UnConferences are only loosely structured, and so we don't mean to schedule out every minute in detail, but we do mean to broadly define what's going on at what time blocks. That is, the contents of the freeform collaboration blocks are freeform, but those freeform blocks are themselves scheduled, and some blocks are more formally scheduled.
Having more structure early in the agenda to get things off to a good start, and periodic structure to bring things back together, seems a good idea.
Activities to be scheduled
These are mostly seeder ideas at this point – we need more activity ideas, and we also need to resist the inclination to schedule all of the available time.
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Activity
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Duration
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Type
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Description
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uPortal framework code clinic
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1h
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Kiosk-ish. Can run in a corner concurrent with other activities.
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~awp9, Eric Dalquist, Peter K. sorts of developers have a desk in a corner and everyone is welcome to bring over their uPortal-touching code (channels, mods, plugins, anything) and look at it with an "expert" who will comment as to what it is doing well and how it might work better, and guide as to where to go next with the code (how to effectively open source it if appropriate)
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Fluid-sponsored user experience design code clinic
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1h
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Kiosk-ish. Can run in a corner concurrent with other activities.
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Fluid designers and developers available at a desk in a corner and everyone is welcome to bring over their user interfaces and look at them with an "expert" who will comment as to what is done well, what can be improved, and guide as to how this relates to Fluid work if appropriate.
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Spring / Portlet clinic
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1h
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Kiosk-ish. Can run in a corner concurrent with other activities.
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John Lewis, Cris Holdorph, Eric Dalquist sorts of developers have a desk in a corner and everyone is welcome to bring over their Spring-using and/or JSR-168-implementing code and look at it with an "expert" who will comment as to what it is doing well and how it might work better
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Open-sourcing clinic
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1h
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Kiosk-ish. Can run in a corner concurrent with other activities.
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~awp9, Eric Dalquist, Jason Shao, Matt Young sorts of people at a desk in a corner and everyone is welcome to bring over their code and look at it with people who have open sourced software before, and talk through options for taking the code forward as open source software, building a project, getting activity on it, how it fits into the JA-SIG ecosystem.
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Lunch day 1
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1h
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Food!
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Lunch day 2
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1h
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Food!
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Lightning talks
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90m
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Full group
The following are some ideas for activities we might want to schedule when we arrive. Please feel free to add your own or comment on the ones that are already listed. If you're thinking you're interested in participating in particular topics or areas, be sure to sign up on the participants page.
Activity | Description | |||
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Many presenters giving very short talks. Maybe 10m talk + 5m Q&A and speaker switching – - that would fit 6 talks in 90 minutes. Plenary works well so that everyone connects with some shared topics for discussion, shouldn't be too painful for people uninterested in a particular talk because they are short. | ||||
Fluid-driven UCamp | 4h | Plenary | Fluid-run session on user experience design along the lines of the UCamp activities they've done @ Sakai e.g. | |
Meeting of the uPortal Steering Committee | 1h ? | Small breakout group | Possibly closed and private, much more likely open so that others can help the committee figure out how to steer. Possibly this is just a bad use of time at this conference – the steering committee can "meet" and collaborate asynchronously and remotely, whereas the unconference is a particular opportunity for in-person activities | |
Meeting of the JA-SIG Board of Directors | 1h ? | Small breakout group | Possibly closed and private, possibly open so that others can help the board decide how to direct. Possibly this is just a bad use of time at this conference – the board can "meet" and collaborate asynchronously and remotely, whereas the unconference is a particular opportunity for in-person activities | |
Screenshot and Screencast collection | 2h | Kiosk | Code Reviews |
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Programmers get together to implement the need for a particular portlet and/or uPortal feature. Create content or features to make uP out-of-the-box a more compelling product | ||||
Q&A |
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Screencast Recording | Help JA-SIG and uPortal gather better marketing materials! Developers with interesting open source software, compelling usages of the software, head over to a kiosk where someone versed in effective screenshot and screencast capture helps the participant to navigate to their cool software on the web and take some screenshots and screencasts that can then be input to an ever more compelling JA-SIG web presence. |
Schedule
Day 1 (Tentatively, Monday November 12)
Time | Activity |
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Day 2 (Tentatively, Tuesday November 13)
Time | Activity |
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Day 3 (Tentatively, Wednesday November 14)
A room to work, wireless and wired Internet, power, and coffee available for anyone who wishes to remain at the UnConference site for post-conference collaboration.
Possibly, Unicon may offer more formal training on this day as a co-advertised activity. The idea is that by co-locating and adjacently-scheduling these activities, the value proposition of making the trip can increase and draw more participants. Still working this idea out.
Day 4 (Tentatively, Thursday November 15)
A room to work, wireless and wired Internet, power, and coffee available for anyone who wishes to remain at the UnConference site for post-conference collaboration.
Possibly, Unicon may offer more formal training on this day as a co-advertised activity. The idea is that by co-locating and adjacently-scheduling these activities, the value proposition of making the trip can increase and draw more participants. Still working this idea out.
Day 5 (Tentatively, Friday November 16)
A room to work, wireless and wired Internet, power, and coffee available for anyone who wishes to remain at the UnConference site for post-conference collaboration.
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Meeting & Planning | Board, Infrastructure Team, uPortal Steering Committe, uPortal stakeholders | ||||||||
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Clinics | Open sourcing, UCamp, Portlets, Spring Framework, uPortal | ||||||||
UCamp |
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Infrastructure and Services Team Meeting at the Unconference | A team meeting to focus in on our current and future efforts. |