Back in August, 2006 I attended Wikimania (my blog post from 2006). At the time, this conference and Wikipedia were "where it was happening" in terms of the web. However, if you fast forward to December 2009, has Wikipedia lost its mojo? In a recent article posted by the Industry Standard's managing editor Ian Lamont, he notes:

"Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia built on the backs of a seemingly never-ending
supply of free labor, is in a bit of a bind: Many contributors are
throwing in the towel. As reported in a page one story in Monday's Wall Street Journal,
"unprecedented numbers of the millions of online volunteers who write,
edit and police it are quitting." And, the article adds, not enough new
blood is coming online to replace the quitters."

Let's return to Wikimania. This conference is Wikipedia's annual event. Back in 2006, attendance was free and the presenter list read almost like a "who's who" of the web. I took time off from work and hung out in a Harvard Law School dorm for $20 per night. Friendships I developed during that conference are still maintained today, and I've even built schools in rural China thanks to Dj. Since the Summer of 2006, the conference has never again been held again in the USA.

While I understand the need for Wikipedia to be a global organization, they need a big annual event in America. In my professional life I lead collaboration projects for a Fortune 100 company. While virtual collaboration is nice, it is critical to physically bring together design teams on an occasional basis. In the corporate environment, we understand this fact (i.e. the need for face to face interaction). Does Wikipedia understand this need? Although I've never contributed a huge number of edits to Wikipedia, unlike most netizens I have contributed. Organizations need to grow and expand their user base, and by this I mean more than those folks who just read Wikipedia's content online.

I wish Wikipedia good luck, and if they ever have another Wikimania in the USA, I would seriously consider attending. 2010 is scheduled for Gdansk, Poland.

It's Thanksgiving weekend 2009, and if you've overdosed on the more run of the mill standard football fare shown on TV, I invite you to experience Football in Outer Space! See NASA astronauts play their 1st annual Thanksgiving classic at the International Space Station. Thus, while they were the visiting team, and therefore playing the ultimate road game, you'll enjoy some classic flying tackles … both literally and figuratively! Make certain you watch the full Atlantis STS-129 mission highlights. It was while watching the Day #5 Highlights from NASA Television I first saw this football game. The technology on the Space Station and the Space Shuttle never ceases to amaze me.

In case you're interested in more than NASA's football prowess, here are a few great technology links:

• NASA Technology Gateway
• NASA Langley CTO's Tweets

For a number of months, I've occasionally tracked the progress of the Personas project at MIT. Inspired by a LinkedIn status update by Francois Gossieaux where he wondered whether his MIT profile was accurate, I decided to perform a test of my two web personas. The results are shown below. Interested in seeing your own web persona? Here is the MIT link.

Click upon either image to view full sized.

• MIT Personas Test #1 (profile: Northstar Nerd)

• MIT Personas Test #2 (profile: Rich Hoeg)