[group-organizers] Lightning talks?

[Adrienne N. Lowe]

I agree with Ned - for a local user group, you can be more flexible on the
length of the talks. For example, if you say 5 minutes, and they're still
not done at 7, you can give a cue to wrap up so they'll be done by 10.

The idea of a lightning talk is a great way to encourage someone who is
nervous about speaking, but is interested. A lot of time folks think that
speaking at a user group means signing up for some 20, 30, 40 minute
engagement with three hundred slides. If you let your members know that
they can talk on a shorter topic of their choosing, they may be more
inclined to try something they find intimidating.

As for setting up devices, I just check in with the event host ahead of
time, ask what kind of hookups they have available, and then communicate
that to my folks who are giving talks. It hasn't been an issue yet. I also
ask that anyone giving any talk of any duration spend a few minutes before
the user group starts making sure everything looks good and connects
properly.

FYI, I manage PyLadies in Atlanta :)

On Wed, Sep 2, 2015 at 8:50 AM, Ned Batchelder <ned at nedbatchelder.com>
wrote:

> On 9/2/15 12:17 AM, Dan Stromberg wrote:
>
>> Hi folks.
>>
>> What are people's experiences with doing lightning talks at a meetup?
>>
>> I guess the thing that concerns me the most is setting up a half dozen
>> laptops on a projector they've never been hooked up to before.
>>
>> Do people do a "designated laptop" for the talks, and ask presenters to
>> bring their slides on a USB flash drive?
>>
>> Also, what's a good duration?  Maybe targeting 5-10 minutes?
>>
>> Thanks.;
>>
>>
> For a local user group, I don't find much need to be strict about time.
> About using a shared laptop, there's a trade-off: I'm surprised at how many
> people are completely baffled by using a machine with a different operating
> system than they are used to. Sometimes it's just better to spend the 30
> seconds up front to let them use their own machine, and then they can
> present smoothly from a laptop they are used to.
>
> Also, as someone else mentioned, the laptop-switch time can be used for
> Q+A by the previous speaker.
>
> --Ned.
>
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