OSNCamp 2008 Followup
The first Open Sustainability Network unconference (OSNCamp) was held on October 18 and 19 at San Francisco State University. At the end of OSNCamp 2008, each of the attendees spoke about a commitment that they would carry forward from OSNCamp. One commitment was to begin collaborating on a set of guidelines for what defines an OSN event so that others can move forward and expand OSN in whatever venues they see fit.
This wiki page is for collaborating on the guidelines for what makes an event an OSN event.
OSN event guidelines
This is a collaborative page. If you are fairly confident about a change you want to make, go ahead and make it here. If you have a question about a potential change, or a suggestion, use the "talk" page (same as the discussion tab above).
Types of events
(add other event types)
- Unconferences (like OSNCamp 2008)
Approval
OSN is owned by the members, and as such there is no convenient small group with authority to provide approval. The practical implication is that approval is a matter of consensus. People considering hosting an OSN event should connect other OSN members and sponsors to gain their support, and also to improve schedule coordination with other potential OSN events. Another practical consideration is that the only a few people have ability to edit the opensustainabilitynetwork.org web site, so it's a good idea to highlight proposed and upcoming OSN events on this page (see below) and via the OSN googlegroup email distribution so that those folks are aware.
Guidelines for OSN events
- Size
- There is no minimum size for an OSN event. Naturally, the OSN community would like to see good sized events. If other recommended actions are taken, size should not be an issue.
- Web-connectivity
- Ideally, OSN events should have good internet connectivity for attendees, preferrably WiFi for convenience.
- Even more cool, OSN events should attempt to provide live audio or video from the event
- Twittering and/or live-blogging or other frequent information sharing mechanisms are encouraged
- Advance notice
- For good attendance and coordination with other events, at least 12 weeks is desirable
- For best attendance for out of towners, 6 months notice is good
- Sponsorships
- Price
- Price should be kept low.
- Free is good, though we know from OSNCamp 2008 experience that when it's free, people register without hesitation and attendance can be much smaller than registration.
- If the price is not free, there should be some allowance for scholarships for those that have difficulty with the ticket price
- Ticket fees should be used to defer costs.
- OSN does not maintain any reserve account, so if the hosting group is lucky enough to have left over funds, the ethical thing to do would be to support subsequent hosters that come up short.
- Registration
- OSNCamp 2008 used Eventbrite to provide automated online registration and allow for donations. It worked pretty well, but be aware there are fees.
- Other forms of registration are fine.
- OSN membership
- OSN membership is separate from OSN event attendance.
- OSN membership is simple. It involves taking a pledge. See here the pledge page.
(Insert other guidelines here, or post suggestions or questions here.)
Proposed upcoming OSN events
(insert proposed upcoming events here)
Confirmed upcoming OSN events
(insert confirmed upcoming events here)