Here an update on where things stand with commun-IT/ECOO 2007.
Urs, Robert and I had a great skype call on Thursday to go over the basic framework of how commun-IT and ECOO 2007 could relate to each other. Here is the gist of what I had in mind:
-when a presenter submits a workshop proposal that gets accepted for the conference, commun-IT will automatically generate an account for the presenter and create a community are on the site for the workshop, e.g. "Session A4 - Using Sticky Bear Bop to address the primary match curriculum". The presenter will be the "owner" of the community and will be able to upload files (up to 100 meg or so), blog (personal and community forum), plus use the wiki and resources (links) section of commun-IT to set up pre-conference interactions. Still some questions about when the proposals get nailed down that we need more info on...
-once the conference planner is out, and people begin to register for the conference, they will have an option on their registration to share their basic contact info with commun-IT. With that info, and their workshop choices, commun-IT will generate an account for them and pre-register them as members in the communites that associate with the workshops they chose. When they log in for th first time, they should see the 12 or so "communities" that interest them, along with a pre-build social network of people who had similar interests (I can imagine some really neat way to present that visually - a web of participants that have connections to you, ... could be cool).
-users will be able to join any other communities they want (even if not attending them). Note: some concern that people might "workshop hop" at the actual conference (which can be a logistical issue for ECOO) so some thought has to go into this.
-ECOO is looking at perhaps being able to sponsor some increased bandwidth/storage for commun-IT, especially in the few weeks before and after the conference.
-users are free (now and always) to generate their own communities in here, outside of workshops). Sort of ad hoc birds of a feather sessions. Need to write some code to be able to invite other users into your community to make this easier...
-will submit a proposal to have a first day session on how to use commun-IT and make the most of it. Would be great to do this collaboratively with a couple of commun-IT members...
-ECOO will promote the site in the planner and swag bag handouts. I planted the seed of a booth as well, but I know I will be tied up at the OSAPAC booth for a fair bit of time, so maybe better to pass on this for now
-a placeholder url for ECOO 2007 has been set up (http://ecoo.commun-IT.org) and a blog.
Any other ideas that people have on how to move this forward???
Keywords: commun-IT, conference, ECOO, partnership, steering group
Comments
Tim,
I like the idea of creating a community around a specific presentation well before the conference. Pre-registering participants in the communities they have chosen sounds absolutely brilliant.
I have a feeling, though, that many participants will never log on (it's my usual skeptical self). It would be a good idea to include reminders in the conference planner and a write-up on how ECOO and Commun-IT have been designed to complement each other. I would be happy to help out with this.
- Konrad
Thanks for the offer, Konrad - but it seems we beat you to it...
The planner is out now. There is a nice 1 pager put together by Rob, and references to commun-IT embedded in many of the workshop descriptions. We should be loading up the session communities in the next week or so, then inviting in the presenters, followed by attendees as they register.
Its true that many may never get here - but even if 10% do, thats a huge leap over past practice.
Yes, you're right about the 10% - that's when the really meaningful conversations take place, not with large groups.
Page 6 looks amazing - exactly what I had in mind.
Congratulations on a job well done to the entire team!