On 29/07/2010, at 10:34 AM, Ben Schwarz wrote:
> The speakers put in a hell of a lot of preparation time, I'd hate for anyone
> to feel "rejected".
> This is happened before, it sucked. I don't want it happening again.
>
> Speakers change from day to day. As an estimate, I aim to book 6 talks and
> expect
> to only ever have 3. People drop out.
Just some notes about how we do it in Sydney...
If speakers drop out then the presentation part simply finishes early (early
drinks!), so people tend not to drop out. I think catering to 50% drop-outs is
just going to perpetuate the problem. We all feel like piking when the nerves
start and it get's closer to the night, and you have to actively encourage
people to push through and give it a shot.
One thing that works well in Sydney is having allocated time slots. We aim for
2 x 20 talks, and 4 x 5 min talks. If you don't turn up, you wasted a slot, and
you should feel bad. With this you get to advertise the schedule ahead of time,
which *always* boosts attendance (for many reasons, including those John spoke
about), just like conferences get more attendees when they show the actual
line-up of presentations. If it's a truly unique event then people will come
without a schedule, if it's a regular or repeated event then it's the schedule
that makes it unique and persuasive.
The wiki and allocated time slot system is simple, predictable, and easy to
organise ("there's the wiki, put your names down!"), and gives people the
schedule ahead of time. The wiki timeslot thing is similar to how we do RSVP
for the #workatjelly too, and people feel bad if they don't turn up but used up
a wiki slot. Highly recommended!
– tim
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