Set a timetable | THATCamp

THATCamp timetable (PDF)

Read reports and evaluations from past THATCamps
Coordinate with other events if you like
Design a logo
Build your website
Arrange a date and a space
Arrange for coffee, food, tech such as wi-fi and projectors, and swag such as t-shirts based on your budget
Plan workshops
Publicize the event
Begin accepting registrations

Approve all eligible registrations and create user accounts for all participants.
Create a Participants page such as bayarea2011.thatcamp.org/attendees (add a new page, then set its Page Template to “Campers”).
Publish a blank schedule grid with time slots and rooms to the website, perhaps by embedding a Google Docs spreadsheet (such as our sample)
Add descriptions of any workshops with the instructor’s name, the difficulty level or any pre-requisite skills, and any required accounts or software
If necessary, arrange transportation for people from their hotels to the THATCamp venue
Order swag (t-shirts, tote bags, etc.) if you are providing it

Email all participants and call for session proposals.
Remind participants to bring a laptop (not an iPad or other tablet), to update their profiles, and tell them any other information they need to know, including how to log in to the THATCamp website
Make reservations at a nearby pub or restaurant for post-unconference gatherings (for day 1, expect 50% of attendees, for day 2, expect 10%-25% of attendees)
Devise a method for letting people know how to connect to the wi-fi, either by posting the info prominently in a common area or by including it on the back of each participant’s badge
Decide whether you will ask for donations from participants, and if so, figure out a method for collecting them (PayPal, pass the hat afterward, optional registration fee when people pick up their badges, etc.)
Plan for what to do with any uneaten food, such as donating it to a local food bank
Run through the checklist to make sure you haven’t forgotten anything
Print badges (you can also wait until the day before) or make sure you have blank name tags and pens

Review the space to make sure that chairs, tables, power strips, projectors, and signs are all present and in order
Set up a check-in table with badges, swag, and any office supplies participants will need for the scheduling
Make sure you have everything you need for voting on sessions and scheduling them
Consider printing the session proposals (you can use Anthologize for this) and taping them up on walls near the check-in area so participants can read them offline

Give everyone a chance to learn about the proposed sessions — print them and post them on the wall and/or ask the proposers to talk about them
Collect votes on sessions by stickers, a show of hands, or any other method you like
Make introductory remarks and begin the scheduling
Go over the THATCamp Ground Rules (THATCamp is fun, productive, and collegial)
Mention the “Law of Two Feet” (if a session isn’t useful, use your two feet to go to another one)
Create a draft schedule
Ask the participants for suggested revisions to the schedule
When the schedule is set, consider printing copies of the schedule and posting one outside each room and/or making copies for everyone