Wales in port

An email’s arrived from Steve Virgin of Wikimedia UK to say that Jimmy Wales, the man behind Wikipedia, is coming to Bristol on 13th January 2011.

He’ll be appearing at the Victoria Rooms (map) on that day between 12.00 and 13.00.

This is a special event to mark 10 years of Wikipedia, featuring the man behind the project and is held in association with Bristol Festival of Ideas, Bristol City Council, BBC Anchor Trust and Wikimedia UK.

Ten years ago the idea of an online encyclopaedia, which would be collaboratively written and constantly updated by tens of thousands of people, and read by hundreds of millions more, was a dream.

Since then, Jimmy Wales has inspired others to join him and has formed a 100,000-strong online volunteer community, which has built Wikipedia into a worldwide force for free learning and general education that’s run with modest resources and nevertheless engages communities worldwide. It’s now firmly established (for many parents with kids at school it’s become a vital resource for homework. Ed.), but where will it go next?

This is a rare opportunity to hear Jimmy Wales talk about the history of this remarkable project as well as the plans for future development.

You can book by emailing jimmywales-bristol (at) bristol.ac.uk or phoning 0117 928 8515.