Session schedule.

[Reinier Zwitserloot]

I've been asked by Cris and Kevin to come up with an appropriate
schedule:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AjGHrQrnLYcKdFJqZEYwZWVjWU16Um1UT1BWTzNPVXc&hl=en#gid=0

This schedule offers 210 slots (21 * 10 rooms), a very generous 15
minutes between slots, and a mix of 30 minute and 20 minute sessions
so those who want to make a more technical presentation have the time
to make it appropriately in depth.

Lunch is also a bit longer than usual (75 minutes on saturday, 70 on
sunday - normally BCL lunches are 60 minutes). The 30 minute slots are
consistent - always immediately after a break (tea, dinner, lunch,
etc). All other slots are 20 minutes. The only exception to this rule
is the first slot on sunday, which I've decided to keep at 20 minutes.
This should mesh well with the sensibilities of barcampers; attention
span tends to wane, and sunday morning tends to be tough on the crowd
that stays up late.

The biggest disadvantage is that you can't memorize the slot times,
but that should be solvable by printing up this schedule and posting
it all over the venue. That way campers only have to write down slot
number and which room they want to be in, and then check any posted
schedule to figure out when to walk to the room.

[Carin_C]

I'm fine with that, but if the first session starts at 10:30 am, when
do the earlier things start?

How about this (skipping one session)?
09:30 - welcome talk (general 'hi' and 'how-to' with safety
instructions, etc.) - and prepare/walk to intro game
10:00 - intro game (to mingle and break the ice) - and walk to slots
10:45 - fill in the slots - and write down your choices and walk to
first session
11:15 - first session - and rest of your schedule

Carin

On Oct 25, 7:41 am, Reinier Zwitserloot <rein...@zwitserloot.com>
wrote:

> I've been asked by Cris and Kevin to come up with an appropriate
> schedule:
>

> https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AjGHrQrnLYcKdFJqZEYwZWVjWU16...

[Robert Lee-Cann]

Hey,

Please bear in mind that doors open at 9.30am and last time we waited until 11am for the Welcome Talk, and had less people to get through registration in that time.

I'd personally like to keep the Welcome Talk and intro/mingling to a minimum, the whole point of a BarCamp is the sessions after all, and there's plenty of chance to mingle throughout the weekend.

- Leeky.

[Alistair MacDonald]

Considering many of us will be travelling from out of the centre and
the engineering work (Arrgghhhh!!!!) I would suggest a start no
earlier that 10am.

I also have to ask if a "game" after the intro is the best solution.
The best introduction "thing" I have seen is when people are mulling
before the event are given the challenge of gathering signatures of
people who have achieved something on the list. Appeared on TV, been
married abroad, and speak 3 languages or examples.

What about registration and networking (and Tea?) at 9am and starting
the welcome at 10am (that will naturally be late, because it always
is) and move the morning on by 15 minutes so session 1 starts at
10:45am and we only have 60 minutes for lunch.

Alistair

Ps. I like the idea of the longer session being just after a break to
try and make it easer to understand, but it still feels complicated to
me. I would prefer running different lengths on different days, but if
we keep changing we will not get anywhere so lets not.

On 25 October 2010 22:29, Carin_C <bc.cam...@googlemail.com> wrote:

[Alistair MacDonald]

Arrr, I did not realise doors open at 9:30am. I think we will need to
drop a session. I still stand by trying to do the "networking" (or is
that encouraged mingling) before the event starts and not after the
start.

Alistair

[Judith Lewis]

I have to admit, I like the idea of the signatures thing as an ice-breaker/networking thing.

We always struggle with reg and the volunteers always do a sterling job of trying to make sure everyone gets a badge as quickly as possible.  I think given where everything will be situated I'm sure we'll be able to clear people through quickly.

--
Regards,

Judith 'deCabbit' Lewis
http://technologyweekly.mad.co.uk
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/judithlewis
http://www.seo-chicks.com
http://www.twitter.com/JudithLewis
http://mostlyaboutchocolate.com

[Robert Lee-Cann]

If you check the Wiki, you'll see that the doors open at 9.30am, with the welcome talk at 10.30am.

- Leeky.

On 25 October 2010 23:00, Alistair MacDonald <alistair....@gmail.com> wrote:

[Alistair MacDonald]

I think I am looking at the wrong Wiki. Has is changed from BCL8 (attempt 1)?

Alistair

[Robert Lee-Cann]

Yes the wiki changed a few weeks back and is currently at http://barcamplondon.heroku.com/. You'll need an OpenID account to signup, once registered you need to email Tom Morris to get your access enabled. 

- Leeky.

[Alistair MacDonald]

Right, okay. No wonder I am confused. Thanks for clarifying.

  Alistair

[Carin_C]

How about:

09:30 registration start, (slot filling start?) & ongoing intro
activity to break the ice
10:30 welcome talk
11:50 slot filling (& write down choices & walk to first session)
11:15 first session

Carin

On Oct 26, 12:16 am, Alistair MacDonald <alistair.macdon...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Right, okay. No wonder I am confused. Thanks for clarifying.
>
>   Alistair
>
> On 25 Oct 2010, at 23:39, Robert Lee-Cann <le...@barcamplondon.org> wrote:
>

> > Yes the wiki changed a few weeks back and is currently athttp://barcamplondon.heroku.com/. You'll need an OpenID account to signup, once registered you need to email Tom Morris to get your access enabled.
>
> > - Leeky.

