How to plan an “in-person watch the stream together” CodeRefinery event

This is a checklist based on practical experience by Enrico Glerean / Aalto University Otaniemi in person CodeRefinery events. Please let’s improve it with other experiences.

Background:

CodeRefinery usually happens on TwitchTV. Everyone watches the streaming, like watching TV together. Those who register get access to a notes document where they can interact with the instructors and other CodeRefinery helpers behind the scenes. People use their own computers, so some help is given by the CodeRefinery team regarding installations and setup, usually a few days before the workshop starts.

CodeRefinery online workshop is usually divided between “Week 1 (Part 1)” which consists of Git version control and GitHub. Part 2 (it can be on week 2 or over multiple days) covers reproducibility, documentation, jupyter, and other topics. This page describes how to follow Part 1 as a group together in the same room and do the exercises together.

Before the workshop

  • Book a room with good A/V system.

    • You will need also a computer to play the live stream

    • Make sure the room has power outlets since people will have their laptops and most likely they will need power

  • Snacks+drinks are a motivational factor

    • By offering snacks+drinks you make people to register to make sure you can have enough snacks (and seats) for everyone. This will give you an idea of how many people will actually come.

    • DIY catering works better and is cheaper than ordering stuff from official cafeterias. Enrico usually has a kettle + tea + instant coffee + (lactose free/oat)milk + lots of (seasonal) fruits, some cookies and salty crackers.

  • Local organiser promotes the CR event and specifies there will be an option for doing it together at room xyz

  • People register to the main CR event

    • This is important because that is the main source of knowledge about pre-events (installation help) and other updates.

  • Local organizer (e.g. Enrico) receives list of registered participants that are affiliated with a certain organisation

  • Local organiser sends another registration form to affiliated participants to register to the in-person event (making sure there are enough seats / snacks available). This may also happen in parallel with the general registration.

  • Local organiser emails reminder to in-person participants the friday before the coderefinery starts (and details on how to reach the room, accessibility, phone number etc). Local organiser reminds how important it is to pre-install things.

  • If needed: local organiser can offer “come to the room 1h before the streaming starts if you need help with installations”

During the event

  • Organiser just shows the streaming on the projector/large screen.

  • If there are live questions in the room, there is nothing wrong to encourage the participants to use the notes document: “this is an important question that others might also have, can you write it on the notes document?”. In-person discussion often turns into a nice moment of interaction with people in the room. People like to talk with eachother. :)

  • Some exercises will be done “in the room” rather than on the stream. The most important ones are “git collaborative” on day 3, so that the room host can take the role of “team leader” and create the repository that the learners will fork. Clear instructions are on the exercise pages for day 3.

After the event

  • Revise the feedback from your participants on what went well, what could be improved, and some other suggestions for the future.