Call for TPAC 2019 Breakout sessions; Introducing new agenda-building

Dear TPAC 2019 attendee (bcc’ed),

We are now two weeks away from TPAC 2019 [1].

By popular request, we have used “Unconference” since 2011 as the format of most of the Plenary day, where 50 or so sessions may take place in 4 or 5 tracks. We are doing so again this year, and we are introducing a new agenda-building model.

The technical plenary day will start with a short plenary session and be followed by Unconference. It is an opportunity for everyone to propose, choose, and participate in breakout sessions on a wide variety of topics relating to W3C activities. It is a chance to contribute to discussions and connect with people working on ideas that may not fall within your usual areas of activity.
  https://www.w3.org/2019/09/TPAC/schedule.html#Wednesday

As a repeated instance where many participants are returning people who have become experienced with the process, the agenda-building gradually became a massive onslaught with post-it notes, thus resulting in a mad scramble. This unfortunately disadvantages anyone new to W3C, or new to Unconference methods, and creates issues from an accessibility perspective as well as from the inclusivity stand point (newcomers are easily lost and unable to get involved).

This year we are experimenting with a “no-scramble” approach for the TPAC 2019 Unconference on Wednesday 18 September.

The goal is to gather the bulk of the breakout session proposals in advance. In doing so, the Team will be able to generate an HTML and mobile-friendly filled-out session grid for the day’s breakout sessions.

* Breakout sessions continue to be proposed in wiki, **until Tuesday 17 September 5 pm local time**:
  https://www.w3.org/wiki/TPAC/2019/SessionIdeas

  Notes: 
   * the template has been updated pursuant to previous feedback and experience.
   * already 24 propositions have been submitted (that's around half of the available slots)

* We are inviting submission/negotiation of breakout sessions, and would like to emphasize that earlier breakout session submissions facilitate a more inclusive workflow. We recognize that some topics will emerge from last minute discussions during TPAC, but we hope that only a few breakouts will need to be added on the day itself.

* A draft session grid is now available, and the grid will be final on Wednesday 18 September at 10:30 am:
  https://w3c.github.io/tpac-breakouts/sessions.html

* Changes regarding timing conflicts for proposed breakouts are to be requested by email (<public-tpac-unconference@w3.org>) at any time, but particularly between Tuesday 17 September 5 pm and Wednesday 18 September 9 am.

* The W3C Team will do at least three passes to assign the proposed sessions:
  * September 3: dry run to identify opportunities for merging, pre-assign sessions, ask for proposers’ feedback, post draft grid;
  * September 15: to identify opportunities for merging, pre-assign already submitted sessions and ask for proposers’ feedback; 
  * September 17, 5 pm: to finalize assigning existing proposals (and give shortnames and IRC channels).

* On Wednesday 18 September 9:45-10:30 am: In-person negotiation, last-minute proposals and changes.

We look forward to a no-scramble experience and welcome your questions and comments regarding the Unconference day to <public-tpac-unconference@w3.org> (publicly archived mailing list [2], reaching the TPAC no-scramble team [3]).

If you have any question regarding the broader TPAC event, please write to <w3t-tpregister@w3.org>.

With kind regards,
Coralie Mercier, Head of W3C Marketing & Communications


[1] https://www.w3.org/2019/09/TPAC/
[2] https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-tpac-unconference/
[3] https://www.w3.org/2000/09/dbwg/details?group=117064&public=1

--
Coralie Mercier  -  W3C Marketing & Communications -  https://www.w3.org
mailto:coralie@w3.org +337 810 795 22 https://www.w3.org/People/Coralie/

Received on Tuesday, 3 September 2019 09:03:46 UTC