>
> > On 25 October 2010 23:13, Alistair MacDonald <alistair.macdon...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I think I am looking at the wrong Wiki. Has is changed from BCL8 (attempt 1)?
>
> >  Alistair
>
> > On 25 October 2010 23:07, Robert Lee-Cann <le...@barcamplondon.org> wrote:
> > > If you check the Wiki, you'll see that the doors open at 9.30am, with the
> > > welcome talk at 10.30am.
>
> > > - Leeky.
>

> > > On 25 October 2010 23:00, Alistair MacDonald <alistair.macdon...@gmail.com>

> > > wrote:
>
> > >> Arrr, I did not realise doors open at 9:30am. I think we will need to
> > >> drop a session. I still stand by trying to do the "networking" (or is
> > >> that encouraged mingling) before the event starts and not after the
> > >> start.
>
> > >>  Alistair
>
> > >> On 25 October 2010 22:55, Robert Lee-Cann <le...@barcamplondon.org> wrote:
> > >> > Hey,
> > >> > Please bear in mind that doors open at 9.30am and last time we waited
> > >> > until
> > >> > 11am for the Welcome Talk, and had less people to get through
> > >> > registration
> > >> > in that time.
> > >> > I'd personally like to keep the Welcome Talk and intro/mingling to a
> > >> > minimum, the whole point of a BarCamp is the sessions after all, and
> > >> > there's plenty of chance to mingle throughout the weekend.
> > >> > - Leeky.
>

[Tom Morris]

On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 10:55:38PM +0100, Robert Lee-Cann wrote:
> I'd personally like to keep the Welcome Talk and intro/mingling to a
> minimum, the whole point of a BarCamp is the sessions after all, and
> there's plenty of chance to mingle throughout the weekend.
>

+1.

--
Tom Morris
<http://tommorris.org/>

[Alistair MacDonald]

If you have not guessed I am also a +1 for just getting on with the sessions. I do feel that the point of BarCamps are more than just the sessions though.

Alistair

[Kevin Prince]

Hey,

Doors do open 9:30am. Ideally sessions start at 11:00 with welcome
talk and intros at 10.

Theres a load emails above I need to read through andnwill come back
with something more solid later.

Kevin

On Tuesday, October 26, 2010, Alistair MacDonald

[Daniel Williams]

On 26 Oct 2010, at 17:25, Kevin Prince <nextge...@gmail.com> wrote:

Doors do open 9:30am. Ideally sessions start at 11:00 with welcome
talk and intros at 10.

Do you think it's likely that folks from outside London will get there for 10am? Or even locals on the weekend for that matter

Dan

[Alistair MacDonald]

I would say that 10am is as gooder compromise as we will get for
people travelling. Later is better, but then we are eating at session
time. My concern with 10am is getting people registered in 30 minutes.

A suggestion that kind of matches up with everyone's thoughts...... If
we publish the start for 10am as Kevin suggests, but use that time for
the "networking" (as per other thread) and we can safely have a queue
for 30 minutes without running late. Intros at 10:30am. This gives 45
minutes for the intro, to do the grid, and starting late (that always
happens, always), and some more "networking". We then continue with
Reinier's proposed schedule from session 2. If we want the first
session to be 30 instead of 20 then we can take that from just before
or after.

Alistair

[Kevin Prince]

Hey,

The doors open at 9:30 this is already agreed with the university and
staff have been arranged to work with this time.

At BCL6 and 7 there was a 10:30am open talk but at 7 due to last
minute security changes this was pushed to 11.

If we need to drop a few morning sessions so be it, I think 1 session
before lunch would be the best solution.

Renier, can you do a final schedule to reflect this.

Kevin

On Oct 26, 9:44 am, Alistair MacDonald <alistair.macdon...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Robert Lee-Cann]

Hi,

Is there a definitive version of Reinier's schedule posted somewhere, with the Saturday start time moved etc? 

I've just noticed the blog's schedule page still has the old BCL7 timings on there. Once I have the info, I'll get it updated ASAP and a tweet posted too.

- Leeky.

[Reinier Zwitserloot]

The Original Post is as far as I know still the latest state of the
schedule:

https://spreadsheets0.google.com/ccc?key=tRjdF0eecYMzRmTOPVO3OUw&hl=en#gid=0

If things need to be moved around, let me know.

On Nov 1, 12:25 pm, Robert Lee-Cann <le...@barcamplondon.org> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Is there a definitive version of Reinier's schedule posted somewhere, with
> the Saturday start time moved etc?
>
> I've just noticed the blog's schedule page still has the old BCL7 timings on
> there. Once I have the info, I'll get it updated ASAP and a tweet posted
> too.
>
> - Leeky.
>

[Kevin Prince]

I think the only think that was still up for debate was when welcome was vs first session.

Pretty sure we can open the grid from 10am, and do the welcome plus intro session in 30 mins.

Any objections?

Kevin

[Alistair MacDonald]

If we open up the grid before the welcome session, that will stop a
lot of the chaos, what about reserving a chunk of it for first timers
who may be disadvantaged by this.

Alistair

[Kevin Prince]

maybe have people on hand to explain? or give first timers a extra card explaining.

Kevin

[Cristiano Betta]

How about this: we let the old-timers explain it to the first-timers.
Goes well with the "community" aspect of BarCamp. So let's open the
grid at 10 and do a 30 minutes intro.

[Kevin Prince]

done and final.

Will get leeky to do the schedule update.

Kevin

[far...@magitam.co.uk]

Quite like the idea of having a 'how to' poster with instructions on it for the first timers..
Though I'm pretty sure there'll be enough people to hand to help the newbies

--
Farhan Rehman
Read my ideas - http://life.magitam.org.uk
Follow my thoughts - http://twitter.com/farhan