Session: Spontaneous Sessions & Lightning Talks

Overview

Ways to let people propose and run sessions on the fly.

Lightning talks

• Sign up anytime - People can sign up just before or during the event if something inspires them.
• Submit early, pick randomly - COSCUP collects submissions during the conference and draws speakers out of a hat.
• Pre-fill some slots - Have a few known speakers lined up, then open the rest to whoever wants in.
• Auto-advance slides - ConfigManagementCamp uses 20 slides that auto-advance. Keeps talks short and energetic.

Birds of a feather sessions

• Need a topic - FOSDEM lets people book a room, but they have to propose what they’ll talk about.
• See and sign up - COSCUP lets people sign up after day 1, once they know what’s happening and what they want to discuss.

Other formats that work

Open forum:

• Put post-it notes on a wall. People pitch topics for 1 minute each.
• You can have 60 people in one room doing 2-40 concurrent topics.
• People drift between topics as they please. Good discussions happen.

Discussion circles:

• 8 chairs, one stays empty. When someone new sits down, someone leaves.
• Stops people from just watching passively.
• Side conversations are fine.

Speed dating:

• 2-3 minutes per person. Everyone introduces themselves in rotation.
• Name tags with what people are interested in or what they know.
• Good icebreaker.

Making it accessible

• Use plain language - Not everyone knows what “BoF” means.
• Pair people up - Put newcomers with someone experienced.
• Tours - Have people show the new folks around, explain what’s happening.
• Keep it interactive - Discussions, not lectures. Too many people just watching kills it.

Things to try

• Everyone presents a slide - Each person makes one slide about what they want to discuss or need help with.
• Classified ads - A wiki or whiteboard where people post what they need and what they can help with.
• Structured mentoring - 1-on-1 time between experienced folks and newcomers.