├── .gitignore ├── LICENSE.md ├── README.md └── emails ├── 7-days-speakers.md ├── introducing-you.md └── readme.md /.gitignore: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Logs 2 | logs 3 | *.log 4 | npm-debug.log* 5 | 6 | # Runtime data 7 | pids 8 | *.pid 9 | *.seed 10 | 11 | # Directory for instrumented libs generated by jscoverage/JSCover 12 | lib-cov 13 | 14 | # Coverage directory used by tools like istanbul 15 | coverage 16 | 17 | # nyc test coverage 18 | .nyc_output 19 | 20 | # Grunt intermediate storage (http://gruntjs.com/creating-plugins#storing-task-files) 21 | .grunt 22 | 23 | # node-waf configuration 24 | .lock-wscript 25 | 26 | # Compiled binary addons (http://nodejs.org/api/addons.html) 27 | build/Release 28 | 29 | # Dependency directories 30 | node_modules 31 | jspm_packages 32 | 33 | # Optional npm cache directory 34 | .npm 35 | 36 | # Optional REPL history 37 | .node_repl_history 38 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /LICENSE.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 2 | 3 | > CREATIVE COMMONS CORPORATION IS NOT A LAW FIRM AND DOES NOT PROVIDE LEGAL SERVICES. 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For the avoidance of doubt, this trademark restriction does not form part of this License. 104 | > 105 | > Creative Commons may be contacted at https://creativecommons.org/. 106 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /README.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Conference running handbook 2 | 3 | Some (but not comprehensive) guidelines for running a conference--supplied by some folks with years of experience in the tech event scene. This information is not canonical. These practices have worked for us. Run at your own risk!(you'll see <3) 4 | 5 | ## Contents 6 | * [Organizing Team](#organizing-team) 7 | * [Timeline](#timeline) 8 | * [Picking a Venue](#picking-a-venue) 9 | * [Picking a Date](#picking-a-date) 10 | * [Format](#format) 11 | * [Code of Conduct](#code-of-conduct) 12 | * [Dealing with Money](#dealing-with-money) 13 | * [Expenses](#expenses) 14 | * [Ticket Sales](#ticket-sales) 15 | * [Sponsorships](#sponsorships) 16 | * [CFP](#cfp) 17 | * [Speakers](#speakers) 18 | * [Accomodations](#accommodations) 19 | * [Promotion](#promotion) 20 | * [Design](#design) 21 | * [Website](#website) 22 | * [Tools](#tools) 23 | * [Day-Of Event Running](#day-ofevent-running) 24 | * [Links](#links) 25 | 26 | ## Organizing Team 27 | 28 | Building the team is the single most important thing that you will do. We strongly advise for your conference that you have a minimum support of three organizers(we require this of our own conferences). We have found it useful to break the roles down. A diverse team of individuals(demographic, background, industry, age, etc.) who are excited to tackle these roles is beneficial to the conference outcome and experience. 29 | 30 | ### Producers 31 | - Accounting/Sponsor experience(reimbursements, payments) 32 | - Logistics/Venue coordinator(vendors, hotel, taxi credits, etc.) 33 | 34 | **What's expected** We believe that in order to maximize the success of an event that someone **MUST** be in charge. These people are ultimately accountable for everything that happens. These are often the same people who are financially on the hook for the event. Responsible for roles below, intersections, and overall project management. Producers agree to the Code of Conduct and execute on any reports of violation. 35 | 36 | **Time commitment:** Roughly 5 hours/week when the conference is 4+ months away and ramps up to 10 hours/week leading up to the conference. The week before the conference is essentially full-time (40+ hours). 37 | 38 | ### Organizers 39 | - Marketing/copy/social media(influences ticket sales through managing these) 40 | - Speaker experience(cfp, acceptance/decline) 41 | - Website 42 | - Content and Program Curator 43 | - Workshop Curator 44 | - Artist/designer/branding 45 | 46 | **What's expected** 47 | Organizers agree to the Code of Conduct and execute on any reports of violation with guidance of a Producer. 48 | 49 | **Time commitment:** for organizers can vary by the responsibility, but 50% of the time commitment of the curator is a good proxy. 50 | 51 | ### Volunteers 52 | 53 | And finally, volunteers make up the life blood of the live event. These folks assist during the conference itself, including the set-up and tear-down. 54 | 55 | **What's expected** 56 | Volunteers must be agree to adhere to the Code of Conduct and alert organizers/producers to any reports. 