Speaker Checklist
As an IFF Speaker, you are an integral part of ensuring the culture of the event remains positive and collaborative. As such, we wanted to review a few of your responsibilities that will make sure your session goes smoothly, and the festival is the best possible.
1. Check-in w/ the Team
On Sunday, March 4, we are asking that all speakers go to Las Naves and check-in with the information desk from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. This is to ensure you have arrived and answer any questions you may have. During this time, we will also be gathering all volunteers to help set up the venue. If you are free, we would love for you to pitch in. If you cannot come on Sunday, please check in first thing on Monday.
2. Preparing your Session
When you submitted your session for review, we asked you to pick the style of session it would be including conversation, workshop, panel discussion, and training. If you don’t remember what you picked, you will find it on your session description page. We encourage you to keep to the style and remember that while you have important information to share, this is also your opportunity to learn from the participants as well. Try to make your sessions as informative and engaging as possible. Don’t speak to participants, engage them so they can provide input and questions.
3. During your Session
a) Securing Gatekeepers, Note-takers, and Timekeepers
The following three volunteer positions must be decided at the start of your session, before you begin. To help with this, Session Role Cards will also be available in your room.
- Gatekeeper: This person is responsible for politely interrupting people who have been talking too long.
- Note-taker: This person records agenda items, areas of agreement and disagreement, action items, etc. We ask that these notes are placed in the wiki or emailed to [email protected]
- Timekeeper: The job of this person is to estimate the time needed for each agenda item and interrupt if people are going seriously over time.
Your job as a speaker is to guide and structure the discussion so that it covers the relevant topics and participants feel progress has been made. NOTE: An online version of the Session Role Cards can be found here.
b) Action Items If there are any concrete action items that come up in the meeting, assign them to a specific person. The Note-taker should write the action item and the person's name in the session notes.
c) Point of Contact Before the session is over, pick a person to be the primary contact for people who want to follow up on and/or continue the work after the session. Put that person's contact information in the session notes.
c) The Notes Check in with the Note-taker and make sure they upload the session notes to the wiki before the end of the meeting (or within a few hours of the end of the meeting).
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out. You can either go to the Welcome Desk or email us at [email protected]
