Setting up the workshop is the hardest part. I generally run through all setup steps together to make sure everyone reaches the same starting point.
My goal in the setup is to get everyone to the SAME starting point. This is easiest to do if I can use a
Note: By workshop setup, I'm referring to any setup that the attendee has to do -- during workshop time -- to complete the rest of the workshop.
For tech workshops, I like to set variables to make the rest of the workshop easier. The goal is to make the rest of the workshop as easy as possible.
Collecting feedback should become an automatic part of running a workshop. We do that by building in pre- and post- workshop surveys.
Pre-workshop surveys should ask the following questions:
- [Hopes and Dreams] What are you hoping to get out of the workshop?
- [Fishing Holes] What container technologies have you used, if any?
- [Pains and Fears] What problems have you run into with your current solutions?
NOTE: To make using survey data easier, you can link a survey with a pre-filled "Event" field. You can also add a few simple demographic questions, too. For example, I'll often ask about an attendee's company size or what their job title is.
Click here to see an example pre-workshop survey.
There are a few major goals of the pre-workshop survey:
- Collect data on attendee's goals and expectations. This helps you determine if you're positioning (the abstract, the title) are correct.
- Tailor the workshop to attendees. After the survey look at the "Hopes and Dreams" questions and address which will be addressed in the workshop and which won't.
Next, it's time to run your first Lab -- or, in this case, it's time to check out the Lab Template.