57 | 58 | **Time commitment:** Volunteers should expect to work the duration of the conference plus 1 day on either end for set-up and tear-down. 59 | 60 | ## The Conference experience 61 | Think about the overall feel you want your audience(speakers, attendees, sponsors) to walk away with. Check in on your plan and how you're executing on this to make sure you're still meeting this feel. 62 | 63 | - Take care of your speakers. Manage expectations and schedule. This means reimbursing quickly, as soon as you are able. Communicate often and kindly. 64 | - Always publish all of the locations of your events, including after parties. Surprises are not appreciated by all, even if intended to be fun. 65 | - Your organizing team is the face of your conference. It's tough when you're tired, but a smile and a hello go a long way towards making sure your attendees feel included. 66 | - Check in on sponsors during the event to make sure they have everything they need. They help keep the wheels turning! Have sponsors gotten breaks? 67 | - Promote self-care to attendees, speakers, sponsors, and organizers. Happy people make a happy conf. 68 | - Parties !== booze. Providing events where folks can meet each other, wind down, and nerd out is awesome. Alcohol should not be the primary form of entertainment at any scheduled event. Always make sure non-alcoholic beverages are provided. 69 | - If you're providing food, being sensitive to the needs of those with dietary restrictions is very appreciated. Make it known you are doing this! Another in is easy-to-grab-and-go food makes for quickly satisfied attendees. 70 | - Introduce your team to the entire conference. Make sure everyone knows who they are and how to identify them if they need anything. Try to repeat this often. 71 | 72 | ## Timeline 73 | 74 | You want to begin planning for your conference at least 6 months out. Here is a sample timeline: 75 | * T - 6 months: Pull together a core group of conference organizers. 76 | * T - 5 months: Lock down venue and complete the sponsorship brochure. 77 | * T - 4 months: Lock down top-tier sponsors. 78 | * T - 3 months: Batch #1 tickets go on sale. 79 | * T - 2 months: Batch #2 and #3 tickets go on sale. 80 | * T - 1 month: Batch #4 (last chance) tickets go on sale. 81 | * CONFERENCE 82 | * T + 1 day: Thank you email to attendees and survey. 83 | * T + 1 week: Personal thank you emails to speakers and sponsors. 84 | * T + 2 weeks: Post-mortem with organizing team, photos, videos, etc. 85 | * T - 1 month All vendor payments, speaker reimbursements, and sponsor money reimbursement should be wrapped up. 86 | 87 | See [email templates](emails/readme.md) 88 | 89 | ## Picking a Venue 90 | 91 | Your budget will dictate what you can do here. Don't think that you need a fancy venue to have a successful conference. Ultimately, your venue simply needs to provide the following things: 92 | * Seating for your attendees. 93 | * A/V for your speakers. 94 | * Good (preferably great) Wi-Fi and bandwidth. 95 | 96 | You will very likely need a deposit to secure a venue. If you're a first year conf or operating on a very small budget, it is recommended to check out your local university for donated space or in exchange for sponsorship. 97 | 98 | *Researching Venues* 99 | 1. Pour through all types of sites - places that were used for art events, warehouses, studios, past tech events, conferences. 100 | 2. Build a list containing details that are relevant to whittling this down. 101 | 3. Build contacts and confirm that the capacity and requirements of the conf are met by an email/phone call. 102 | 4. Go tour! 103 | 104 | *TEMPLATE TO TOUR:* 105 | Some things to look for: 106 | 1. Broadband: what does their pipe look like? 107 | 2. Wi-Fi: how many connected devices can it support? 108 | 3. Plugs: what's the plug / power strip situation? 109 | 4. Power: do we have to pay any surcharge for above average power usage? 110 | 5. Is there any vendor lock-in regarding internet or WiFi? 111 | 6. Seating: Can they comfortably accommodate 300 seated individuals with laptops? 112 | 7. What's the line of sight like for the stage area? Any obstructions? 113 | 8. Is the seating elevated/stadium? 114 | 9. Are the chairs comfortable? 115 | 10. A/V: What kind of projector(if provided) 116 | 11. A/V: What kind of screen? 117 | 12. Are there additional monitors/feeds in the event space or in breakout areas? 