ClusterLabs Summit Organizer Checklist

Updated 57 Days AgoPublic

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In the past, either Red Hat or SUSE has taken responsibility (including most financial costs) for organizing a particular summit. The most recent summits grew to a size that strained this approach, so this section offers both a checklist of things that need to be done in any case, and responsibilities that could potentially be delegated to multiple volunteer organizers.

• Overall: This organizer must coordinate all other organizers and volunteers, and maintain a budget if necessary.
• Publicity: This organizer should promote the event and other organizers' materials (attendee surveys, sponsors, speaker schedule, etc.). This should at least include a wiki page here and updates to the users mailing list. Room for growth includes social media (promote a single hash tag for event), advertising, banners/signs at event, designing event swag, event photography, and recordings of talks (possibly uploaded as a YouTube playlist).
• Sponsorships: Currently one sponsor assumes all organizing costs, though individual companies have traditionally paid for some restaurant meals. We could formalize this into sponsorship opportunities (meeting room sponsor, lunch sponsors, event swag, travel scholarships for underrepresented groups, etc.). The organizer would need to create a sponsor prospectus with benefits for each opportunity (which might include a logo on publicity materials, a sign/banner/table at event, etc.), recruit sponsors, collect logos for publicity, liaison with sponsors before and during event (potentially including table setup before the event), and either collect payment (usually in the month leading up to the event) or direct the sponsor to pay the particular cost involved directly.
• Speakers: The organizer must maintain a speaker schedule, recruit speakers, and collect their slides to add to the wiki page after the event. Start with a general schedule format and add specifics as they become known, allowing for breaks (traditionally we have used a 30-minute morning coffee and chat, 1-hour lunch, and 15-minute midafternoon break). We have traditionally used the first 30 minutes for attendee self-introductions, but we may want to drop that if the attendee count goes above 50. If the number of talks outstrips the time slots, our options are to add a third (full or half) day, reject some talks, or split the second afternoon or day into two tracks (which should be a last resort, since attendees prefer single-track events).
• Registration: In the past, we've just had a simple online signup sheet with names (or head count) and organizations, and a post-event attendee survey (example). The organizer must maintain the signup sheet (we should consider GPDR requirements), print name badges, conduct the survey, and greet attendees at the event, letting them know where restrooms, break areas, and so on are. Room for growth includes a formal registration process with deadlines (even if free, using a site like eventbrite; typically for any event, half of attendees register on the last day possible); offering free early registration and charging for registration after a certain date or on day of event; surveying potential attendees early to find out topic interests, location preferences, and so on.
• Event: The organizer must arrange the venue (ensuring we have power outlets, wifi, overhead projector, seating, restrooms, accessibility, whiteboard/markers, and potentially a break area for phone calls, small meeting rooms for sponsors, etc.), arrange social events (currently dinner each night), arrange coffee/water/snacks/lunches (ideally considering special diets), arrange group discounts at hotels, liaison with venue/caterer/etc., ensure there is signage about event at venue (entrance, arrow signs, banners, etc.), confirm all arrangements just before event (including a walk-through to check wifi, A/V equipment, etc.), potentially coordinate event-day volunteers for attendee greeting/registration, photography, venue/catering/sponsor/speaker liaisons, setup/cleanup. etc. Volunteers could get free registration, gifts, etc.