This post is not creative writing, I’m only translating content from Persian, if you know Persian please consider reading the original post.
While performing a meeting in a physical space has its own benefits, sometimes we have no choice but to run the conference online. We should try to avoid falling blindly into the limitations of real-world conferences and reduce issues at online gatherings. The following is a method for holding conferences like Software Freedom Day. Even though, due to the novelty of this concept, it’s clumsy, and with further research and gaining experience, it will be updated. Sharing comments, suggestions, and reviews will contribute to this project’s growth and improvements and also help communities like the Free Software community.
The process of holding the conference is divided into two parts: before the conference and day of the conference
Before Conference
What you need before going online is a platform for free sharing and video files. This platform can be a PeerTube instance or any other suitable technology. If possible, you can use a channel on a PeerTube instance and upload all contents there at once. Although this action decreases the automaticity of execution, it resolves the need for extra focus at the beginning of the conference.
By announcing the chosen platform on a specific date before the gathering, we ask performers to record their show in video format and, after checking the integrity of the recorded content, upload it on the platform
After starting from the specified time for holding the conference, for each uploaded video, a specified time step will be assigned. A time period for Q&A related to that presentation will be determined. As an example, for the first video, it will be at 10 am; for the second video, it will be at 11 am; for the third video, it will be at 12:30 pm, and so on until the end of the last presentation. Times will be assigned to videos automatically.
The audience can watch videos during the time between uploading content and the day of the conference, write notes in the meantime, and discuss them during the Q&A session of that video.
Day Of Conference
During the conference, at the scheduled time, a discussion room, which can be a type of BigBlueButton platform, is opened, and the first performer gets ready to answer audience questions. After the specified time is finished, the next performer takes control of the room and answers their audience. This process continues until the end of the conference.
Advantages
- Decentralized and prevention of slowing down the holding process.
- Removal of the judging process and interference of taste.
- Being able to edit and fix for creators.
- Having time to see the presentations, think about them, and come up with questions.
- Possibility to choose and be present at one specific presentation.
- No time limitation for Q&A for any number of presentations.
Disadvantages
No disadvantages have been found for this holding model yet.
Thanks for reading; please let me know what do you think.
Good luck.