Recap Meeting Notes

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Brandon Satrom

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Oct 26, 2011, 11:43:49 AM10/26/11

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Hi Everyone,

Thanks to those who joined in the recap call this morning. We briefly discussed what worked and what didn’t about the conference, and I wanted to share that information here so that we can continue the conversation. Feel free to respond to any of these, add comments or make new suggestions.

Thanks!

Brandon

What Worked

· Repeat the whole thing (it all mostly worked. ;D)

· Lots of volunteers working check-in/registration

· Defining Open Spaces during the opening keynote made it a first-class citizen

· Having people that owned big chunks of the conference (team-effort)

· Student Volunteers (great ideas, willingness to do whatever)

· Parties were cool

Laid back
Held in co-working spaces

· Different color shirts worked well

Maybe only two next time (staff and other)

· No silos for speakers (speaker room, speaker dinner/parties)

· Food was great

· Cost was spot on (could have even been a bit more)

· Sched.org

· Using Sched for open spaces was cool (this was another thing that worked)

· Doing it as a one-day event was perfect (no need to expand to two)

What Didn't

· Get all of the nitty-gritty detail lined up ahead of time

o Especially for speakers

· Plan location and layout of lunch better next time

Use the cafeteria on the second floor

· Women speakers should not have been scheduled in the same slot, at the end of the day

· Get speakers/session lined up earlier so that we can better schedule based on interest from attendees

· Had to move to Plan B on speaker desktop feed/video capture

· Had some odd silos (check-in and tweet-stream in separate areas)

· WiFi wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great

We did have ethernet at the podiums for speakers, should have made them aware of it
Have a backup plan (mifis, etc.)

· Namebadges could be simpler

o Got both positive and negative comments about badges

Think about the information we want to convey on them and how best to present that

· Integrate Sched with the website next time

· Double-check all the print materials

· Have printed backups

D Keith Casey Jr

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Oct 27, 2011, 2:05:47 AM10/27/11

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Sorry for missing this one.. I was on my way back from Boston.

Regardless, I'm +1 to everything on the list with the exception of the printings.

I think printed schedules aren't all that useful anymore. There are almost
always last minute changes and typos are probable, especially with this many
moving pieces. I'd prefer having a 100% online schedule that we put on the
screens between sessions.

And kudos to whoever came up with and did the tape 5's on the sidewalks. I
heard lots of people make positive comments on those. My only tweak would be
placing them at the branches in the sidewalk.. leave less room for guessing.

On 10/26/2011 10:43 AM, Brandon Satrom wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
>
> Thanks to those who joined in the recap call this morning. We briefly
> discussed what worked and what didn’t about the conference, and I wanted to
> share that information here so that we can continue the conversation. Feel
> free to respond to any of these, add comments or make new suggestions.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Brandon
>

> _What Worked_
>
> ·Repeat the whole thing (it all mostly worked. ;D)

>
> ·Lots of volunteers working check-in/registration
>
> ·Defining Open Spaces during the opening keynote made it a first-class citizen
>
> ·Having people that owned big chunks of the conference (team-effort)
>
> ·Student Volunteers (great ideas, willingness to do whatever)
>
> ·Parties were cool
>

> o Laid back
> o Held in co-working spaces

>
> ·Different color shirts worked well
>

> o Maybe only two next time (staff and other)

>
> ·No silos for speakers (speaker room, speaker dinner/parties)
>
> ·Food was great
>
> ·Cost was spot on (could have even been a bit more)
>
> ·Sched.org
>
> ·Using Sched for open spaces was cool (this was another thing that worked)
>
> ·Doing it as a one-day event was perfect (no need to expand to two)
>

> _What Didn't_
>
> ·Get all of the nitty-gritty detail lined up ahead of time
>
> oEspecially for speakers

>
> ·Plan location and layout of lunch better next time
>

> o Use the cafeteria on the second floor

>
> ·Women speakers should not have been scheduled in the same slot, at the end of
> the day
>
> ·Get speakers/session lined up earlier so that we can better schedule based on
> interest from attendees
>
> ·Had to move to Plan B on speaker desktop feed/video capture
>
> ·Had some odd silos (check-in and tweet-stream in separate areas)
>
> ·WiFi wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great
>

> o We did have ethernet at the podiums for speakers, should have made
> them aware of it
> o Have a backup plan (mifis, etc.)
>
> ·Namebadges could be simpler
>
> oGot both positive and negative comments about badges
>
> o Think about the information we want to convey on them and how best to

> present that
>
> ·Integrate Sched with the website next time
>
> ·Double-check all the print materials
>
> ·Have printed backups
>