organizers-playbook.md

Python Frederick Playbook

This page documents the operations of the Python Frederick meetup. The Python Frederick organizers can use the activities provided here to divide roles and responsibilities to ensure that Python Frederick functions well.

Ongoing Activities

• Periodic messages to the announcement mailing list at python-frederick-announce@messages.meetup.com that notify about upcoming events.
  • A reminder email about all upcoming Python Frederick and other local meetup events
  • A set of short reminders about the event for the month on Wednesday - 1 week before event and Monday before Wednesday event.

Event reminder example

Subject: Reminder: Python Frederick <presentation|dinner> is in <#> days on <MM/DD>

Body:

Hey, Python Frederick!

Here is your friendly reminder that we have a <very brief event description> on <MM/DD> at 7pm at <location>.

You can RSVP at <event URL>

Looking forward to seeing you!
<your name>
Python Frederick organizer

Event Planning

Python Frederick hosts three primary kinds of events:

1. Presentation Nights
2. Social Dinners
3. Casual Coding

Note: the copy feature for events on Meetup is your friend. Since the events use a lot of the same event details, you can save a bunch of time by coping from a previous event.

Coordination happens with the Python Frederick co-organizers schedule.

Presentation Nights

The presentation night format runs on 2nd Wednesday of each even month. That is:

• February
• April
• June
• August
• October
• December

The goal of this meetup type is to give attendees the opportunity to learn about Python in some technical context. There is no set format for this event and the topics vary wildly, but we do try to make certain that there is some connection to the Python programming language. The event cover things like:

• Direct updates about upcoming features in the language
• Explorations of some popular packages in the language ecosystem
• Applications of the language in interesting projects (e.g., using Python to track airplanes passing overhead)
• More general topics where Python may only be partially related (e.g., security threat modeling where some Python-based tools are used)

Pre-event:

• Find topic and speaker. Since the event dates are well-known in advance, coordination on this is not too difficult. In the past, a call for speakers often produces people who can speak, but speakers have been sourced from other places like checking other local area meetups in Virginia and contacting speakers directly via Meetup chat.
• Once the topic and speaker is found, we need:
  • Topic name - This is set as The Topic Name (2nd Wed Talk) on the Meetup event. (2nd Wed Talk) is added to emphasize the regularity and cadence of the event type.
  • Topic description - We ask the speaker to provide an overview of the topic that we can share. Sometimes speakers aren't great at writing this in an enticing way, so some editing may be needed. You can use AI to spice it up. Topic descriptions are appended with the paragraph below to show that there is more than the presentation only.
  • Presenter name and biography - Including the presenter's name and a brief biography helps to humanize the event.
• Secure venue. Fill out https://coworkfrederick.com/community-room/community-room-reservation/ a couple of weeks in advance. Don't wait too long because there have been time conflicts in the past! The organizers have a coupon code to get the space for free. Ask some other organizer if you don't know it.
• Create event on Meetup.
  • Always on a 2nd Wednesday
  • Start time at 7pm ET
  • Duration of 2 hours
  • Set venue
  • (You can check previous Meetup event settings or ask on Discord if anything is unclear.)
• At least two weeks before the event, the event needs to be "announced" on Meetup. When the event is announced through the Meetup UI, a message about the upcoming event will be sent to all members.
• Additional announcement emails are sent to the list at the cadence listed in the "Ongoing activities" section. These additional emails are the most effective way to improve engagement and attendance. People forget about events and the extra reminders are useful to pull in people who might have forgotten about the event.

During event:

The event organizer acts as the emcee at the event. The things to do are:

• Arrive 15-30 minutes before the official start time. Some folks are regularly early, and it stinks if there is no one there to greet them.
• Set up the AV equipment.
• Set up recording equipment if available. We aren't some event recording business, so the recording aren't very high tech, but having some video recording (of the screen at least) and an audio feed is something that can be shared with members who couldn't attend that evening.
• Help speaker get their gear connected.
• Start the event 5-10 minutes after the official start time to give people a chance to come in.
• Do announcements.
  • Thank sponsors: PSF (Python Software Foundation) for covering Meetup cost and Cowork Frederick for hosting space.
  • Mention other upcoming events.
  • Mention the Discord to get people connected.
• Do icebreaker.
  • The group is usually of a size that we can share each others names and answer a fun question. This often has the effect of improving the conversations and discussion with the presenter later.
• Invite speaker up and start recording.
• Enjoy presentation.
• Generally, do Q&A after the presentation is over.
• Thank the presenter (and clap).
• Remind people about the next event, thank them for coming.
• Let people know the event is over, but that they don't have to leave right away. Pack up and shut down AV stuff while people wind down.
• Go to JoJo's.

Post-event:

• Work with Matt to get event recording uploaded to YouTube and added to the Python Frederick playlist.
• Send final email thanking attendees, linking to video recording on YouTube, and listing the other upcoming events.

Social Dinners

The social dinner format runs on 2nd Wednesday of each odd month. That is:

• January
• March
• May
• July
• September
• November

The goal of this meetup type is to give the community a chance to connect and chat. The presentation night is great, but it doesn't have nearly as much opportunity to form relationships. The dinner format is solely intended to encourage people to get to know each other.

We try to mix up the types of cuisine to appeal to all different palettes. Past restaurants are tracked on Python Frederick dinners.

The restaurants are generally selected by participants on the TechFrederick Discord. Because we want to avoid making large reservations since the amount of attendees can fluctuate wildly, our only constraint is that we try to pick places with good amounts of seating and availability.

Pre-event:

• Select a restaurant via discussion in Discord.
• Create event on Meetup.
• Try to stick to the 7pm start time, but confirm that the restaurant is open for 2 hours from the start time and adjust accordingly.
• Include some kind of image from the restaurant. We want the events on Meetup to be appealing visually.
• At least two weeks before the event, the event needs to be "announced" on Meetup. When the event is announced through the Meetup UI, a message about the upcoming event will be sent to all members.
• Additional announcement emails are sent to the list at the cadence listed in the "Ongoing activities" section. These additional emails are the most effective way to improve engagement and attendance. People forget about events and the extra reminders are useful to pull in people who might have forgotten about the event.

During event:

• Hopefully, no pre-planning or reservation is required.
• Enjoy the meal.
• Thank the attendees.
• Let them know about ways to get connected (like the Discord). For many attendees, this will be there first event. If we don't try to connect them to other things, it may be their only event. Try to make a good first impression.

Post-event:

• Send final email thanking attendees and list the other upcoming events.

Casual Coding

This is our autopilot event that runs at ZiPani. The only effort needed for this event is the periodically refresh the event on Meetup because Meetup's recurrring events do not run indefinitely.