Organizer Guide

One of the hard part in sustaining a meetup is organizing the events. Our organizers are also juggling a full-time job, families, and other important commitments. Personal situations can change, and organizers may step down.

By providing this resource, we hope to provide transparency of what’s involved in organizing Vancouver PyLadies meetups, as well as providing learning resource and guidelines to our future organizers.

Organizing the Meetup

Each of our organizers self-organize. Usually one person would take charge for organizing one meetup, and the others will provide support. Take turns organizing!

  1. Decide on the format

    We try to meet once a month, alternating the format. If we’ve just done a code jam, it would be desirable that the next meetup be a talk night or a workshop.

  2. Decide on host and co-host

    Have at least one host and a co-host to balance and spread the workload.

  3. Find presenters, if doing talk night or workshop

    Sometimes the presenters come to us, sometimes we have to find and ask them to present. We now have several forms to make it easier for folks who has presentation ideas.

  4. Find a venue

    Once the format has been decided, it’s time to find a venue that is suitable for the format of the meetup. The sponsor page has more details of what’s required of each format.

  5. Schedule the meetup

    Create the event on meetup.com. Decide on how many RSVPs to accept (usually only half shows up). Check if the venue has specific instruction for getting in. If there’s food sponsor, it might be a good idea to survey for people’s dietary needs. In this case we should set expectation and be clear that we can’t accommodate everything.

  6. Announce the meetup

    Announce the meetup using @pyladiesvan twitter account, as well as sharing the event in #vancouver PyLadies Slack channel. Try to annouce the meetup at least 2 weeks in advance.

  7. Order food, if we have food sponsor

    In the past, we’ve ordered from: Dominos, Uncle Fatih, Nuba, Banana Leaf, Bali Thai, and at one time, one box of Timbits.

    We don’t always have food budget.

Presenter Guideline

Talks can be any length, from a 5 min lightning talk to a 30 min practice of a conference presentation.

Talks should:

  • [ ] Be related to the tech industry, preferably Python
  • [ ] Not a pitch, marketing or recruitment tool
  • [ ] Follow Code of Conduct

Ideas include but are not limited to:

  • walkthrough of a problem you solved recently
  • demo of a project you’re working on
  • summary of your favourite Python library
  • guide to how you got to your current technical skill level (including beginner!)
  • discussion of how software affects your field or anything

Ask about speaker preferences, such as:

  • Are you taking any questions?
  • Are you OK with people raising hands during the talk, or should they wait until the end?
  • Do you have a Twitter account so we can credit you?
  • Are you OK to be photographed?

Working with the Venue

We have a list of venues we’ve worked with. It would be best to start contacting the venue one month in advance. Some venues also host meetups for other groups, and they can’t always be available for the date we want.

Sometimes we may need to reach out to new venues. The following email template might be useful:

Hello,

I'm {{ name }}, one of the organizers of Vancouver PyLadies meetup.

We're looking for a space to host our {{ format }} for {{ date }}.
Please let me know if this is something that {{ company }} can accommodate?

PyLadies is an international mentorship group with a focus on helping more women
become active participants and leaders in the Python open-source community. Our
mission is to promote, educate and advance a diverse Python community through
outreach, education, conferences, events and social gatherings.

Our meetup page is at: https://www.meetup.com/PyLadies-Vancouver/

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards,
{{ name }}
PyLadies Vancouver

If your first attempts don’t work, contact other tech companies in your town. Post messages on job boards, tech conference websites, or on other tech Meetup channels.

Vancouver Public Library also provide free meeting rooms for non-profit organizations.

Some things to look for when choosing a venue:

  • [ ] Wifi that allows more than HTTP (eg SSH, rsync, FTP etc)
  • [ ] Washrooms
  • [ ] Plates, glasses, cutlery for dinner
  • [ ] Seating for up to 30
  • [ ] Accessible (wheelchair etc)
  • [ ] Near transit
  • [ ] Doesn’t need front door runner, can get in via unlocked door or buzzer (optional)
  • For talk nights:
    • [ ] Projector
    • [ ] Mic (optional)
    • [ ] Podium (optional)
  • For Code Jams:
    • [ ] Tables to sit at
    • [ ] Lots of power outlets
  • [ ] Twitter handle (optional, so we can thank you on Twitter for sponsoring)

Food Sponsorship

For food sponsorship, we budget around $8/person for dinner. We usually have 15-30 people show up, and assume half of the RSVPs on Meetup will attend.

There are 3 options for handling food:

  1. PyLadies organizer does the ordering and the sponsor reimburses
  2. PyLadies organizer plans the order and the sponsor pays
  3. Sponsor handles ordering and payment

When ordering food, remember to include the following options:

  • Meat
  • Vegetarian
  • Gluten free, if possible
  • Dairy free, if possible
  • Vegan, if possible

We also like to get sponsor’s Twitter handle so we can thank them online!

Sometimes we may need to reach out to potential food sponsors, especially if the hosting venue can’t cover food. The following email template might be useful:

Hello,

I'm {{ name }}, one of the organizers of Vancouver PyLadies meetup.

We're looking for a company to sponsor dinner for our {{ format }}. We usually
budget around $100-$250. We'd thank {{ company }} on our meetup page and during the
event for their support. Is this something {{ company }} is interested in doing?

PyLadies is an international mentorship group with a focus on helping more women
become active participants and leaders in the Python open-source community. Our
mission is to promote, educate and advance a diverse Python community through
outreach, education, conferences, events and social gatherings.

Our meetup page is at: https://www.meetup.com/PyLadies-Vancouver/

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards,
{{ name }}
PyLadies Vancouver

Meetup Logistics

To be completed.

Day of meetup checklist

Pre-meetup preparation

  • [ ] Order food
  • [ ] Have Nametags
  • [ ] Print door sign

Opening remarks

  • Welcome, you all belong here!
  • What is PyLadies
    • Events: Talks, Tutorials, Hands-on workshops
  • Code of Conduct review
    • Please read our Code of Conduct
    • Highlight common mistakes
      • Well-Actuallys - minor corrections irrelevant to the speaker’s main point
      • Subtle -isms - “So easy even my grandmother could do it!”
      • Feigning Surprise - “You don’t know about X?!”
    • Any concerns or violations can be reported to vancouver@pyladies.com or anonymously via MeetUp’s About page.
    • Mistakes happen, and we are not here to blame and shame, but to learn and grow.
  • Logistics
    • Name tags and Photos (red means no photos)
    • Bathrooms locations
    • WiFi password
  • Community Annoucements
    • Upcoming conferences
    • Upcoming conference proposal deadlines
    • Other useful meetups happening
  • Thank sponsors of food & space

Closing remarks

  • Thank space & food sponsors
  • Thank everyone for showing up
  • Announce next meetup, and ask for speakers if relevant

New Organizer checklist

  • [ ] Invite to PyLadies Slack team
    • [ ] Add to #vancouver-organizers
    • [ ] Add to #yvr-mail
    • [ ] Add to #vancouver
    • [ ] Welcome them!
  • [ ] Add them as Co-organizer in meetup.com
  • [ ] Share planning docs
  • [ ] Add to pyladies-vancouver GitHub team
  • [ ] Answer any questions

Credits

This guide draws much inspiration from the Write The Docs Organizer’s Guide and Django Girls Organizer’s Guide.