118 | 13. What about sound / mics? Is there a system already provided on-site? 119 | 14. Who will be running the A/V for us? Is there a vendor lock-in for A/V? 120 | 15. Is there space to chill out? 121 | 16. Is there space for workshops? For casual breakouts? 122 | 17. Where will the sponsors set-up their booths?(if applicable) 123 | 18. Can we choose our own food vendors? 124 | 19. Is there a fee for going outside of preferred vendors? 125 | 20. Can we provide alcohol to our attendees? 126 | 21. Are we required to carry insurance for our event? 127 | 22. Is parking provided? Where? 128 | 23. Are we required to provide a security team? 129 | 24. Cost: What is included in the cost? 130 | 25. What's not included? (set-up, tear-down, A/V, etc) 131 | 26. How much is the deposit? When is it due? 132 | 133 | For managing lodging(destination conference): 134 | 1. Is there any on-site event management offered? What does this include? What's the cost? 135 | 2. What is the process for selling rooms? Is this managed by the lodging company or us? 136 | 3. What are the hours for check-in and check-out? Can this budge at all for our event? 137 | 4. How would we manage conference events mixing with others staying at the resort? Will there be friction with non-confers? 138 | 5. Is WiFi provided in every room at no additional cost? 139 | 140 | *These questions may seem tedious*, but each one of these can make for a very poor attendee experience and increase expenses for the conference dramatically. 141 | 142 | ## Event insurance 143 | It turns out, people will sue you. Acquire event insurance for the days of your event. 144 | 145 | ## Picking a Date 146 | 147 | Build a list of every conference that is similar to the one you're trying to organize and cross-sections of audience that could miss out by too many good conferences occurring. Make sure you pick a date that conflicts as little as possible. Date conflicts will not only affect your ability to attract attendees but it will also block potential speakers. 148 | 149 | Here's a [crowdsourced list of conferences](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjzoXvTKg56mdDdBLXhfbHFwNE1hSlNKZzBCR2hBNUE&usp=drive_web#gid=0) that might be helpful. 150 | 151 | ## Format 152 | 153 | First, how many attendees do you expect? 154 | * 0-100 people: 1 track, 1 day conference. 155 | * 101-300 people: 1 track, 2 day conference. 156 | * 300-600 people: 2 track, 2 day conference. 157 | * 600+ people: [too many people](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number). 158 | 159 | ## Code of Conduct 160 | This is not optional. It provides a safe space by demonstrating to all those experiencing your event that you are aware and able to act on any challenge that comes up during your time as a responsible party. This is a common guideline for behavior and should have both The [Code of Conduct](https://github.com/EmpireJS/Code-of-Conduct#the-empirejs-code-of-conduct) itself as well as [Reporting Guidelines](https://github.com/EmpireJS/Code-of-Conduct/blob/master/COC_REPORTING.md#how-to-deal-with-code-of-conduct-reports-for-conference-organizers) that allow your team to know how to execute on reported behavior. 161 | 162 | 163 | ## Dealing with Money 164 | 165 | Please see the [Conference Budgeting Template](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EqJU6k2OSecHopIyJCvelgTKSBbEJR98t6beV1xME9w/edit?usp=sharing). 166 | 167 | This spreadsheet will be your lifeline for keeping everything on track for your conference. Many people don't aim to make money off the conference they are excited to run. Great! Protect the hard work you're doing. If budget isn't top-of-mind, it might very well come out of your own bank account at the end of the run(or leave you saddled with debt). If you can't stay in the black, it's unsustainable. 168 | 169 | Sponsorship dollars alone will funnel through quite a bit of money, even if only to be passed on for venue, food, and logistics. You'll need some sort of entity(hopefully not your own checking account) to operate this conference. You don't need to necessarily start your own LLC. There are foundations and groups in your town that are often willing to help make this happen. 170 | 171 | Taxes are a thing. Someone will need to assist you if you aren't already versed in this. No worries! That's what professionals are for. 172 | 173 | ## Expenses 174 | 175 | A basic list of expenses you can anticipate are listed in the accompanying [How to Conf master spreadsheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EqJU6k2OSecHopIyJCvelgTKSBbEJR98t6beV1xME9w/edit?usp=sharing) under 'Expenses'. 