CW20 Timeline

We made the decision three weeks before CW20 to move the event online. We had less than one month to contact all of our stakeholders (venue, accommodation, sponsors, speakers, workshop facilitators and of course participants), inform them of the decision and renegotiate everything that had been previously agreed. As days passed and the implications around the global pandemic became more clear, stakeholders were very understanding and accommodating. Below is a breakdown of what we did.

Event Project Stage

Month -1 (March 2020)

Agenda
  • We reorganised agenda for online format by:
    • Removing in-person social programme (walk in Belfast Botanical Gardens, visit to Ulster Museum, Drinks Reception, Conference Dinner)
    • Adding breaks and buffer time
    • Adjusting timings of sessions and rearranging order
  • Confirmed lightning talk schedule
  • Made the final agenda available
Communication
  • We closed registration and contacted registrants through Eventbrite as soon as the decision was made that the event would be moving online to notify them, and included information on:
    • The full refund policy if they were no longer able to attend the event (the deadline for a full refund was 7 days before the event start date)
    • The reduced cost of tickets and how they would be refunded if they still wanted to attend (partial refunds for the difference would be issued during the week before the event, after the deadline for full refunds passed)
    • Guidance on how to claim back travel and accommodation costs
  • We had discussions with the venue and accommodation about postponing the in-person arrangements to a future date
    • We were able to rearrange everything (venue, catering, accommodation) except for one of the hotels which was unable to refund/reschedule our reservation under the circumstances
  • Followed up with sponsors and offered to renegotiate packages
  • Followed up with speakers and workshop facilitators, confirming any changes to their sessions, and provided office hours to test their setup and answer any questions
  • Contacted the event delivery team with new duties roster, held pre-event meetings to test the infrastructure and make sure everyone was comfortable with their role
  • In the days before the event, we sent emails to registrants through Eventbrite reminding them to review the Code of Conduct, instructions to install and test the Zoom software, and information about how to prepare for certain sessions
    • We also stressed that CW20 would be as flexible on the day as possible, as many people were adjusting to a new way of working, caring responsibilities during the day, unstable internet, and to the associated emotional pressures
    • We provided guidance for everyone to be kind, understanding and flexible
  • Links to the relevant Zoom room and note-taking document were sent via email through Eventbrite and Slack at the start of each day
Resources
  • We set up a uCONFLY instance for management of discussion group reports, mini-workshop and demo session notes, collaborative ideas and Hack Day ideas which also involved:
    • Creating Google Doc templates for each of these document types
    • Generating a number of each document type for dissemination during CW20 so that participants would not have to login and use yet another platform
  • Built the infrastructure needed to synchronise participants and run the unconference sessions such as:
    • Collaborative notes documents with agenda and relevant links
    • Spreadsheets to disseminate the uCONFLY generated documents
  • Wrote documentation for the delivery team including:
    • Zoom instructions
    • Duties roster
    • Links index
    • Start of day tasks for Event Lead/Chair
    • Mini-workshop and demo session assignments
  • Made organiser slide deck
Event run up actions
  • Closed registration immediately upon decision to move event online
  • Issued full refunds to registrants who were no longer able to attend and informed us at least 7 days before the event start date
  • Issued partial refunds for the difference between the original priced and the new reduced price to registrants who still wanted to attend
  • Planned break-out groups distribution (sign up sheet for discussion groups session, randomly assigned for collaborative ideas session)
  • Planned for video recording infrastructure (easy recording of sessions via Zoom)
  • Had a Code of Conduct committee pre-event meeting
  • Constructed feedback form draft

Month 0

Ran event!
  • Overall, CW20 ran smoothly according to plan
  • Places where we feel we can improve include:
    • A smoother running of the Hack Day: assigning co-host privileges to Hack Day participants to allow them to move around breakout rooms was cumbersome (although we note that as of Zoom version 5.3.1, there is now the option to allow participants to choose their breakout rooms) and participants found it difficult to break into sub-teams
    • Mingling, socialising and “hallway conversations” in online workshops

Month 1 (April 2020)

Agenda
  • Updated the agenda with links to resources
Feedback
  • Emailed participants with a feedback form within a week after the event
  • Sent a reminder email a few days later
  • Held a feedback prize draw to thank them for taking the time
Publicity
Resources
  • Updated language of event website to show that it was in the past
  • Created a Figshare portal to share CW20 outputs
  • Chased speakers for any un-captured resources
  • Collected Zoom recordings from the Hosts/Co-Hosts of each session
  • Prepared videos for editing by
    • Organising files
    • Updating processing instructions for Events Team
  • Followed up with speed-blog authors and connected them with the Communications Team for publication to the SSI blog

Month 2 (May 2020)

Publicity
Resources

Month 3 (June 2020)

Publicity
Resources

Month 4 (July 2020)

Publicity
Resources

Month 5 (August 2020)

  • 11/12 discussion groups’ speed blogs published - the last one may be published in the future if the group members decide to

Month 6 (September 2020)

  • Event Organisation Guide In Practice in-depth write up completed and reviewed