ConvergeSouth 2008
Ed Cone October 21st, 2007
ConvergeSouth Jobs - Yours for the Volunteering
Contact info: admin@convergesouth.com
(Volunteer and get your very own email address!)
Process:
Read the jobs available for ConvergeSouth 2008 (below). Decide which one you want to do. Make sure the job meshes with your talents and patience and then commit to it. When you are ready to commit to the whole thing with a “no matter what� caveat, please let me know and the job is yours. (OK, not “no matter WHAT,� but you get the idea.)
Jobs marked with $$ mean that you might have to put out some of your own money and be repaid by ConvergeSouth, usually 2-4 weeks after we make the check request.
Team Rule
No one speaks for the conference alone. No one commits money (outside your budget) or to a speaker without team approval. We don’t trash each other in blogs (or anywhere else) because we might disagree; instead, we embrace compromise where appropriate.
The job Sue is willing to take:
Fundraising; budgeting; making sure bills are paid. Assisting with any contacts I have or can get from contacts I have.
THE JOBS
1. $$Manage hotel and van arrangements
Contact the hotels, give them speaker information and nights, wrangle a little for a better (or A&T) rate, make sure the reservations can be changed until 24 hours prior. Contact the van company (or find a new one) and arrange for the Friday shuttle; give the #4 person below the van schedule. Arrange for volunteers to drive speakers on Saturday from hotel to conference and airport.
Skills required: phone time, book rooms in advance, stay on top of speaker’s travel changes.
2. $$Manage airline arrangements
Work with each secured out-of-town session leader to get airline arrangements. We make arrangements in their names about 2-3 months prior to the date. This job requires expenditures on your credit card but you will be paid back in 2-3 weeks. PDF arrangements, keep a copy for repayment. Be frugal; look for deals and discounts. You’ll get the frequent flyer numbers and some personal info on presenters (for the airlines). Speakers can make their own arrangements and we repay them (many don’t like to do it this way) but we like to look over reservations prior to finalizing (see “frugal”) above.
Skills required: familiarity with online travel sites, able to call presenters and work with their schedules, handle approximately $1,000 on your credit card for 2-3 weeks.
3. Design and update web site
Design and keep the Web site updated; we have free hosting (from TechTriad) on one of several Linux servers and we use MySQL for databases. This includes building a registration system with a capcha that sends users to a nonprofit ecommerce site for a small conference registration fee new this year (to cover food costs and keep away casual registrants with no intention of attending).
Skills required: software and tools for Web design; design experience with PHP pages; database design for a registration form using MySQL or build a team with a PHP programmer
4. Written documentation
Can be done in Word, Publisher or Indesign but the final product is PDF. Send the printer files a week prior to the conference. Documents include: fold-over program, list of expanded session descriptions, PDFs for the Web site (maps, wireless info). We have current samples.
5. $$Produce the film festival
We are going to bend Andy’s arm to do this again. Particulars: find the venue, solicit films, build and maintain and update sites like Myspace; arrange for chair rentals, projectors, evaluate submissions, notify those selected; run the festival, bring in notables. If you’re not a videographer or have never attended at least a couple of Film Festivals, this isn’t the job for you. But get on (hopefully) Andy’s team.
6. $$Produce the music festival
We hope to bend Sean’s arm as well. Particulars: secure venues, make arrangements with venue owners, get bands, promote the festival. If you’ve never promoted a music festival before, this isn’t for you; however, volunteer to be on Sean’s (hopefully) team.
7. Be the IT and facilities committee
Meet with A&T to get all facility needs arranged. It’s not hard (A&T is gracious) and you get to pick the rooms we use. Requires approximately 2-3 meetings with the Assistant Dean and IT staff at A&T. On conference days, you walk the sessions to ensure everything is working and get IT help if needed.
8. $$Presenter gift bags and print design for schwag
We already have our digital logo; produce the print-ready art for gift items; encourage sponsors to give you print-ready art, order shirts, pick up shirts, get shirts to CS. We need you to rethink the denim shirt gifts. Make gift bags and deliver to hotels the day before ConvergeSouth speakers arrive. Solicit donations from area businesses to include in bags.
Skills required: print design knowledge & software tools for print-ready schwag designs; some gift-bag experience; small financial outlay before repayment
9. Post-conference
Write all thank-you notes to all presenters and everyone who volunteers.