176 | 177 | ## Ticket Sales 178 | 179 | We choose to release tickets in 3-4 batches where the price of the ticket increases with each batch. This strategy has several nice benefits: 180 | * Selling "early bird" tickets at a discount rewards your most passionate and enthusiastic community members. 181 | * You give your team a more achievable goal (sell 30 tickets as opposed to 300). 182 | * Affords multiple opportunities to promote your conference over time. 183 | * You can be more agile and react to feedback on pricing (too expensive, too cheap, need a bigger venue, etc). 184 | 185 | 186 | ## Sponsorships 187 | 188 | Build a target list of potential sponsors. Use other similar conferences as a guide for companies that might be interested in sponsoring your event. Have at least 50 companies in your target list. 189 | 190 | Consider 3-4 tiers of sponsorship. Let's use an example to see how you might calculate these tiers: 191 | 192 | Imagine that your conference budget is $100k. Sponsorships should account for roughly 50% of your budget, so that would be $50k in sponsorships. If you had 3 tiers of sponsorship, this would be a reasonable set of prices for each tier: 193 | * Tier 1 - $8k (3 companies) 194 | * Tier 2 - $4k (6 companies) 195 | * Tier 3 - $1k (2 companies) 196 | 197 | You might also consider a $0 "community" tier for companies that cannot afford a sponsorship but can contribute in other ways such as labor, services, promotion, etc. 198 | 199 | ## CFP 200 | The call for presentations helps communicate how you build your content and community for the conference. There are many options for submissions to your call that include Github Issues or pull requests, a Google form, or email. These different formats can be chosen for ease-of-execution or minimizing barriers to entry. Past calls have been a hybrid approach--GitHub submission with a template provided to include necessary information. This was for those comfortable with an open source workflow and having their abstract published publicly. To respect privacy and allow encouragement for submitters intimidated by that process, we also created a private email submission. 201 | 202 | Check out the [EmpireJS 2016 CFP process](https://speak.empirejs.org/) and also read up on our past [Reviewing Guidelines](https://docs.google.com/document/d/18X1gqNXvM8vhSmNKFgGkGsXSVFW7lOMxiYw7Xx5K6P4/edit?usp=sharing) to see how you can help minimize bias and solidify a rad lineup! 203 | 204 | ## Speakers 205 | Building your most diverse, knowledgeable community takes work. You want awesome speakers and attendees? Reach out to your local meetups, code schools, universities, and conferences and share your Call for Speakers. The more inclusive you are in your process to share, the better result you'll see in the community you've built. Reach out to people you see doing awesome work. If you don't know them? It's a compliment you even asked! Better to ask and see a 'no thanks' to the submission process than to not ask and lose the chance at lifting up someone that didn't know you were interested in what they had to say. 206 | 207 | It is recommended that budget is allocated for speaker travel and accommodations. This allows for increasing access to conferences for speakers that might not have the luxury of a good paycheck(this is a reality). It's also a treat and a huge appreciation to those who have spent time creating awesome content for the conference. 208 | 209 | ## Accommodations 210 | 211 | Assuming your conference isn't a destination event (i.e. far away from where the majority of your attendees live) then accommodations need to be arrange for 3 groups of people: 212 | 213 | 1. Organizers who are coming in from out of town 214 | 2. Speakers who are coming in from out of town 215 | 3. Attendees who are coming in from out of town 216 | 217 | A reasonable-sized hotel (50+ rooms) should be able to handle your needs. Make sure to set aside budget to pay for the hotel stays of groups (1) and (2). Work with the hotel to create a discounted rate for group (3). This rate will probably be for $10-20 off per night and the hotel will likely set a deadline by which the rooms need to be booked before they get released back in to the general pool. Make sure your attendees are clear on what the discount code is and when the deadline is. 218 | 219 | ## Promotion 220 | 221 | Assuming that you start planning your conference 6 months out, here is a timeline for thinking about how to communicate this event both to attendees and potential speakers. The important thing to remember is that everything that you say is a promise. So start small: make few promises and sell tickets at a discount to account for this. This rewards people who "make a bet" on you and your organizers. 