Blog - Posts tagged volunteers

Tickets Update, Events and Activities, Call for Volunteers Reminder

2019-07-22T00:00:00Z

Greetings documentarians!

The Prague conference is just about two months away, and we are happy to share with you the latest updates.

Tickets are going to sell out soon!

We are now at nearly 75% capacity, and we expect to sell out in the next few weeks, so if you’re still on the fence we recommend that you buy your tickets now.

Please make sure you have a conference ticket before you book your travel! We cannot be held responsible for any loss of non-refundable travel expenses, and we cannot risk overselling the venue capacity.

Events and activities

As always, Write the Docs events are more than just talks. Every year we offer a wide range of activities that give our community members different ways to socialize, collaborate, and connect.

Check out what we have in store for you this year in Prague:

Boat Ride, Saturday September 14th. If you’re in town early, you’re invited to join us for a 2-hour cruise on the Vltava river, with light snacks and drinks included. This activity is priced separately and isn’t included with the conference ticket, so you’re welcome to register your friends and family who might be traveling with you. You can find all the details in our Boat Ride page, or register directly on our ticket website.
Writing Day and Welcome Reception, Sunday September 15th. Before the main conference days, we’ll be hosting a Writing Day and Welcome Reception before we dive into the main sessions. This is an excellent opportunity to register early, meet your fellow documentarians, learn about and work on interesting documentation projects, and make yourself at home!
Lightning Talks. One of our favorite traditions, lightning talks are as entertaining as they are informative. Each block of lightning talks will have 5-6 spots of up to 5 minutes each, both blocks will be after lunch during the main conference days. You can sign up on the mornings of the main conference days and prepare for some post-lunch fun.
Unconference. Parallel to the talks, you’re welcome to join the unconference sessions. These freestyle sessions are a great opportunity to brainstorm with your fellow documentarians about anything from the latest tooling, the best way to write an email, or how to handle stress and burnout. You can signup for the unconference sessions during the Writing Day and throughout the conference.
Social Event. This year our social event will be held at RKO (Restaurant by Retro), Francouzská 4, Prague 2, a bar with a great vibe owned by Retro Music Hall. The bar is about 15-20 minutes walk from the main conference venue, and is extremely well-connected by metro and tram service (Namesti Miru stop). The event will start at 20:00, and light snacks and drinks will be provided while our tab lasts. If you want a sit-down dinner we recommend to grab something on the way before we kick off the evening. Entrance is only for conference attendees.
Job Fair. Following the success last year, we’re happy to announce that during Tuesday morning, part of the unconference space will be converted to the job fair. The goal is to give job-seeking documentarians an opportunity to connect with potential employers. Documentarians looking for jobs will be able to visit employers at their table to learn about the company culture, ask about specific job openings and talk to current employees. If you’re an employer looking to fill a role, you can find information about reserving a table in the sponsorship prospectus.

For the full schedule overview including start/end times for all activities, take a look at our Schedule page.

Call for volunteers reminder

Thank you so much to all those who applied to volunteer so far! There are still a few spots available, and if you volunteer for two or more shifts we will provide you with a free conference ticket.

There is plenty to do during the conference and volunteers are essential to the success of all our events! To register as a volunteer for the conference, please read and fill out the Call for Volunteers form. The deadline to apply is 1st August, 2019. Applicants will receive additional information shortly after this date regarding shifts, detailed duties, and other updates to the volunteer duties and schedules.

New to Prague or to Write the Docs?

Every year we are thrilled to welcome new documentarians into our community. This is your friendly reminder that we have resources on our website and on Slack to help you prepare for your first trip to Prague, first time at our conference, or both!

Visiting Prague. Information on transport, where to stay, where to eat, etc. You can also pop into the #wtd-conferences channel on Slack to ask questions!
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Welcome Wagon. If this is your first time attending the conference – or even if it’s not – our Welcome Wagon is here to help you navigate the conference, the community, and answer questions. They’ll also be hanging out in #wtd-conferences and on site during the event to help out you get the most out of the experience.

See you all soon!

We are in the process of compiling the final talk schedule, so expect the next update to have all the details on that front. Otherwise, we hope you’re as excited as we are, and we look forward to seeing you in Prague very soon!

The Write the Docs Team

Call for Volunteers and CFP Reminder

2019-04-03T00:00:00Z

Greetings, fellow documentarians! The Vilnius conference is just about two months away, and we can’t wait to see you all soon! Here are the latest updates from the conference team to help you prepare.

