Glad you're here. This is everything you need to feel at home and start running things on your own — no permission-asking required.
A few things upfront, because they shape everything else:
- We're volunteers. Nobody's paid. Most of us spend a some hours a week on this, and that's it. So we keep things light and we don't waste each other's time.
- We move by initiative, not by assignment. Things happen because someone decided to make them happen. There's no manager handing out tasks. If you wait to be told what to do, not much will happen — and that's true for all of us, not just you.
- It's chill on purpose. We'd rather do a few good events relaxed than burn out chasing a packed calendar. If something feels like too much, say so.
The goal of this handbook is simple: by the end, you should get how we work and decide, and feel confident enough to pick up a piece of an event and run it yourself.
We run roughly one event a month — talks at a host company's office, food and drinks usually covered by the venue, two or three speakers, a crowd depending on the venue capacity (50 - 300 persons). That's the core loop. Everything else orbits around it.
The rhythm looks like this:
find a venue → lock a date → find speakers → publish & promote → run the day → wrap up (recordings, reimbursement)
These overlap and slip constantly. A venue falls through, a speaker drops, a date moves. That's normal. The job is mostly keeping a few balls loosely in the air, not perfect execution.
The weekly call is where it all gets coordinated. It's short and informal — we go through what's coming up, who's doing what, and anything stuck. You don't need to prep. Come, listen, jump in where you can help. If you can't make it, drop your updates in chat (people do this regularly, e.g. async notes during Ramadan or while travelling). Missing a week is fine, but being part of the group mean the team should know if you are coming or missing.
Decisions happen mostly in the call or in chat, by whoever's around and engaged. We don't vote on most things — someone proposes, a couple of people react, and if nobody objects it happens. For bigger or new ideas (a new kind of event, a new tool), the norm is: write a short proposal and ask others to react before sinking time into it. Lightweight, but it saves people from solo-building something the group isn't behind.
We would like new joiners to start with joining our in person. It's the fastest way to learn how we work, and it lets us figure out if we vibe together — which matters in a small volunteer team.
You don't need to own anything big at first. The pattern is: show up, shadow the others, see what they're doing, and grab whatever needs hands. There's always something — promotion, check-in at the door, slides, chasing a speaker for their bio or just helping cleaning up the venue.
So, concretely, for your first event:
- Join the next weekly call. Say hi, get a feel for what's in flight.
- Pick one small thing from whatever's being organised and own it end to end. Even something tiny. The point is going through the motion once yourself.
- Ask when stuck, but try first. We're happy to help; we just can't read minds about what you're unsure of. Also we do not check Slack daily so do not hesitate to DM several people - your goal is to get response, right?
Here's the practical knowledge, roughly in the order an event comes together. You won't do all of this solo — but knowing the whole shape makes it easy to slot in anywhere.
Host companies give us a space and usually cover food and drinks; in exchange they get some light promotion (a roll-up by the stage, a sentence of intro, sometimes a short closing talk or a slot for their promo talk). We reach out to companies — often via someone's personal contact or LinkedIn — and pitch a one-time event. Capacity depends on the venue; we deliberately keep it from getting too crowded. Lock the venue and date about two weeks out minimum before heavy promotion.
We run an open Call for Papers form and share it across our channels. Two to three speakers per event, ~20–40 min each. A couple of habits worth knowing:
- Find speakers who fit the date you already set — not the other way around. Picking a date around a speaker's availability has bitten us before.
- Spread the love: try not to have the same person speak more than ~twice a year.
- Topics lean AI lately, but good adjacent tech is welcome. Avoid filler talks.
- We try to keep speakers tach orientated and we do not accept management or other high level talks.
TDB
Setup usually starts a couple of hours before doors. Someone handles check-in (some venues need real legal names for building security — check early). Bring/sort the basics: mic, slides, recording kit if we're filming. Always ask speakers for recording permission, and check whether the venue already has an A/V setup.
After the event: publish recordings if we have them, and file the reimbursement for anything you paid out of pocket. Reimbursement can be slow, so submit promptly and don't be shy about it — it's your money.
You'll get added to our channels — chat, the event platform, shared drive, GitHub, the socials. If you're missing access to any of these, just say so; it's usually someone forgot, not on purpose.
When you don't know something, the answer is almost always "ask in chat." There are no dumb questions here, and we'd much rather you ask than guess and stall.
If you remember nothing else:
- We're volunteers — keep it light, don't waste anyone's time.
- Things happen because someone makes them happen. Be that someone.
- Try first, ask when stuck.
- Start with one event, one small task, and grow from there.
💃 Welcome aboard. See you at the next call. 🕺