Workshop Planning Timeline

This timeline was created with big workshops (50-100 students) in mind, so if you are planning a smaller workshop (<20 students or so), you should check out out the Minimum Viable Workshop first, and then come back to this if you're curious about ways you could organize your workshop.

Finding space, sponsors, volunteers & students

• Identify existing communities to collaborate with
• Find a space
• Find a sponsor
• Recruit volunteers to teach, TA, and help you plan
• Recruit participants

First steps once the major details are ironed out

• Confirm dates & details with the hosting venue
• Meet your workshop mentor, if first time organizing

Somewhere around 3 weeks before

• Post the event on Bridge Troll

Two Weeks Before

• Arrange catering
• Make after-party reservations
• Train the teachers
• Communicate with everyone
• Arrange childcare

One Week Before

• Obtain necessary objects (power cords, flash drives, name tags, etc.)
• Update or create your pre- and post-workshop presentation slides
• Figure out student class levels

At the Installfest

• Set up a good Installfest space
• Set up a welcome desk with class level confirmation
• Deal with inevitable issues

At the Workshop

• Set up! Welcome desk, presentation space, classrooms, & food
• Greet, check in, and nametag students and volunteers
• Give the opening presentation
• Figure out who really showed up; match students & teachers accordingly
• Keep time: remind/make all groups take breaks, eat lunch
• Feed people lunch, make them go back to class
• Email post-workshop survey link
• Give the closing presentation
• Retrospectives
• Party party party!

After the workshop

• Send follow-up encouragement to students, thank yous to teachers & host space
• Send a writeup and survey results to the organizer's email mailing list
• Get reimbursed
• Update this wiki with your brilliant discoveries

Back to Cookbook Home