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Pre workshop tasks
The Railsbridge meta-organizers have introduced you via email to the contact person at the hosting venue. You'll want to confirm that the dates still work for them, how much room they have (which you will use to guide the RSVP cap on Meetup), and lots of other details. So many, in fact, that we have a whole separate page for what to talk about: hosting venue questions.
Contact Bosco & Caleb for organizer permission via sfruby.info/suggestion, so you can post to the SF Ruby Meetup. You will create:
- A student event
- A volunteer event
- A teacher training (can be scheduled closer to event)
Copy an old workshop, update the details with your own, and have someone else read through it before posting. Because most people forget to update at least one piece of information, to various levels of tragedy.
Meetup likes privacy. So you don't have access to folks' email addresses unless you explicitly ask for them during registration. You can, however, email all the participants of various RSVP statuses (yes & waitlist being the most important). We have a pre-workshop survey that you will send to participants that will help gauge who actually plans on coming and what class levels they will be in.
To Do: create format-agnostic version of survey questions
Installfest food is pizza and hopefully salad. If the host has a beer fridge or kegerator to share, that's awesome, otherwise, get some beer, too.
To Do: pizza shop recommendations
Workshop breakfast is usually coffee & bagels. Noah's is a good choice for bagels; they can do coffee, too.
Lunch is the most freeform.
To Do: recommended caterers/restaurants for lunch delivery
Provided you’ve found a sponsor whose donation has left a little extra after catering, it’s always great to thank volunteers for their time and help with a free drink after the event. This also gives the workshop goers a chance to socialize more and really build some networking connections that will help support them if they decide they now have the bug and want to actually delve into this awesome world of Ruby programming!
Find someplace close. The closer the after-party is to the workshop site, the more likely it is that people won’t get lost or distracted between leaving the workshop and arriving at the party. Case likely sites ahead of time. You need a place that has enough unoccupied space for the whole group to gather and mingle. A deserted bar is ideal, a casual restaurant is also good and allows you to order appetizers (or you can always bring snacks to a non-food bar). Most workshops end at 4:30 or so on Saturdays, which tends to be a slow time for bars and restaurants, but it pays to check.
Make arrangements with the host location ahead of time. If you can tell a place that you’re estimating X many people will be coming and that you for sure will buy Y many drinks (one for each of your volunteers), that’s often enough to encourage them to go out of their way to support what you’re doing. Some places will offer specials (free drinks, extra food) to entice large groups but even those that don’t should be informed before a horde of people descend on them.
Mention the after-party early and often. Some students will fail to read the instructions, some will arrive too late for the opening presentation, and some will finish their coursework early and miss the after-class gathering. The more times you mention the fact and location of the after party the less likely it is that people don’t come because they don’t know about it.
If a potential host demands a minimum bar tab or rental fee, go elsewhere! Plenty of places don’t, but some places are in the business of hosting parties. This tends to run $1000 and up, which is too expensive unless you have an after-party sponsor.
Set up a teacher training. This often happens during the week of the workshop. If you can't get a separate evening, you can do it during the Installfest, but try to get extra volunteers if you do that. Don't want to leave the student high and dry while teachers discuss best practices.
Take a look at the teacher training slides, which live at http://curriculum.railsbridge.org/workshop/teacher_training. Edit them as appropriate here: https://github.com/railsbridge/workshop/blob/master/teachers/teacher_training.md.
A few of the things you'll do:
- Post/announce the workshop to the Ruby-6 Meetup mailing list
- Email the pre-workshop survey to the attendees, optionally including a deadline to respond
- Remind attendees to take the pre-workshop survey
- Remind attendees that if they have a Mac, they will need XCode prior to arriving to the Installfest
- Email the volunteer survey to the volunteers
- Send Installfest instructions to attendees
- Send logistical info (detailed schedule, parking info, etc.)
- Ask people at every turn to update their RSVP on Meetup.com if they can't come
When people join the SF Ruby meetup to attend a workshop, they don't always realize that by default they will be getting the Ruby-6 mailing list into their inbox. In one of your emails, it's helpful to address that and explain where the email setting are or encourage them to filter the messages (but still pay attention! for future learning!).
To do: link to email templates
To do: develop physical items plans (#1 plan: don't lose the stuff)