This week, the Signpost takes a look at some of the events and contests that are happening during Wikimania, and some of the attractions in the local area.

There are several contests at Wikimania. The Wikimania awards is a free content contest for the best video, audio, image, and textual content created for use on Wikimedia projects over the past year. Any content that was created after 8 August, 2005 is eligible for entry in the contest. A special category is set aside for content created on the way to, or at, Wikimania 2006. The contest particularly needs more writing entries; submit those great articles today! The closing date is 1 August. See the Awards page for more details.

Among other events, an attendee's party will be occurring on Saturday night, 5 August, from approximately 7:30 to 11:30 PM, at the MIT Museum. In addition to the museum's own attractions, which include robots and holograms, there will be music and a bar (please bring photo id). The theme of the party is "Web 1.0", or "1999 revisited." There will be a business plan contest with special celebrity judges -- bring your best 1.0 business plan, as if it were still the height of the dot-com bubble; perhaps you will have the next successful dot-com idea. Note that wikis are generally not considered part of Web 1.0. Aeron chairs may also make an appearance.

MANIA is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just north of Boston, which is one of America's oldest cities. Both cities are packed with things to do. Here are a few ideas for ways to spend time before or after Wikimania. Many more ideas are listed on the field trips page.

In Cambridge

• The Harvard Museum of Natural History [1], including the famous Glass Flowers exhibit, which is free on Wednesdays and well worth the trip.

In Boston

• The renowned Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is located across the river in Boston and is also free on Wednesday evenings.

• The Museum of Science, Boston is also well known.

• Walking tours: there are many areas to walk in Boston, including the Freedom Trail, a marked path that leads to many historical sites.

• Boston Duck Tours are tours of the city by DUKW amphibious vehicle. A group of twenty people can reserve their own DUKW: sign up on the events page.

In a previous MANIA column, we profiled the Chinese Wikimedia Conference, or CWMC 2006. Plans are coming along for the conference, and they now have a site with more information on it and a registration form.

Next week: Last article before Wikimania -- last minute information, highlights, and tips for getting around Boston.