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It's a crazy idea that's rarely seen among skeptics, but we're going to try to learn from our mistakes and build upon our successes. Join us on December 16th for this special Virtual Drinking Skeptically event, our SECOND ANNUAL Virtual Post Mortem!


Contents

edit When and where

Venue: Virtual Drinking Skeptically on Adobe Connect - How to Join the Chat

Date: Friday, December 16, 2011

Time: from 9:00pm to 11:00pm EST

Where: http://virtualds.org (follow links)

For those in Sydney and Melbourne, the local time should be Saturday, December 17 at 13:00, but please verify!

edit What is it?

This event hosted by Virtual Drinking Skeptically

On December 16th, a panel of SkeptiCamp organizers will meet in an online video conference to discuss lessons learned from the past year of events. This is an open event where anyone is welcome to attend. This is the SECOND such event. Our first one was in November 2010 mp3 audio.

SkeptiCamp focuses (in part) on producing substantive events within the reach of informal groups of skeptics anywhere around the world. These events most often are put together by inexperienced organizers who must build upon the experience of others who have successfully hosted events of their own. To develop those practices we must collaborate; we must share our experiences of organizing events so that others can benefit.

All the lessons learned that we discuss at the Virtual Post Mortem should find their way into this wiki.

We'd like to recruit one organizer from every city to serve on the panel, where we ask each to offer two notable items from their event that went well, and two things that went wrong.

For those things that went wrong, we'll discuss the ways we might avoid them in the future.

See the What Went Right and What Went Wrong pages for past examples. Duplication is okay, as it indicates recurring problems.

edit Who

edit Panelist Participants

We need a volunteer from each SkeptiCamp who served as an organizer. If more than one, please choose among yourselves.

We ask that each panelist prepare by bringing two items describing what went right (examples) and two items describing what went wrong (examples) that stood out at their event (or were exceptional in some way) that future organizers can benefit from knowing about.

  • Atlanta, GA: Add your name here
  • Boulder, CO: Add your name here
  • Colorado Springs, CO: Add your name here
  • Columbus, OH: Carl Tracy
  • Concord, NH: Travis Roy
  • Edinburgh, UK: Add your name here
  • Edmonton, AB: Add your name here
  • Fort Collins, CO: Add your name here
  • Louisville, KY: Add your name here
  • Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Lucas Randall
  • New York City, NY: Add your name here
  • Ottawa, ON: Add your name here
  • Sydney, NSW, Australia: Jason Brown (per email to Reed)
  • Vancouver, BC, Canada: Fred Bremmer
  • Washington, DC: Add your name here
  • Winnipeg, MB, Canada: Add your name here
  • Skeptour Cruises: Jeff Wagg

We strongly recommend that panelists test their video setup, such as by attending one of the earlier Virtual Drinking Skeptically events at http://virtualds.org

Note: because of Adobe Connect restrictions on number of panelists, we may have to rotate some panelists in-and-out.

edit Non-panelist Participants

We can accommodate any number of non-panelist viewers. No video camera is necessary. Note that while you won't appear on video, you will be able to watch the proceedings and participate via chat, which Brian will be monitoring for questions.

You are not required to register to participate, but we'd encourage you to do so to advertise your interest in the future of open conferencing in skepticism.

  • David Price, planning on a having a SkeptiCamp in Dallas.
  • Luis García Luiyo Lead Organizer of Skepticamp Madrid 2012 (on December 16th I'm supposed to be on a trip, but I'll try)
  • Robert Shindler - Winnipeg Skeptics
  • Kylie Sturgess - Perth Skeptics (Australia)
  • Joacim Jonsson - Swedish Skeptics (planning on arranging a SkeptiCamp)
  • Add your name here
  • Add your name here
  • Add your name here
  • Add your name here
  • Add your name here
  • Add your name here
  • Add your name here

edit Agenda

Example of video chat session from last year

This will be a collaborative (and open) agenda, so feel free to contribute a question you'd like raised for the assembled throng.

  • Brian - opening remarks with advice on using Adobe Connect & mention of upcoming VDS events
  • Reed - brief 8 minute "State of the SkeptiCamp" detailing how far the open event model has progressed in skepticism
  • Panelist introductions
  • Any questions before we begin?
    • Your question here
    • Your question here
    • Your question here
  • Each city/state/province in turn (as shown above)
    • Short description of event (when, who, what, where)
    • What went right? (discussion)
    • What went wrong? (discussion)
  • Any questions before we wrap?
    • Your question here
    • Your question here
    • Your question here
  • Reed - brief closing remarks
  • Brian - brief closing remarks
  • SOCIAL TIME

edit External links

Retrieved from "http://www.skepticamp.org/wiki/Virtual_Post_Mortem_2011"
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