So you want to organize a community event or hackathon.....Read this first!
The OpenMRS Community has organized more than 15 Implementer Meetings, Virtual Meetings, Town Halls, and Hackathons. Along the way, we've amassed a variety of tools and resources to help with organizing, planning, and conducting these events.
Specific Advice
Here are some of the things we've learned along the way:
- Share the lift. It helps to have a team organizing an event or hackathon, rather than just one person. Some people are great at organizing and promoting events. Others at identifying & leading the technical challenge. When we all work together, we can tap into our collective strengths.
- Give some structure, not a lot. Our Implementers' Meetings use a semi-unconference format, which means conference participants propose & organize sessions on the topics they are most interested in. To lend some structure to the event, proposed sessions can be grouped & scheduled to reflect meeting themes or community strategic priorities. Whether it's a large, in-person community meeting or a virtual "mini-meeting," work open time into the schedule for Lightning Talks, Showcases, or open discussion.
Resources
Preparations
- Ops Plan
- Expense Calculator
- OMRS Implementers Meeting Host Country Criteria
- OMRS Implementers Meeting Host Country Application
- OMRS Implementers Meeting Talk Announcements
- Host Country Applications
- Host Country Announcements
- Save the Date
- Registration
- Meeting Schedule Template
- Virtual Meeting Zoom Room & Registration
- OpenMRS Calendar
- Speaker Guidance
- Strategic Invitation Letter
- Meeting Invite List (MailChimp)
- Virtual Meeting Slide Deck
- Lightning Talk Sign Up & Talk Post
- Showcase Sign Up
OMRS Hackathons
- How to Organize a Hackathon
- Sample Hackathon Talk Posts
- Illustrative Hackathon Concept Note
- Illustrative Hackathon Schedule
Useful Community Tools & Conventions
Learn From Previous Hackathons
Read through the existing Hackathons resources.
Either add your event to one of the existing hackathon wiki pages or create your own page as a subresource of Hackathons using the existing ones as a guide.