10. Blog and Communicate
Keep up the ConvergeSouth blog - it’s our BEST communication tool. It’s a WordPress blog, already designed and hosted for free by TechTriad. You can be admin. You’ll get a lot of emails and will see CS-related items on other blogs that you re-post on the CS blog. The blog’s feed is the main communication/update tool for the conference. You will have to know what everyone else is doing so you can update the blog. Done almost 100% behind a computer.
Communicate: Handle the Google group for discussion and updates for presenters and attendees; send out updates on everything from session leaders to parking; answer questions (and ask for assistance if a question is tricky); manage a second group for session leaders and get their files prior to the conference to share afterward. (Another 100% computer job; can be remotely managed). Any online experience with Google or other similar groups or ability to learn on your own will help.
11. Feeding the Masses
Janet Wright (all hail Janet!) has managed food for 2 years and this year, we were proud that we had very little leftover food; the least ever. Janet also manages the dinner wiki, arranges dinners and makes last-minute changes. This year, she needs help. We need sponsored food, that is, restaurants that will sponsor breakfast. We want to find lunch sponsors who will provide free food. If you’re good at getting donations or want to learn how, this is the job for you!
12. Public Relations
Write the PR, distribute the PR, get all the volunteers interviewed (share the press wealth). We have a media list for email. Make sure all the media outlets have the info 2 weeks, 7 days and 3 days prior to the event. Handle last-minute requests for interviews by getting media to the appropriate person(s) above.
Skills: background in writing press releases and media contact
(drum roll….)
13. How We Choose Presenters
Keynoters and Panelists:
Choose presenters by first visioning the conference flow and determining how many slots we have for (a) keynotes and (b) panels and (c) how-to sessions. Produce a flow chart and then we get a lot of opinions for what’s “new” or “hot” in the upcoming months by reading and learning what’s out there.
Then, nominate a wish-list of potential session leaders and send out “feelers” to our wish-list in January. We try to get a “marquee name” and some well-known people with expertise and credentials from out of town with whom our area people would like to interact. Some session leaders we want never respond and we nag a bit before moving on. We ask others in town who they know and can help secure for CS.
No one person says “yes” or “no” to a presenter; rather, we talk it over and determine why someone may be opposed (or pro) but compromise for what’s best for the conference prevails. ONE person emails speaker requests (to ensure we don’t have 5 keynoters).
We are concerned that our presenters are diverse in every regard (some years we do better than others but we are constrained by who says yes to our invitations). It took Ben two years to get Jason Calacanis; months for him to convince Robert Scoble. So please throw in for the long haul like Ben (so quietly) does. Some of our best stuff is done in IM.
After round 1, we regroup, evaluate where we are and do it again. New names, new contacts, new suggestions appear and we begin inviting again (only one person issues invitations so we don’t have overlapping acceptances). The above is done in the early morning around coffee, that is, typical grassroots organization.
Skills required: you should drink coffee, tea or caramel macchiatos, bring your dog to the outdoor meetings and/or can force yourself to smile a lot in the pre-light hours. You should be familiar with tech conferences, ConvergeSouth, have some contacts to offer, be on top of what’s “hot� in the online world; read blogs of industry leaders; have familiarity with the topics likely to be presented, have online skills and play nicely with others.
We have one fairly good promise from a keynoter and another out-of-towner who’d like to come back.
How-to sessions and Workshops:
We put out a Web site call for how-to sessions around the conference theme for people to self-nominate. Sometimes, we lean on our acquaintances to self-nominate because we think they have talents to share. We haven’t turned anyone down who wants to present (so far) and don’t plan to. Our only restraint is the number of rooms available in our buildings at A&T.
New jobs for 2008:
#1: College liaison
Help us attract more college students. You know why. Help us do it. We want Guilford College, UNCG, Bennett, Greensboro College, more young folks from NC A&T, Elon University and High Point University (for starters) better represented.
#2: Economic development liaison:
Talk to the Chambers, Econ Dev people; the Partnership and more to help us show them that ConvergeSouth is a tool that shows businesses we have technology talent and worker force in Greensboro and the surrounding Triad area and should be funded. Help us get a presence with the Chambers, CVBs, and other organizations you know or research. Fill out a couple of grant request forms (before Feb. 15, 2008).
#3: Fundraising (not new, but newly visioned)
No one really likes fundraising but it has to be done. We need sponsors. We need people to help us find sponsors. We have a sponsor sign-up form that is very fluid (sponsorships range from $100 - $10,000). We have a list of potential sponsors. Someone has to talk to them. You know the skills required and if it’s for you, please volunteer.