Apereo MicroConferences

Last modified by Patrick Masson on 2023/02/28 15:49

Description

The Apereo Foundation organizes and delivers monthly online MicroConferences focused on issues in open source impacting higher education. The MicroConference audience is limited to Apereo's current institutional members, commercial affiliates, and open source software projects/communities.

Specific topics are left up to the invited speakers based on their expertise and interests, but it is expected each presentation will align with Apereo's education technology community of college and university faculty, campus administrators, IT staff, open source developers, edTech administrators, etc.

Speakers present for approximately 30 minutes and then field questions from the audience for another thirty minutes.

In recognition of the experts' time, Apereo offers a $500.00 honorarium.

Schedule

The list of dates and speakers is managed on Apereo's G-Drive at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SqSPExA5SS8DV1NAbrOW68hMukTuSIfQxzEzLMPCBJI/edit?usp=sharing

Purposes

The purposes of the MicroConferences are:

Increase direct engagement between Apereo and the Foundation's membership (institutional representatives, member campus staff), commercial affiliates, and community (project leaders, developers, and contributors).
Provide access to a variety of experts and resources on current topics affecting open source software, other open educational initiatives, educational technology, and higher education.
Extend and solidify Apereo's network of and access to experts, peers, and colleagues working in and with open source software in support of higher education and other open initiatives.
Provide a value add to current and prospective Apereo members, affiliates, and projects.
Create (and realize) a sponsorship opportunity for external commercial affiliates.
Lead generation for prospective individuals, projects, campus, members, and commercial affiliates.

Goals

The goals of the MicroConferences are to:

Present one MicroConference a month.
Provide sessions at times and on days suitable for a global audience.
Average 100 audience members per MicroConference.
Include participation from each institutional member, commercial affiliate, and project/community.

Sponsorship

Link to Prospectus: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10DFhQmVC2hj5ttnNjJjawjrRNnHfHwUoOPMb8SFk2Bs/edit

Communications

Introduction Slides

Slides to introduce the speakers are available via the Apereo GDrive at, https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tJxqJVrmn1au5d4X4c9AKbwW802VfxOfaJvc7T1wk3Q/edit?usp=sharing These contain

Apereo MicroConference title slide
Upcoming MicroConference schedule
Speaker bios

Initial solicitation for speakers

From Apereo Executive Director, cc Apereo Community and Events Manager, to invited speakers:

Hello [INVITED SPEAKER],

The Apereo Foundation Board of Directors organizes monthly online Micro-Conferences focused on issues in open source impacting higher education. The Board and I invite you to join us to present to the Apereo leadership and our global membership. We're leaving the specific topics up to our invited experts and their interests and experience but hope your presentation will align with an education technology community of college and university faculty, campus administrators, IT staff, open source developers, edTech administrators, etc.

These sessions provide our Board and community with important insights impacting Apereo's community of practice, the Boards vision, and the Foundation's direction.

Speakers present for approximately 30 minutes and then field questions from the online audience for another thirty minutes. I have included a list of available times below. If you are available, please let me know which days work best for you.

To date, we have been fortunate to hst several leaders in educational and technology communities--you can view the complete list here [URL]--and would be thrilled to include you as well.

In recognition of your time, Apereo is offering a $500.00 honorarium for speaking at a MicroConference.

If you are interested, I would be happy to provide more information.

Patrick Masson

Interim General Manager
Apereo Foundation
9450 SW Gemini Dr PMB 98572
Beaverton, OR 97008-7105
Mobile: +1 (970) 4-MASSON
Website: www.apereo.org

Follow-up with interested speakers

From Apereo Executive Director, cc Apereo Community and Events Manager, to invited speakers:

Hello [INTERESTED SPEAKER],

First, thank you for your interest in Apereo's MicroConferences. Hearing from experts like you is extremely valuable to our project leaders and developers, campus community, and commercial affiliates as they navigate the continuously evolving landscape of open source, edtech, and higher education.

Here are the details for the MicroConference on [DESIGNATED TIME]--I hope this date still works for you. The MicroConference will be held via BigBlueButton (browser-based, no download required) at:[ADD BBB LINK]. Jenn Cummings (Apereo's event manager and cc'ed here) and I will be online 15 minutes before the start (START TIME) to orient you to BigBlueButton and work out any kinks. If you'd like us to share any materials (slides, links, etc.), please send them to Jenn directly, and she will upload them to BigBlueButton for you.

In order to introduce you to the Apereo community, we'd like to reference your bio included here: [URL FOR SPEAKER BIO]. We also like to include a your photo, would this one be appropriate: [URL FOR SPEAKER PHOTO]? If you have another bio or photo you'd prefer, let us know. We'll be using these to promote your MicroConference with the Apereo Community and introduce you during the session. Also, if there is any other information you'd like us to include about you or projects you're working on, we'd love to add that as well.

Finally, if you can provide a short description of your presentation, we'd also like to include that in our announcements and promotions. Again, the purpose of these sessions is to help the Board and Apereo projects and communities assess current issues, opportunities, trends, threats, etc., driving open initiatives in education.

Thank you again for your help in promoting open source in education,