I think there is a lot to learn from this piece and I’m glad you posted it :) I like the idea of bringing EA professionals to speak and for AMAs, especially afterward, to help people realize just how deep they can go. I like the idea of using the venue well to have 2 concurrent workshops or what have you in different rooms, who can mingle during meals and off-hours. It also sounds like you got all the informational stuff out of the way on the first day and thats great, leaving the second for more hands-on stuff. I am also very happy that people didn’t have to read intro materials beforehand.
It does seem really time intensive for organizers though. And money intensive. Have any groups just tried doing daylong things, with no sleepovers/retreat aspect? It would mean renting a much cheaper airbnb for the weekend, with only 2-4 bedrooms (for organizers), but with really nice common areas for everyone during the day, well-located near walking areas and central enough people can drive or uber to twice without a big issue? For students you could offer to subsidize ubers. You can provide snacks, lunch, and dinner. Maybe you do lunch as something simple that can be made in an instapot or the oven (burritos, burgers, vegan chicken tenders), and cater dinner.
I imagine 2 full saturdays is doable for a lot of people and we have gotten good feedback that people (professionals) would attend a 2 day condensed in-person program. But we havent done an intro course over 2 days yet. Right now we are doing 4 week condensed thing, but we plan to try 2 day as well.
I think there is a lot to learn from this piece and I’m glad you posted it :) I like the idea of bringing EA professionals to speak and for AMAs, especially afterward, to help people realize just how deep they can go. I like the idea of using the venue well to have 2 concurrent workshops or what have you in different rooms, who can mingle during meals and off-hours. It also sounds like you got all the informational stuff out of the way on the first day and thats great, leaving the second for more hands-on stuff. I am also very happy that people didn’t have to read intro materials beforehand.
It does seem really time intensive for organizers though. And money intensive. Have any groups just tried doing daylong things, with no sleepovers/retreat aspect? It would mean renting a much cheaper airbnb for the weekend, with only 2-4 bedrooms (for organizers), but with really nice common areas for everyone during the day, well-located near walking areas and central enough people can drive or uber to twice without a big issue? For students you could offer to subsidize ubers. You can provide snacks, lunch, and dinner. Maybe you do lunch as something simple that can be made in an instapot or the oven (burritos, burgers, vegan chicken tenders), and cater dinner.
I imagine 2 full saturdays is doable for a lot of people and we have gotten good feedback that people (professionals) would attend a 2 day condensed in-person program. But we havent done an intro course over 2 days yet. Right now we are doing 4 week condensed thing, but we plan to try 2 day as well.