 1, 2022. The local chair will continue to actively monitor local restrictions and will inform attendees of any changes in rules that would impact the conference. It is extremely unlikely the State of Texas would impose any sort of pandemic-related restrictions at this conference.