Re: [Debconf-team] Content team: Our current status, next steps

[Michael Banck <mbanck@debian.org>]

Hi,

On Sat, Jul 15, 2017 at 07:48:44AM +0000, Holger Levsen wrote:
> I really don't get this. We have a talks team, which decides about
> talks and workshops and all that. And then we have self-scheduling
> where talks and workshops which werent accepted by the content team
> get self scheduled?!?
> 
> Will those self scheduled event end up in the same rooms as the
> others, filing the time tables even more, putting more load on
> attendees and video volunteers alike?
> 
> Whats the point of this, why doesnt the content team decide on those
> talks / slots too?
> 
> I'd understand if those self-scheduled events were in a dedicated
> different room (which might or might not be videoed) but I dont get
> why it's useful to have content team scheduling and self scheduling
> for the same ressource (=room).

I volunteered to put the self-scheduled talks into wafer each night in
yesterday's meeting (as I did for the last three DebConfs).

In general ad-hoc sessions are an important part of DebConf, as a lot of
stuff tends to pop-up during conversations between attendees or in the
Q&A of a regular talk and it is useful to have follow-up BoFs on them.

I'm sure you're aware there's more interesting things to do between
9PM-2AM at Debconf than scheduling stuff in wafer, printing out the
schedule and putting it up everywhere.  Now if we also need to have
content team meetings each night to decide on the proposed ad-hoc
sessions and their particular merits, I think that is straining our
resources (not least cause not every content team member will be
on-site).

The current plan is as follows:

1. Attendee enters their ad-hoc/self-scheduled session into wafer.

2. Attendee writes the talk title and wafer id in their preferred
timeslot for the next day (or maybe the day after next, TBD) on a
whiteboard/chalkoard/whateverboard at FD.

3. Each night, I accept the self-scheduled sessions in wafer, and
schedule them according to above FD board.

4. On a best-effort basis, I will print out next day's schedule and hang
it up next to the talk rooms / strategic locations.

5. At the morning session, the full schedule for that day will be put up
and the self-scheduled talks highlighted.

6. There will be no self-scheduling in the main auditorium, on the two
smalller ones and the two BoF rooms.

7. There will be no video-team support for any self-scheduled sessions.

I might have gotten something wrong in the above, so please correct me.
But I think that's roughly the plan.


Michael