222 | 223 | As you lock-down more details, you can increase the scope and specifics of your promise and charge more. A regular cadence of these bits of news will help keep your conference top-of-mind and will help you as you solicit speakers, talk to sponsors and sell tickets. 224 | 225 | Assuming you begin organizing your conference 6 months out, here is a sample timeline for promotion: 226 | 227 | **T - 5 months** 228 | 229 | Put up a basic website with the following information: 230 | * Name of event 231 | * Theme 232 | * Location 233 | * Date 234 | * Link to early bird tickets 235 | * Link to CFP 236 | * Link to sponsorship brochure 237 | 238 | **T - 4 months** 239 | 240 | Close down CFP and review talks. Release next tier of tickets. Start to announce sponsors. 241 | 242 | **T - 3 months** 243 | 244 | Release next tier of tickets. Continue to announce sponsors. Start announcing speakers. 245 | 246 | **T - 2 months** 247 | 248 | Release last tier of tickets. Finish announcing sponsors. Continue announcing speakers. 249 | 250 | **T - 1 month** 251 | 252 | Final announcements, which can include: 253 | * Last minute sponsors 254 | * Details about social events and special activities 255 | * Keynote or special speakers 256 | 257 | ## Design 258 | 259 | During the planning for your event, you will have many things that you will need to design. Good design is critical to establishing a cohseiveness to your conference and brand, and can help excite and impress people. Remember, design does not exist just to look pretty; it's more than just pixels. The primary goal of your overall design should be conveying information to your participants in a good manner. 260 | 261 | Having someone who is well versed in graphic design is a huge boon. You will need to get designs for things like: 262 | 263 | * Website 264 | * Apparel (Shirts, Hoodies) 265 | * Badges 266 | * Totebags 267 | * Stickers 268 | * Physical handouts (maps, flyers, bingo cards) 269 | * Standing Banners 270 | * Videos 271 | 272 | You will also have some design assets provided to you, such as 273 | 274 | * Sponsor logos 275 | 276 | ### Types of printing 277 | 278 | There are a number of different methods that things will be created with, and depending on what method you use there are different constraints to be aware of. 279 | 280 | #### Silkscreening 281 | 282 | Typically used to produce apparel (shirts, hoodies), but can also be used to make other things (totebags). Each individual color that appears in your design adds to the cost of the items, and each location that you need to print can also add to the bottom line. It's best to limit yourself to 1-2 colors and 1-2 print locations. 283 | 284 | #### Digital Printing 285 | 286 | Digital printing is typically used for badges or paper handouts, but can also be used for large format standing banners. It's faster, generally cheaper, and more flexable then silk screening, but it usually doesn't work on fabric. You don't have any restrictions on colors or placements using digital printing. 287 | 288 | #### Lasers 289 | 290 | Sometimes, you'll want to make things that are unusal objects. An example of this is CascadiaJS's wooden badges. They may have irregular shapes, or ones that printers don't typically carry. You can make items in any shape or size, only limited by the size of the laser platform your vendor has. These items can be unique and very impressive, but come at a higher cost. The complexity of your design is directly coorelated to the cost to prodce the item. Vendors can do etching (not cutting all the way through your medium) and staining which can add to the design, but you don't have much flexibility with colors in laser cutting. 291 | 292 | #### Embroidery 293 | 294 | Embroidery is rarely used, but does happen for things like hats that don't take well to silkscreening, or to give something a bit different look. Colors are limited, and vendors are very picky about revisions. 