event-notes

Notes on how to run a successful IndieWebCamp.

Day 0 - Friday

 * Optional pre-party Friday evening

Day 1 - Saturday

 * 15-30 minutes - for registration and free-form meet & greet. Organizers set up the unconference board.
 * 15 minutes - Intro to IndieWebCamp, brief overview of the schedule for the event, thanks to sponsors (led by event host)
 * 60-90 minutes - selfdogfood demos. These are demos by participants of what they have running on their own personal website. Product pitches/demos are not acceptable, unless the presenter's personal website runs the software. Introduce yourself by your name and domain name
 * 15 minutes - Personal introductions from people who did not demo on day 1. Introduce yourself by your name and domain name.
 * 5 minutes - group photo before everyone leaves the room! This is likely the only time during the day that everyone will actually be in the same room
 * 15 minutes - unconference scheduling, everybody gathers by the grid and proposes sessions, barcamp style.
 * 1 hour sessions - as many as will fit before lunch, usually one or two sessions
 * Lunch break - 1 hour is usually enough - day 1 is fine to send everyone off-site for food on their own
 * 1 hour sessions - as many as will fit until the close of the day
 * Group dinner - optional, preferably sponsored

Day 2 - Sunday

 * 15 minutes - Intro to day 2, there may be some new people, but mostly introduce the "hack day" format and thank the sponsors
 * 15 minutes - Personal introductions from new people who did not attend day 1. Introduce yourself by your name and domain name.
 * 1 long hack session
 * Lunch break - 1 hour - if possible, sponsored catered lunch is best since people are busy hacking and usually don't want to leave
 * 1 long hack session
 * 90 minutes - Demos - usually from 4 - 5:30pm
 * Group photo - immediately after conclusion of demos, since this will be the only time everyone is in the same room
 * 15-30 minutes - Community cleanup, everyone pitch in to help clean up the space
 * Group dinner or afterparty - optional, preferably sponsored

Successes

 * Opening demos are a great way to introduce everyone to each other with lots of context
 * Catered lunch for day 2 is ideal, so as not to break the flow of people who are building things. We have found that catered lunch for day 1 is not really needed. Agreed: day 1 is social and day 2 is work, so this makes perfect sense.
 * Having a session on improving how new people can become part of IndieWeb was a fantastic start, as it served two purposes: 1. It educated those new to the more advanced concepts. 2. It set a roadmap for what people would try to accomplish and learn over the 2 day conference. Many people decided to implement WebMentions because of this session, as it was the next step on the chain.

Things that didn't go well

 * Forgetting to take a group photo when everyone is in the same room. It's almost impossible to gather everyone again except for the morning intros and closing demos. Solution: take a photo both days right after introductions and before going to the un-conference grid.
 * On hack day, it's hard to get people to leave for lunch at a specific time since people are often in the middle of building something.