User:ViraMotorko (WMUA)/Conference patterns

Learning patterns about making a conference.

Learning patterns library gathers different observations from Wikimedians and you will not find a complete guide on making big events (like international conferences here). This is not its purpose.
But is case you want to have a look at the list of existing patterns on conferences grouped not by alphabet (as in category) but by stages, we gathered them here (as of January 2018).

Before even starting: Choosing to meet up virtually or in person - general advice on how to decide whether you really need a live meeting Establish strong local support - on importance of local support if main organiser(s) are from other place Expert involvement - at times when there are no skilled Wikimedians you might need external experts (e.g. conference facilitators) General conference advice: Five tips for preparing a great conference - general overview about how to prepare a conference; long-read A fine selection of mistakes for organizing an international conference (and how to make sure you commit them) - general overview in a form of 'anti-advice'; short one A short guide to bad projects - about projects in general, can be applied to event organising; anti-advice, long-read Logistics: Venue & accommodation Step by step guide for finding the right venue for a conference, with a sample venue inquiry A short guide to in-kind donations - how you can find in-kind donations to be used at the conference Conference venues - on venue choice; very short Accommodations at meetups - how to arrange accommodation of participants, based on Wikimania 2012 case; long-read Meals during conferences - what to have in mind about food Child room - child care at conference; sort one Organize childcare during a Wikimedia event - another piece on providing childcare Colored lanyards - consider having lanyards with different meaning for colors, like photo\no-photo etc. Facilitator's toolbox - a simple way to prepare materials for sessions; what to put in Audience response system - based on Wikimedia Diversity Conference 2017; you might want to think about this if you need immediate response from participants at sessions Connectivity issues - what to do when you have them Travel International events? Allow three months for visa formalities Timing, Communication, Preparation: How to support your event participants in the best way to get a Schengen Visa - very thorough piece about getting a Schengen Visa International travel - general things to consider about participants from abroad Arranging travel Air travel Automobile travel Rail travel Short-distance travel Participants management Setting-up registration form: What info you want to gather and why - can be expanded! Safe space policy The Buddy Project: Let’s make your conference more newbie friendly - a way to make acquaintances between newcomers and experienced participants Facilitating social interaction at conferences - different forms of social interaction support (incl. parties, games, conversation starters and many more) Icebreaker - short piece about icebreakers alone Afterparty - conference party; rather short - you can improve it! Birds of a feather - themed meetup for better get-to-know Wall of compliments - a way to raise mood of the participants Other useful tips: Project roles - assigning roles to team members Use social media for promotion Creating portals - can be used while creating main page of the conference Appreciation of volunteer work III: let others know - you can offer volunteers tickets/travel to conference (if it fits) New faces for Wikimania: travel scholarships as prizes for Wiki contests Program related: Annual Wikimedia CEE meeting: drafting the program - based on WMCEE15 bottom-up approach; long-read How to get diverse presenters at your conference (from a gender, Global South... perspective) - short - you can expand it! How to inspire your participants to come prepared and stay engaged - not there - you can write it! Briefing calls with speakers: A simple way to improve conference sessions - based on WMCON17; consider talking to your speakers before the conference to unveil expectations on both sides Planning effective conference sessions Session formats: Forget about presentations, let people work! - not there - you can write it! Conference workshop to help kickstart a project on a smaller language Wikipedia Lightning talks - a concept of very short talks on various topics that cannot fill a whole session Cooperative note-taking at meetings and workshops - one of the ways to get your conference well documented All the kinds of documentation: photo-, audio-, text- and when you need each of them - not there - you can write it! Event app for conferences - you might want to have simple base of participants, for their own sake Producing video oral histories about Wikimedia participants - counts if you consider it a part of organisers work; #wmconfaces were somewhat similar to this Session advice: Don't fiddle with the AV - a quick remark for the speaker Facilitating a productive discussion - a how-to for facilitator Making panel discussions (or roundtables) more productive - unfinished Tips for participants: How User Groups can select Wikimedia Conference Delegates - short; can be improved! (by adding some criteria, points to have in mind etc.) Getting enough sleep at multi-day events - advice for participants Posters that work - on creating posters Preparation for Wikimania - participant’s checklist; relates to other conferences as well Spread cuteness - sort of icebreaker and a mean of project promotion Travelling Wikimedians report to the stay-at-homes - how-to for participants; unfinished What to do when airplane lets you down After-conference: Timing and tenaciousness - How to ensure high participation rates at post-conference surveys What does everyone else do: Send a spy to other conferences ;) - not there - you can write it!