Tickets are selling fast! We are not sold out yet, but our European community is showing great enthusiasm, and we expect to have another wave of registrations after we announce the presentations soon, so you might want to beat the rush and get your ticket now.

Call for volunteers

There is plenty to do during the conference, and volunteers are essential to the success of all our events! We are looking for folks who are willing to help out during the conference. If you volunteer for two or more shifts (at an average of three hours each), you will receive a free ticket for the conference.

We are looking for folks to help out in these roles:

Venue set up - Prepping the main conference hall on Saturday, including preparing the registration desk, laying out swag, arranging writing day boards, and other light physical labor
Writing day - Assisting the Writing Day coordinator, including general information inquiries, directing attendees to specific tables, helping writing day project leads with logistical questions, and other duties as assigned
Registration desk/info - Registering people in the main conference hall and answering any questions
Speakers - Finding speakers and making sure that they’re where they need to be when it comes time to speak
Talk timing - Keeping track of the length of the talks and warning speakers when they’re running out of time
A/V and tech support - Assisting presenters at the time of their greatest need while on stage - issues with slides, video, or audio portions of their presentation. Please apply for this role if you have some A/V knowledge; experience troubleshooting different operating systems is a plus!
Floaters - Other duties as assigned ;) Assisting with odds and ends, requests from other volunteers and organizers, as well as answering questions; overall, being generally helpful
Venue take down - What’s more fun than setting things up? Taking them down! Helping with taking down the conference set up and leaving the conference hall better than we found it

If you’re not entirely sure how to do any of these tasks, don’t worry! The organizers will be available for questions and any problems you may encounter.

To register as a volunteer for the conference, please read and fill out the Call for Volunteers form. You will receive additional information by late April regarding shifts, detailed duties, and other updates to the volunteer duties and schedules.

Please email vilnius@writethedocs.org if you have any questions about volunteering for the conference.

Call for Proposals reminder

We’re excited to see such great proposals coming in, and we want to remind you to submit your proposals before Midnight CET, 22nd April 2019.

The Call for Proposals page has tips and examples to inspire you. And if you have an idea but aren’t sure what to do with it, feel free to ask for feedback on Slack. Your fellow documentarians will be happy to help!

Since this first-year event has only one day of talks, the number of slots is extremely limited. We hope to see a diverse range of topics from different roles and industries, and we’re excited to welcome you to Vilnius very soon!

Facebook event

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For this conference, we are leveraging the power of Facebook and you can track updates and connect with other attendees by RSVPing the Facebook event. You can also follow our new Facebook page to receive general community updates.

We will also still be using Slack and Twitter for announcements and communications, so you can choose your own social network adventures and stay updated with all the exciting news!

Announcing speakers and talks

2018-08-19T00:00:00Z

G’day folks!

We’re excited to announce that we’ve finalised our list of speakers and talks for the event! The selection process was tough as we had a strong batch of submissions. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to send us a pitch – we literally wouldn’t have an event without you!

We also have some info about ticket purchasing (now’s the time!), trip planning (Melbourne beckons!), opportunities to volunteer and of course our generous sponsors (want to join them?). Read on for more details!

Speakers and talks

This year, we hope to bring a wide range of voices to the Write the Docs stage. Because the role of “documentarian” looks so different to each of us, we aim for a line-up that spans a good mix of practical, philosophical, and technical topics – with the odd whimsical one thrown in for good measure. We’re really excited about the presentations we’ve got this year – we hope you are too!

Lana Brindley – Facebook, Dynamite, Uber, Bombs, and You

Mike Hamilton – Responsive Content - Presenting Your information On Any Device

Kristine Sihto – The Art of Consistency - Creating an inhouse style guide

Abhay Chokshi – UX writing - Let your product speak

Alexandra Perkins – Making Yourself Redundant on Day One - Internal documentation to teach the next hire what you’ve learned

Sarah Maddox – Workshop - Tech Writing 101

Matthew Borden – Good Code, Bad Code & Code Review

Nicola Nye – The subtle art of interrogation

Daniel Stevens – Creating experiences with information!

Laura Bailey – Backseat Content Strategy

Mathew Patterson – Power up your support team to create better documentation

Sara Marek – Workshop - Let’s create a Style Guide!

Jessica Parsons – Workshop - Static Site Generators, What, Why and How

Head over to the Speakers page to see the full abstracts. We hope there’s something there for everyone to enjoy, and also something that will broaden your horizons a bit.

