Where in New Zealand - towns/cities/regions/venues

The dates are probably OK.

Hi @melita, @chrisduggan1 @paulaeskett, @richardwhite and @nigelrobertson

I'm adding venues to the OERSprint site. If it's ok with you, I'll put you as contact for your respective regions. People will register via the site, so you shouldn't get much mail, except for volunteers / sponsors / enthusiasts.

No worries if you don't want your email on the site.

Also, if you want your organisation to be officially associated with the event, send me your logos - [email protected] - and I'll add them to the sponsor party at the bottom of the website.

Thanks Matt, happy to have my email there. Will send you logos in a minute.

Hi Matt - yes that's great :)

Our venue is: Double Farley, Level 3, 15 Watt Street, Whanganui.

At this stage people have indicated an interest in both days.

Getting exciting!! :)

Hi all - we've confirmed five events so far, and will proceed on that basis at the moment. Nothing for Auckland yet, though hopefully we can find some people willing to lead that. We'll add others as we get closer to April.

Given the geographic spread of our sign-ups, we'll have to put some more thought into virtual participation, as well.

Hi all
We've had a couple of people ask about virtual participation too :) I'm guessing that could look like lots of different things, but I wonder whether having the opportunity to virtually connect with people at a centre/some centres (via a hangout or something) might be nice?

That would be nice - I'm wondering whether it might be a good idea to set up a public sign up list - perhaps an embedded etherpad where people can list their location, expertise and interest in the event. This might help people spot potential connections.

We've currently got four events running. Perhaps seeing a list of participants might help people decide to organise something in their region...

That's a good plan! :) Also means that people might be able to spot connections themselves rather than hosts/co-ordinators trying to figure out whether there might be some...

I wonder whether it is worth asking people whether they might need particular kinds of help or support too? That way people with specific skills but no particular plan for what they want to develop could be encouraged to be involved.

Cool - I'll set something up and then email the existing sign-ups,

We should hopefully have about 40ish scattered around the country so far, which is a decent start!

I've put together this Etherpad with some existing sign-ups. I've put initials, and will let people add more details if they want. Would this be worth embedding on the main site? It will make the site a bit uglier, though might help drive more sign-ups and connections.

https://etherpad.net/p/OER_Sprints

Do we have a communications plan including social media activities? What and when and who is doing what? Regular updates on social media have a slow snowball effect if done well. Changing the website only helps if people are going there. OERSprints isn't going to instantly grab people's attention where the longer open education resources might get more engagement. On the other hand if we're getting enough of the people who will drive this, greater information accessibility may not be needed (just stream of consciousness thoughts here).

I have a place in Auckland that could be interested, depending on the number of people. Core Education Unit G18 23 Edwin St Mt Eden

Thanks @gerardmacmanus @jamesinternetnznet has also suggested they might be able to help out. Are you thinking ~20 people max?

Beyond space, another question is whether there is a core group of people to run the event on the day.

Kia ora All! Just wondering if there is going to be a group meeting up in Auckland for the Sprint event? @gerardmacmanus @mattmcgregor @jamesinternetnznet ??

Hi! We can provide space in our office in Victoria St, for about 20 people as @mattmcgregor suggested. I'm also happy to provide time on the day, but realistically cannot commit to many hours of preparation to lead-in. Equally happy to go with the space @gerardmacmanus suggested (parking likely easier at Edwin St if that's how we anticipate people arriving).

Just off our experience doing the media text sprints, getting clusters together to "beam in" to locations is definitely something to encourage, and if you know it's happening in advance, you can plan for it to include them (i.e.: our spin-off cluster in Canterbury ended up taking a section, logging off, working on it, then logging back into the main group to share what they'd done). Be advised, we did have some people disappear...because they burned through their data allowance skyping in :)

I'm also happy to help out any Wellington projects running (looks around the strange new city to find out what's going on )

Hi everyone, if there is an event in Auckland (I can't see it on the website so maybe not confirmed?) my sister is a final year primary teacher and I'm sure she or others in her classes might be interested in attending - I know she won't have capacity to organise.

I'm in Wellington, happy to help out if things still need doing?

Thanks everyone. Regarding an Auckland event, I'm afraid we can only make it happen if someone in Auckland steps forward and volunteers both to organise it in the lead-up (i.e. now) and run it on the day. Is anyone able to do this?
NB: So far we've had half a dozen Aucklanders register their interest through the website.

For the Auckland event - if we have a venue open on the day as @jamesinternetnznet or @gerardmacmanus have offered, is it plausible to just have a physical space for the people who have registered as "virtual" participants? I have not participated in one of these sprints before, so am just asking :smiley:

And I'm going to have to retract my offer - a wedding means I shall be out of town on the day. @gerardmacmanus are you able to confirm the space in Edwin St?

Unfortunately no one has stepped forward to organise an Auckland event, and the Tauranga and Christchurch events have also fallen through. However, the Wellington (Saturday only) and Whanganui (Sat & Sun) events are definitely going ahead! Who all here is coming to one of those?

If anyone wants to fly into Whanganui we're very happy to pick you up at the airport, feed you, and generally entertain you! We're happy to help you find decent accommodation as well!