Friday, October 29, 2010

Mini conference starts next week

We have now come to my favourite part of FO2010....the mini conference. Make sure you check out the schedule so you know exactly what is happening, where and when. Please can I encourage you to attend and participate in as many events as you can in order to support the people facilitating the events :)

Here is the recording of the meeting we had this week in which we discussed last minute details about the mini conference: click here for recording. Several issues cropped up that I would ask you to consider if you are organising an event for the mini conference.

Blog
Use your blog for getting organised - not just for letting us know what's happening, but also to work through any issues. Use us...your blogging network...to help you sort out problems and clarify details. Have a look at this post by Lynn in which she shares some ideas and uses her readers to frame up her event.

Information for participants
Make sure you have very clear details about your event on the wiki. Remember that complete strangers will be looking at this page and may be joining your event. So it is imperative that you make every step very clear.
  • Make sure you have linked to information about how to use the technology eg Elluminate
  • Make it very clear how to get to your event eg if you are using the Elluminate room, please put the link to the room.
  • Put details about your back-up plan. What will you do if your primary technology fails? For example, if you plan to use Skype as back-up, how will you organise this?
Marketing your event
Please make sure you inform everyone about your event in plenty of time. At the very least, put the details of your event on:
You are extremely welcome to invite people outside FO2010...the more the merrier. After all, you will not have a job as an online facilitator if you cannot drum up an audience. I will also be marketing the mini conference to my networks so be prepared to have people turn up who you do not know...and remember...these people may not be familiar with the technology you are using.

All the best to everyone, both facilitators and attendees. Have fun :) :) Sarah

Image: 'Free Pretty Pink & Purple Party Balloons+Creative+Commons'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40645538@N00/3724943003

2 comments:

Jillian Clarke said...

Hi everyone, I was just checking the schedule and noticed that Jade(Elluminate) and Tracey/Mark/Karen's event (Skype) are on at the same time - 12th Nov at 11am NZ time. I am trying to get to as many as possible and just wondered if this was correct? Good luck to everyone and I look forward to catching up with everyone at their mini conference.

Sarah Stewart said...

Thanks for that, Jillian. I think it is a mistake - I think Jade means it to be 10am, but I'll check with her.

In the meantime, I have sorted the entries on the wiki according to times. It is also worth checking on the Google Calendar on this blog too.

In the end, if there is a clash, the person who added their date/time last will be asked to change.