295 | 296 | #### Die cutting 297 | 298 | Should you want to produce something that has a shape that printers don't usually carry, you may need to also have your items die cut. The process is to make 2 shapes out of metal and squish your swag between them. There is usually a cost to setup the die. 299 | 300 | ### Videos 301 | 302 | If you are producing videos of any of your conference, you may be asked to provide various assets to use in the videos. Fortunately, these are fixed size (1920x1080) and vendors prefer pngs. 303 | 304 | You may need to provide a title image (think logo), an image of your sponsors, and an image with your speaker's name, talk title, and your logo. 305 | 306 | ### Picking apparel 307 | 308 | Generally, whomever is doing the printing for you (silkscreening, embroidery, etc) will have a list of vendors they work with to provide apparel. They may give you a list of apparel manufacturers to pick from. 309 | 310 | ### Vector assets 311 | 312 | You may be required to print your assets on a variety of materials and mediums, so it's best to make sure all your core assets are available in a vector format. It can be svg, or ai, or eps, but you will beed to put these assets on many things so make sure your assets are flexible. 313 | 314 | ### Font Selection 315 | 316 | Have caution when picking a font for your conference. You'll want to make sure you get a webfont as well as a ttf or otf format if you are using it on apparel. 317 | 318 | While fonts can cost hundreds of dollars, the importance of picking a quality font should not be ignored. 319 | 320 | ## Website 321 | 322 | The website (especially for a web development conference) can be a fun opportunity to create something fun that uses some bleeding edge tech. But don't let that keep you from focusing on what really matter: the content. As we noted above, there should be a regular cadence at which you are sharing more and more information about the conference. But at the end of the day (i.e. the week before the event at the latest) your website should include: 323 | 324 | * Name of conference 325 | * Location of conference (including name of venue, map and directions) 326 | * Code of Conduct 327 | * Call for talks(details, speaker perks) 328 | * Location of accommodations (including map and directions) 329 | * Dates 330 | * Agendas for each day (including registration, meals, talks and evening events) 331 | * List of speakers (with photo and talk titles) 332 | * List of sponsors 333 | * List of organizers (with photo and contact information) 334 | * How to purchase tickets 335 | 336 | Make sure your website works on phones as well as laptops & desktops--many people at the conference will be using your site. 337 | 338 | ### Timing 339 | 340 | Additionally, as your conference gets closer and closer, the needs of your website audience change. 341 | 342 | If your conference has a Call for Proposals, people will need to know how to submit a talk and why they should think about submitting. 343 | 344 | Two to three months before your doors open, people are deciding if they want to attend your conference. They will need to see where your conference is, who is speaking, how to purchase tickets, and potentially who else is going to be there. 345 | 346 | Approximately 6-8 weeks before your conference, people will begin to make detailed travel arrangements (if they haven't already). They will need to know how to get to your venue. They will be looking into flights, trains, and travel by car. They will need to what airport to arrive at, and if they need to make connections between that airport and other travel (train, rental car, etc). Depending on where your conference is, you may have a little or a lot of people buying tickets to attend. 347 | 348 | In the week or so leading up to your conference, the most important information for participants will be getting to your venue and travel information. Especially if your conference is in a remote location, people will need to know what the address is, and how to get there. A lesser need will be schedule information. Some people like to plan early, and want to figure out what they will be doing. It's unlikely, but possible, at this point that participants will still be buying tickets. 349 | 350 | During the conference, the primary focus of the website is your schedule. People need to know what is happening, when, and where. Having a map of your venue on the website can be very helpful. 