KnowHow/FSFELife/MeetingHowTo

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How to organise FSFE meetings

This is an FSFE guide about organising local meetings. It assumes you already have an FSFE local group. If you don't, but are interested in forming one, you can read more in our Coordinator's Handbook about the role of being a coordinator and how to start a group.

Who can attend a local meeting?

Anyone! You should not restrict participation of your meetings to FSFE supporters. Give interested people the possibility to participate. A lot of people join the FSFE and get active in our activities after they took part in a local group meeting.

What to do during a meeting?

Announcements

To FSFE's network

/!\ This should be send out at latest 10 days before the event as it will also take a while until we can send it out.

To your local network

/!\ Personal contacts are important! Check who in your network could be interested by Free Software, and make your event attractive to those people! If you are part of other organisations, promote your event on their usual channels, highlighting their link with Free Software

Design your announcement notice

Tips for your activities

Of course you are free to just meet, have drinks, discuss about Free Software related issues. Here some tips gathered from experienced event organisers:

Activities ideas

(!) Issuing DFD awards is a lot of fun and rewarding. Every coordinator who participated in such an event described it as one of the most positive experiences with the group. Which confirms that positive campaigning is a good thing to do.

(!) You can have a look at the planet to see if there are any current topics that might be of interest

Know your group members

Inclusive groups

Here are a few tips to make your group meetings / mailing list attractive and welcoming to new people especially if they are not technical:

Implement our Code of Conduct

The FSFE community activities and FSFE events are covered our Code of Conduct. In a very simple form it says: Be excellent to each other. But please, take 5 minutes to read through it once and make yourself aware of desirable and undesirable behaviour. A welcoming and inclusive environment starts with an atmosphere in that every participant can feel safe at all times. If you need help with implementing the Code of Conduct, get in contact with the CARE-team.

How to get more women involved

There is no magical solution.

Being excellent to each other and welcoming in general is clearly the first step.

{*} 2 cents from a female fellow on this: try to avoid women specific behaviours, even if it's to be especially nice. What makes a group inclusive is a global atmosphere.

Moderation:

Group coordination

/!\ Coordinators, if you don't have a backup coordinator yet, get one! Spread the load on more shoulders.

KnowHow/FSFELife/MeetingHowTo (last edited 2024-05-15 12:58:34 by irakli)