Wikimedia Technical Talks/Scheduling a Technical Talk

Overview
This page provides specific instructions for scheduling a Wikimedia Technical Talk.

Tech talks
Tech talks are presentations for members of community that create better understanding about technical topics related to Wikimedia projects. Tech talks are usually under an hour in length and focus on a specific technical topic.

Tech talks come in a variety of formats.

Wikimedia monthly technical talks
Wikimedia Monthly Technical Talk(30 min - 1 hour): These talks occur monthly (depending on speaker availability). They are scheduled in coordination with Wikimedia hosts and A/V staff. Wikimedia Technical talks usually take place live, are recorded and posted publicly. The talks can also be recorded ahead of time to accommodate speaker availability.

Wikimedia Monthly Tech Talks usually include a live question and answer period. However, speakers can arrange to collect questions and post answers at a later time.

Wikimedia Monthly Tech Talks are open to all members of the technical community. Speakers can be staff or volunteer contributors.

Recorded technical talks and videos
(Any length -- though a shorter format works well for these). These talks and videos are recorded for broadcast over the MediaWiki Youtube channel and can cover a wide range of technical topics.

Recorded technical talks and videos are produced by individual contributors. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Screencast

Other Tech Talks
While the supported monthly technical talks and pre-recorded talks are most common, individuals should not feel limited by these formats. If you have an idea for a talk outside the monthly schedule, a panel or a brownbag, a series of lightning talks, or other formats, please propose one!

Who can propose or deliver a tech talk?
Anyone who has technical knowledge they would like to share with the Wikimedia technical community is invited to propose a tech talk.

Anyone who wants to know more about a particular technical topic related to Wikimedia projects can propose a tech talk.

Speakers from outside of the Wikimedia Foundation are welcome and encouraged.

How to propose a tech talk
To propose a tech talk, Complete and submit this Phabricator task.

Include the following information in your subtask:


 * 1) Title for your talk. Keep it simple and clearly understood.
 * 2) Publishable summary for your talk. two to three sentences about what your talk will cover.
 * 3) What is the length of your talk? Is it a long form talk (30 min - 1 hour) or a Lightning Talk (5-10 min)

Next steps
Once you have submitted your proposal, you'll be contacted with any questions about your talk and information about scheduling your talk.

Preparing for your tech talk

 * 1) Who is your audience? Before preparing your talk, it can be helpful to compile a list of individuals or groups who you think would benefit from your talk. Who will you personally invite? What mailing lists and groups will you announce your talk to?
 * 2) Announce your talk to your audience. Follow Tech talk set-up instructions below for more details.
 * 3) Create your slidedeck.
 * 4) Rehearse your slides to make sure you are not going to be rushed or go over time.
 * 5) Show up (in person or to the Google hangout) 15 minutes before the talk starting time to make sure audio/video equipment and screen sharing is working.
 * 6) Do your talk and have fun!
 * 7) Upload your slides to Wikimedia Commons!

Remote Participation during tech talks

 * If you have people who you know will be attending a live tech talk, you can invite them directly to the Google hangout. They can un-mute themselves and ask questions directly to the speaker.
 * Make sure to designate an IRC channel (instructions in "Tech talk set-up instructions") for your talk. Make sure to assign someone who is not the speaker to monitor questions on IRC and ask them during the talk.
 * Indicate at the beginning of your talk whether you would like questions to be asked at any time that they come up, when you pause for questions, or all at the end. Each speaker will have a different preference.

Tech talk set-up instructions
Please note:  Every person from the Wikimedia technical community, volunteers and staff members, is welcome to propose a talk. Monthly tech talks are typically organized and supported by WMF staff, so that speakers can concentrate on creating and giving their talks without having to do extra planning. The notes for organizers may have some details specific to that workflow. If you would prefer to prepare and organize your own tech talk, you are welcome to.

For speakers

 * 1) Potential speakers propose their tech talk by completing and submitting this Phabricator subtask.
 * 2) Tech talk organizers will contact the speaker and work together to find a date and time that works for the speaker.

For organizers

 * 1) Confirm the title and description / summary (about a paragraph explaining what the talk is about) is appropriate. Tech talk organizers will use this when publicizing the tech talk.
 * 2) Reserve a meeting time at least 15 minutes before the tech talk starts through the end of the tech talk. If you are in a physical location like an event venue or office, make sure to
 * 3) Organizers should file a ticket with the WMF A/V group to  create a Hangouts On Air with YouTube Live  on the MediaWiki channel for broadcast for the date and time of the tech talk.
 * 4) Invite speakers to the Hangouts On Air broadcast.
 * 5) Create a named event on TimeAndDate with the correct time in UTC to distribute internationally
 * 6) Add the tech talk to Project:Calendar and include a links to the Google Hangouts On Air broadcast and the TimeAndDate event.
 * 7)  Reserve the  IRC channel for questions.
 * 8)  Add the tech talk to the WMF engineering calendar. Include IRC details and YouTube link.
 * 9) Email product-all and tech-all, wmfsf and wikitech-l with details about the tech talk. This should include your TimeAndDate link, a link to follow along on YouTube, a link to join the live hangout, a description of the tech talk/presenters, the meeting room. If the tech talk will be taking place in one of the collab spaces, also send a heads up to wmfsf@.
 * 10) Tweet from the MediaWiki twitter account about the tech talk
 * 11) Create a Facebook post about the tech talk on MediaWiki's Facebook page
 * 12) Add speakers, project members & IT support to to calendar invite
 * 13) Reply to your previous email on product-all, tech-all, wikitech-l and wmfsf and send reminders out about the tech talk: 1 week in advance, 1 day in advance and 15 min in advance or whatever you think makes the most sense for your tech talk.

Day-of instructions

 * 1) Arrive to the meeting room and/or hangout 15 minuets before the tech talk starts. Ask the presenter to do the same.
 * 2) Double check that your google Youtube and hangout links are working properly.
 * 3) If you are screen sharing, test to make sure this works ahead of time
 * 4) Double check that your microphone and speakers are working properly
 * 5) Make a plan with the presenter before you go live. Who will watch IRC and the Youtube stream for questions? Who will introduce the tech talk?
 * 6) Change topic in IRC channel and announce meeting in IRC channel at least 5 min in advance.

After the Tech Talk

 * 1) move the Tech talk in IRC office hours, add a link to the meeting log (example, scroll down)
 * 2) put the IRC log in the linked wiki page
 * 3) check that the presentation video appears in MediaWiki's YouTube channel.
 * 4) upload any slides or supporting materials to commons: Category:MediaWiki_tech_talks
 * 5) update Tech talks with a link to the presentation video on YouTube and slides on commons
 * 6) move information about tech talk from upcoming to past
 * 7) send out thank you to speakers and a reminder about the next month's talk

IRC office hours
To schedule time in the #wikimedia-office channel for an IRC meeting, please see IRC office hours on Meta.