351 | 352 | ### Web Team 353 | 354 | It's best to have multiple that are contributing to the website, but only one person that is responsible for it overall. You want to make sure that your website is setup so that multiple people can deploy content, whether that be via an online administration tool or other means. Having a staging or test environment for your website is also helpful to preview changes before pushing them to the general public. If you use a stage/test environment, make sure as well that multiple people can deploy to it. 355 | 356 | ### Organizer Information 357 | 358 | Your organizers should have clear headshots on your website - not obscure avatars. Your attendees may need to find you, and knowing what you look like is very important. 359 | 360 | ### Code of Conduct 361 | 362 | Make sure that your Code of Conduct is prominently displayed on your website, as well as how to report an issue. People will need to find this information quickly in a difficult situation, and you don't want to make a bad situation worse by making this information harder to find. 363 | 364 | ## Privacy Policy 365 | You should have one! 366 | - No sharing of any attendee contact information to sponsors. They will ask. Just say no. 367 | - Minimal access of data and payment info to organizers 368 | 369 | ## Tools 370 | 371 | These are tools that we've used: 372 | 373 | - Twitter - conference promotion. 374 | - MailChimp - mailing lists. 375 | - Google Analytics - website analytics. 376 | - Github - create a [new organization](https://github.com/organizations/new) for your conference. 377 | - ti.to - ticket sales. 378 | - the [Conference Budgeting Template](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SuTnbn74Frsb5wqPhXwHjeAH_5i-1h9AIIOH4hbdNs0/edit?usp=sharing), of course! 379 | - the [Volunteer Coordination sheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QOpfcaualVK2zMPrzXqwYbQgKHKdyHVHb4-BhWqXb8o/edit?usp=sharing) 380 | - Email templates for 381 | - sponsor outreach, confirmation, instruction 382 | - speaker acceptance and decline 383 | - volunteer coordination 384 | - marketing and promotion to prior attendees and current registrants 385 | - YouTube 386 | - Image storage service(Flickr) 387 | - Payment service(Stripe, Paypal) 388 | - team communication(Slack, IRC bouncer) 389 | 390 | ## Day-Of Event Running 391 | The final game plan of the events you will be running should be laid out in a detailed schedule for all staff/volunteers. Volunteer schedules(see [Tools](#tools) above for this) that make sure volunteers and staff know when/where they need to be leading up to/during the event will help keep things chugging along smoothly. Reviewing this ahead at a staff meeting allows for a playbook to be laid out for everyone involved and will make sure those organizing are confident in making decisions on the fly when problems arise. Keep a cool head, and you'll have a great time along with everyone else already enjoying what you've worked so hard to provide! 392 | 393 | ## Links 394 | * [I Want to Run a JSConf](http://jsconf.com/i-want-to-run-a-jsconf.html) 395 | * [A Better Node Community](https://medium.com/node-js-javascript/building-a-better-node-community-3f8f45b45cb5) 396 | * [Nodeschool](http://nodeschool.io/) 397 | * [PPK - Conference Organizer's Handbook](http://www.quirksmode.org/coh/) 398 | 399 | Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. 400 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /emails/7-days-speakers.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Let's talk about talks! 2 | 3 | Reminder #1: slides are due by 5pm, [date] to [person/email] for review. This can be either a file emailed or a link to a url. 4 | 5 | I recognize that both of these methods mean you are able to tweak things after you've turned them into me. No worries! I am checking for CoC violations, typos, and whether it works on-site as planned. Running through 12 talks the morning of each event will be logistically challenging, so I hope to be able to test them on arrival to the venue. 6 | 7 | Speaking of talk-by-talk logistics, I need to know what's happening in your talk! Is it just a 'walk up on stage, smile, talk, click through slides, wave' or is it more of a 'talk, live demo, show a video, do some crazy interaction, ask the audience a question, get a participant up on stage' type deal? I need to know all of this. Please. Go HERE to share that info with us if you haven't already. 8 | 9 | ## Day-of 10 | 11 | The conditions to expect on the day-of: 12 | 13 | We have split the schedule into 3-talk sections and ask that you report to the speaker green room 10 minutes before the start of the block that you're speaking in. We'll have a speaker wrangler running around to nab you and make sure you're where you need to be. They will hang out with you, making sure everything is running smoothly. 