Youth Conference 2025: Friendship, Funny, and the Future

Talking with your friends is fun, but do you want to talk about Wikimedia movement with your friends? To be honest, it doesn’t sound so fun, and your friends are probably not interested in Wikimedian things anyway.

But what if it did? What if you talked with friends who have interests? Doesn’t it sound exciting? That was the experience I got from this conference.

I received a scholarship to attend Wikimedia Youth Conference, hosted in Prague, Czech Republic. I was representing Wikimedia Korea, a regional chapter of the Korean Wikimedian Community.

It was, without doubt, the most beautiful and memorable experience I’ve ever had. We all shared our experiences, challenges, problems, and future plans. We all laughed at jokes, took selfies, used social media 24 hours a day (of course), and became best friends I’ll never forget.

Friendship: All around the Globe, United by the same cause

My flight landed in Prague airport at Thursday (May 15th), around 12 PM. Immediately after, I was greeted by members from Wikimedia Czech Republic who gave instructions on how to take public transport, and other young Wikimedians who went to the hotel and venue together. We all were so tired, but still shared our journey while having dinner together.

This conference was not the traditional ‘lecture-type’ conference, but rather many group sessions in which we all talked with each other and shared our thoughts. Because it kinda forced me to talk with other participants I’ve never talked to, at first I felt a little bit uncomfortable, but soon realized that everyone else felt the same, and everyone wanted to listen to others but just lacked ‘opportunity’ and ‘confidence’. When we started talking, the flow of words never stopped, and the organizing team had to stop us multiple times just to get to the next session.

For me, I spent a lot of time with other participants from the ESEAP region, because well… I am (Korea is) part of ESEAP. We obviously talked about our future plans and collaborations, but we also became best friends in a record time, and shared our cultural and individual background, discussing ways to turn this diversity into our strength.

In the afternoon and evening of the last day, we were encouraged to explore the city of Prague (and not be late for dinner, which a lot of us ignored). Because some of us were feeling tired, I decided to go by myself just for a little bit. I did…until I met other participants at the city center by pure chance. We all went to Charles Bridge together and headed back to have dinner.

On the last day in Prague, because I had a little bit of time, I went to explore Prague Castle and even met others there. We couldn’t spend a long time because we all had things to do, but it was a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. Random encounters continued even at the airport, and we all bid our farewells, hoping for the day we all meet again.

Funny: The Unusual Conference, with Added Jokes

Every conversation needs an icebreaker, but how would you do it? Usually, it would be boring “Introduce yourself” sessions, but in here we had Bingo games and interactive slides which displayed texts we typed on our phones. And here we all unleashed our sense of humor.

We also took a lot of selfies, exchanged social media details, and made a lot of jokes. We watched the Eurovision Song Contest together and voted for the best songs ourselves. We walked to and back from the dinner venue for 1 hour, and tried to take good group photos for 15 minutes straight. We played games in the hotel lobby and stood united for one Nintendo Switch game.

By joking, we understood each other deeply. By laughing, we felt connected. It was not just an ordinary meetup or conference, it was about experiencing connectivity and thinking of each other as friends, not just ‘another contributor’. We were laying the foundations for future meetups, events, collaboration, and even another Youth Conference.

Future: Alone Yet Together

Although we were having so much fun, it wasn’t just about having fun. We all talked about what we did, what we want to do, and what we will do when we all return. We discussed ways to keep new and young contributors motivated, and eventually make them to help others, continuing the positive cycle.

For the ESEAP region specifically, because ESEAP Strategy Summit was happening just a week after the Youth Conference, we made sure to include the subject of creating ESEAP Youth Group at the Summit. I personally couldn’t go there (Nooo!), so I helped making detailed plans and demands to present at the Summit.

Because my current home wiki is Wikisource, I also thought about the possibility of linking Wikisource and the Youth generation. Wikisource hosts and is centered around literary works, so collaboration with educational institutions, such as schools, can be a real possibility. I also learned about successful collaboration experiences with educational agencies at this conference, so I am very hopeful it can succeed.

Final: Personal thoughts and things I wanted to say

Before the conference, I was not familiar with the others. I recognized some faces but that was it. In contrast, after the conference, everyone recognized everyone else, and felt really comfortable speaking with others, just like we were friends from the beginning. In just 3 days, we made our strong friendship from zero. It was an unbelievable experience.

Also in here, I learned many beautiful tips and tricks not only for organizing Wikimedian events and meetups, but also for living a healthier life. For me, it was not just a Wikimedian conference, but rather a learning opportunity for many things, like how to communicate with other people or ways to listen to others.

I think my life will not be the same after this conference. I met and befriended so many people, viewed and experienced so many things, and learned so much knowledge and methods. I am so thankful for everyone who made this possible, who gave me this opportunity, and everyone I met and talked to.

Finally, for others, if there’s an opportunity, please do take it. You’ll never know what you’ll get, and I can assure you, your life will not be the same. Please, be courageous. I sincerely hope to see you all in the future.