2009 NTC Brainstorm: Be Careful What You Wish For

Submitted by Holly on Thu, 08/14/2008 - 12:26pm.

09NTC09NTCToday, we hosted a call for anyone who wanted to talk about what they want to happen at the 2009 NTC. It was a really fun call for me: I learned a few new things, was reminded to stop being so lazy, and had a few good chili pepper-related laughs.

I'm posting a summary of the call so that, if you were not able to join us, you can still toss in your two cents. I've also called out the areas where we're going to need some help from the NTEN community.

Because we really want to hear from you, we'll randomly pick three people from those who offer their ideas or suggestions to receive a special NTEN prize pack. (It WILL include chocolate!)

BUILDING COMMUNITY

  • A few more lunch time topics tables, and do them each day.
  • Integrate the NTC Affinity group into messaging at time of registration, so people know they can sign up for that group early on.
  • Have some community phone calls prior to the conference for different kinds of communities (LGBT, IT Directors, Enviro Groups, etc.) so folks can meet/greet before they get to the conference itself.
  • Be careful with the Affinity Group meetings. Think about how best to execute user group type meet-ups.
  • Have more unstructured fun. PowerPoint karaoke, ignite style presentations, etc.
  • Keep and do more of the small group dinners.

INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION

  • Schedule a community call a few weeks before the NTC to talk through all the amazing things on the agenda (besides the sessions). This may mean fewer "Do THIS at the NTC" email messages.
  • Need to work on agenda display on website. The information architecture might not be working there. (Need help with this!)
  • Better tagging of sessions (especially ability for attendees to add tags to sessions) would be great. (Need help with this!)
  • Text search of agenda sessions would be a big plus.
  • Keep the iCal/gCal version of the agenda -- but put EVERYTHING on it.
  • Create a version of the calendar that allows attendees to choose what sessions THEY want to attend, and then allows attendee to print out and/or add those sessions to their calendar. (Need help with this!)
  • Keep Twitter as a channel for communications at the event.

AGENDA - SESSIONS

  • Must include some sort of beginner/intermediate/advanced ranking on sessions.
  • IT Staff track needs to be MUCH more technical. (What tech issues should we cover?)
  • Bring back the Speed Geek sessions from 2006/7, but do them better.
  • Include more grassroots/smaller orgs on the agenda so attendees don't just get examples from huge nonprofits.

FUN STUFF

  • Do much more broadcasting out of the NTC. Live stream sessions with Stickam or other tools. (Would you volunteer to do this?)
  • Consider the LGBT Center or City Hall Light Courts as After Party venues.
  • Aggregate blog posts from/about the NTC in one place.
Your turn! What do you want to see? Leave us a comment below. Also, you can join us in the NTC Affinity Group if you want to have more of a conversation!
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Keep the good ideas coming
Submitted by Holly on Wed, 08/20/2008 - 7:32am.

Thanks Erin!  Those are all fantastic ideas. The NTEN gang is meeting next week to talk about 2009, and especially the NTC.  You guys have all given us great food for thought.  So keep the ideas coming!

Hi Holly! Thanks for this
Submitted by Erin (not verified) on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 10:42am.
Hi Holly! Thanks for this proactive approach to planning. I'm getting excited about the conference just thinking about it : )

A couple of additional thoughts:

  • Very logistical, but more wall plug-ins for laptops in all session rooms would be great. Even better: ways to increase plug ins in the middle of the room (with floor plug-ins) to avoid the crowding along the walls!

  • I know overcrowded rooms have been mentioned before; I wonder if there's a way to gauge interest in a workshop to match it with an appropriate-sized room? Just a thought.

  • New Organizing Institute has an outstanding online organizing training for nonprofits. I wonder if there's a way to engage those folks to offer a session or even a parallel program track alongside the other NTEN offerings...?

  • I mentioned this on the chat, so apologies if it's already "on the list", but I thought capturing the audio from sessions along with slides was a great idea from last year. Try this again!

  • Since this is a tech conference, would it be worth exploring how to do an event or two so that folks who can't be at the NTC in CA can still participate?

My $.02. Thanks again for your work; NTC continues to be a great conference!

I am liking this currency
Submitted by Anna on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 8:19am.

I am liking this currency idea - this will be fun to explore further.  Has anyone seen this at another event?

 

More great suggestions
Submitted by Holly on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 7:28am.

Thanks Holly - All great ideas.  We're really hoping that we'll be able to explode the amount of networking folks do at the conference in 2009.  We want folks to be much better able to organize outings around their own interests, so be on the lookout for that.

But can you put a price on friendship? :)
Submitted by Holly on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 7:12am.
Totally interesting idea Jonathon. I love the idea of incentivizing meeting people.  What do others think?  Would free webinars or lattes convince you to talk to strangers?
"Conference currency" as incentive to meet and thank strangers
Submitted by Jonathon D. Colman (not verified) on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 5:09am.
Hey Holly, so sorry that I couldn't make the call, but it sounds like it was a blast and truly productive! :)
Meeting new folks and learning from them is one of my personal favorite parts of the NTC -- and I have a feeling that others feel the same way. So one idea I've been thinking of for a while in regards to large conferences like the NTC is having some sort of false currency that attendees give to one another in order to facilitate social interactions.
The currency can be anything: branded poker chips, USB thumb drives, discount coupons for NTEN events, whatever. Attendees would each start out with, say, five to ten of the items and the goal would be to meet five to ten new people and give away your currency to the folks you meet. The currency items would have your name and contact info. on them so that recipients will know who you are.
There would be incentives for attendees to give away all of their currency as well as some sort of prizes for the attendees who receive the most inbound currency from others.
The incentives need not be expensive, otherwise complex nor difficult to procure. Starbucks coupons, NTEN discounts, etc. would all work. Just something to function as a little "thank you" from NTEN for making connections at the NTC. :)
NTC09
Submitted by Holly Hight (not verified) on Thu, 08/14/2008 - 9:31pm.

Another Holly here...=)

I'd like to see opportunities to meet young professionals - people in their 1st or 2nd job, in their 20s. More intentional efforts to network by specific demographics.

Opportunities to see the city. San Francisco is AMAZING! Pick an affordable yet cool venue.

Don't invite back workshop speakers who sucked last year. David Pogue was great, but it'd be nice to hear from someone who has more experience with nonprofits.
I'll keep thinking...