14 | 15 | We will have you mic'ed up to a wireless earpiece 10 minutes prior at the AV booth. You'll then be shown by our speaker wrangler where/how to approach the stage. When it's your turn, you'll be ushered on stage as the emcee is introducing you. We'll plug in your laptop, make sure the display is ready to switch the feed from a filler screen to your presentation, and have the emcee finish the intro. You'll have a clicker to advance slides. 16 | 17 | ## Stage & slides 18 | 19 | Our projectors will adjust to whatever the laptop or tablet is putting out to up to 1080p or 1920x1080. 1080p is pretty standard now. 20 | 21 | ​Strong contrast between background and fonts are strongly encouraged for proper color balance in the videos and ease of attendee viewing. 22 | 23 | We will have a spare laptop you can present on in case of a computer meltdown. 24 | 25 | There will be a very large screen on each side of you lit by big bright projectors. 26 | 27 | You will have a timer. 28 | 29 | You will have an earpiece mic and an optional a remote clicker and so that you can move on the whole stage, but ​moving around​ is not required. 30 | 31 | WiFi ​will be available to speakers, ​but as always, play it safe and ​please plan for offline backups. 32 | 33 | Clothes to avoid for the videos: small stripes and black. 34 | 35 | ## Content guidelines 36 | 37 | Our emcees will introduce you properly before you come on stage so you can remove the usual first slide presenting yourself and go straight to your content. 38 | 39 | *Your talk should not [exceed 25 minutes]. * 40 | 41 | As a reminder, our audience dislikes product pitches and it is in your best interest to avoid promoting any commercial product and focus on content. 42 | 43 | Specifically: 44 | 45 | * No “We are hiring” (everybody is, anyway). You're welcome to talk to people while attending the conference and tell them this. 46 | 47 | * Please remove headers/footers from your slides with company names or logos. If your company sponsored, they are getting great placements elsewhere. Our emcees are going to do a thorough job of introducing you, your work, and your employer(unless you want us to omit some portion of that). 48 | 49 | * Please please please let us know how you are doing (and feeling!). We really do want to hear it! 50 | 51 | Sincerely, 52 | [organizers] 53 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /emails/introducing-you.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | To continue hyping [conf], we'd like to publish a short interview to (re-)introduce you to the community. This is entirely optional, and there's no "due" date, but we would truly appreciate it. If you'd like to be featured, please answer any or all of the following: 2 | 3 | - Can you give us a Twitter-length introduction to you and your talk? 4 | - (If local:) As a [local person], what's your favorite local activity? 5 | - (Otherwise:) Is this your first trip to the [area of conf]? Do you have other plans for your trip? 6 | - What does your usual work day look like? 7 | - Who in the industry consistently blows you away with wonderful work? 8 | - Have you worked in industries other than the web? 9 | - What does your dream job look like? 10 | - Do you knit, play the banjo, make beer, climb rocks or do anything that isn't on a computer? 11 | - Is there anything else you'd like us to know about you? 12 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /emails/readme.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Emails 2 | 3 | Depending on the size of your conf, you will send anywhere between many to a bazillion emails. Here are some templates for emails that you might find useful. Be sure to read them throughly, and make the appropriate adjustments for your event. 4 | 5 | * [introducing-you.md](introducing-you.md) The "getting to know you" information resulting from this interview is a great way to hight new speakers and advertise well known ones. Publish these interviews on your website and advertise through Twitter or your channel of choice. Thanks to CSS Conf AU for this one! 6 | * [7-days-speakers.md](7-days-speakers.md) Give speakers vital details about the venue, schedule and their slots. Send one week prior to conference. 7 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------