EMWCon Spring 2022

The Enterprise MediaWiki Conference Spring 2022, or EMWCon Spring 2022, was held April 6-8 in Houston, TX. EMWCon was 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.

   
EMWCon Spring 2022
EMWCon brings together developers, users, and organizations of "enterprise MediaWiki" from around the world.
Conference Details
Location: Houston, TX, USA
Start: April 6, 2022
Finish: April 8, 2022
General Chair: Bryan Hilderbrand
Local Chair: Jeffrey Wang
Registration Chair: Bryan Hilderbrand
Program Chair: Yaron Koren
Sponsor Chair: Ike Hecht
Create Camp Chair: TBD
Audience: Administrators, Business, Academia, Developers, Community, MediaWiki Users

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.

Group picture from EMWCon Spring 2022

Post-conference dinner picture from EMWCon Spring 2022

Event details edit

For those who could attend in person for any reason, this was a "hybrid" conference, with online/virtual capability that was intended to be as integrated into the conference as possible. All presentations were available on Hopin live and talks were accepted from remote speakers. There was no cost for online/virtual attendance.

Platform edit

Hopin - Remote attendees and speakers needed to create a free account on Hopin. Please use the following link to sign-up and attend:


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.


YouTube - The main platform will be Hopin, but the conference Main Stage will be simulcasted on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnADYss429s


Element - An instant messaging platform used for EMWCon and general MediaWiki discussions:


Sign-up edit

In-person edit

Online edit

Program edit

Here is the program for the conference:

All talks are 30 minutes long including questions unless stated otherwise. Times listed are CDT (UTC -5).

Video link: 🎥
Presentation link: 🔗


Conference Day 1 - Wednesday, April 6, 2022
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM Welcome, Logistics, and Introductions - Bryan Hilderbrand

Keynote: State of Wikimedia Enterprise in 2022 - Lane Becker

MediaWiki API testing: How it works and how it fits in a testing strategy - Markus Glaser

10:30 AM- 11:00 AM Break
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM ISO 27001 for and with enterprise wikis - Ad Strack van Schijndel

Sharing generic functionality between extensions: First experiences with the MWStake 'MediaWiki Components' approach - Robert Vogel

Custom notifications using Semantic MediaWiki and server-side scripting - Lexi McGillivray

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM 🍴 Lunch
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Panel: Future of Enterprise MediaWiki (60 minutes) - moderator: Daren Welsh; panelists: Cindy Cicalese, Mark Hershberger, Yaron Koren, Daniel Robbins

2:30 PM - 3:00 PM Break
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Use of Enterprise MediaWiki at Medtronic - Margaret Gainsley

Residency management system at Mass General Hospital - Emilio Madrigal

State of the PluggableAuth family - Cindy Cicalese

🔗 Handling external data in MediaWiki - Yaron Koren


Conference Day 2 - Thursday, April 7, 2022
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

Content Services Platform - Viktor Schelling

Project Canasta updates - Jeffrey Wang

Changes to the configuration system in MediaWiki 1.38 - Daniel Kinzler

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM Break
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Verifiable content in MediaWiki with hash chains - Markus Glaser

Lightning Talks (60 minutes):

1) "SemanticActions extension" - Daren Welsh

2) "Semantic Tasks extension" - Bernhard Krabina

3) "WikiSearchFront extension" - Robis Koopmans

4) "Future of semantic text editing" - Bernhard Krabina

5) "FlexForm (WSForm) Update and Documentation" - Charlot Cobben

🔗 Keywords to Semantics: MediaWiki and the History of Early American Landscape Design - Matthew Westerby

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM 🍴 Lunch
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM 🔗 Introducing EMWFS - A File Folder and File Attachment project for MediaWiki - Rich Evans

🔗 MediaWiki packages - Ike Hecht

Handling internal data in MediaWiki - Megan Cutrofello

3:30 PM - 4:00 PM Break
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Panel: Video Game Wikis (60 minutes) - moderator: Jeffrey Wang; panelists: Jessica Clifford (Gamepedia/Fandom), Megan Cutrofello (Leaguepedia), Kevin Payravi (Nookipedia), Jacqueline Wong (Tears of Themis Wiki, Dragalia Lost Wiki)
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM 🍴 Conference dinner, Saldivia's South American Grill​


Conference Day 3 - Friday, April 8, 2022
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM Create Camp
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Create Camp Closing Session (60 minutes)

Talks edit

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

Lightning talks edit

Create Camp Sessions edit

The Create Camp will occur Friday, April 8. Please add your sessions below.

  • Using the new config approach to configure a wiki farm with no LocalSettings.php (@10am CDT; we will meet on Kozy)
    • Cindy Cicalese
    • Daniel Kinzler
    • Jeffrey Wang
    • Mark A. Hershberger
    • (Add your name here)
  • Knowledge graphs from Semantic search - This group will decide on a format and then create a graph or timeline visualization of keywords and/or image and word relationships from HEALD. Building a knowledge graph from exported RDF files in GraphDB is the first option to explore. Also discuss the extension Semantic MediaWiki Graph, currently not maintained (if there is interest).
    • Matthew Westerby
    • Bryan Hilderbrand
    • Jared Olson
  • Discuss the future of Semantic Text Annotations and develop an action plan
    • Bernhard Krabina
  • Start a basic Site Diagnostics extension to detect common MW setup problems like incorrect permissions (if there's interest)
    • Peter Meyer
  • Improve image_auth.php response in private wikis to
    • be more helpful when denying access to an image due to lack of session - T305711
    • ensure that users get the latest version (not a locally cached version) - T305712
      • Note: NASA JSC has a solution that should/could be added to gerrit
  • Using Page Forms - Discuss how one might pass a custom value into a form using the #formlink and #autoedit parser functions. T306247
    • Example: One may have an input called "Point of Contact" and wish to set "|values from category=" to a category that is the result of a query
  • (Add your Create Camp session here)

Local accommodations edit

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: Group code

  •   Note: 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 edit

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

Shared room signup:

  • Name

Social activities edit

Sponsorship edit

The current sponsors of EMWCon are:

Premier edit

Contributor edit

Become a sponsor edit

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.

Travel guidance for in-person attendees edit

Entering the United States edit

Requirement Status
Nationalities prohibited from entry None
Vaccination requirements U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and immigrant visas: not required

Foreign nationals: required (booster not currently required) with narrow exceptions

Testing requirements Yes for entering the United States, see below. Test must be taken on the day of or 1 day before the flight to the U.S.
Mask requirements Required on all flights, at all airports, and on all federal property

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 edit

Requirement Status
Entry restrictions None
Vaccination requirements None
Testing requirements None
Mask requirements None unless required by owners of private property

Except at the airport, where it is required

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.