Tickets

We have had the tickets on sale for a couple of months now, but if you were holding off until you saw the talks, delay no further! If you don’t have your ticket yet, now’s a great time to snap one up. If you’re planning to come, don’t leave it to the last minute.

Buy your tickets here!

Planning your trip

In the next few weeks, we’ll be announcing more details about the conference events, including the full schedule, workshops and the official social event on Thursday evening.

In the meantime, check out the Visit Melbourne page on the conference website for some resources on transport, where to stay, where to eat, etc. You can also pop into the #wtd-conferences channel on Slack to ask questions!

Volunteers

We sent out a call for volunteers a couple of weeks back. If you are interested in volunteering for this event, we have a few roles still available.

Head over to Call for Volunteers page for more information.

Thanks to our sponsors

We are so grateful to have our sponsors help in bringing these events to life every year. Thanks sincerely to the following companies for supporting the Write the Docs community:

Want to lend a hand? Head over to our sponsorship prospectus for details on how your company can get involved! We have several types of sponsorship available, and can customise your sponsorship to suit your flexibility.

And that’s the latest on the Australian conference. We hope you’re all getting as excited as we are! Stay tuned for more details.

The Write the Docs Australia Team

Call for Volunteers

2018-08-08T00:00:00Z

Each year we are blessed with an amazing team of volunteers who help with the variety of on-site operations, and the conference wouldn’t be such a success without them!

Volunteering at our events only requires a few hours per day. It’s a great way to meet the community, learn about how to run an event, and you get a free ticket to the conference!

We need volunteers for the following roles:

Explore Melbourne coordinator
Welcome Wagon coordinators
Speaker coordinator
Technical support
Swag coordinator
Speaker gifts coordinator
Greeter at the front desk

For details of what each role requires, look at the Event Roles page.

If you’re interested, please complete the volunteer form. We will be accepting volunteer applications until 3 - 4 weeks before the conference, if there are still open roles by then. You can expect to hear back from us from September 1st onward.

We only have a few openings for volunteers, and we will prioritize those who will be attending for the first time, also those who might not be able to attend otherwise. Unfortunately we cannot help with travel costs for volunteers, so please make sure that you are able to travel to the conference before applying for a role.

Announcing Call for Volunteers

2018-07-30T00:00:00Z

The conference is now only a few weeks away! We hope you’re getting geared up for an exciting (and our first ever) Write the Docs + Open Help experience in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Tickets are selling quickly – thanks to all who have already purchased a theirs!

If you’re still debating whether to attend, check out the Schedule page for the full list of presentations.

Call for Volunteers

Each year, Write the Docs is lucky to have amazing volunteers, and the conferences wouldn’t be such a success without them! Volunteering at our event only requires a few hours, and is a great way to meet the community…and of course you also get a free ticket to the conference!

For Write the Docs + Open Help Cincinnati, we need volunteers to handle the registration desk on Saturday, August 18.

If you’re interested, send us an email at cincinnati@writethedocs.org. We only have a few openings for volunteers, and we will prioritize folks who will be attending for the first time, as well as folks who might not be able to attend otherwise.

Unfortunately, we cannot help with travel costs for volunteers, so please make sure that you are able to travel to the conference before you write to us.

Events and Activities

As always, Write the Docs events are more than just talks. Every year we offer a wider range of activities that give our community members different ways to socialize, collaborate, and connect.

Check out what we have in store for you in Cincinnati:

Social Event. Join us Saturday evening for a couple hours of socializing with fellow documentarians.
Underground Tour. We arranged a private Cincinnati Underground Tour after the unconference sessions close on Sunday. This is a separately ticketed event, and because of the logistics of running such a tour, we need to have a headcount early. Register soon!
Writing Sprints. After the talks and unconference, we’re hosting three days of Open Help Doc Sprints. This is an excellent opportunity to meet other documentarians, learn about and work on interesting documentation projects, and make yourself at home!

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For the full schedule overview including start/end times for all activities, take a look at our Schedule page.

What’s Next?

If you’re planning your Cincinnati travel and need some orientation help, visit our Visiting Cincinnati page.

Ticket Update, Call for Volunteers, Job Fair

2018-06-18T00:00:00Z

Greetings, fellow documentarians! The Prague conference is less than three months away, and we can’t wait to see you all soon! Here are the latest updates from the conference team to help you prepare.

Call for volunteers

There is plenty to do during the conference and volunteers are essential to the success of all our events! We are looking for folks who are willing to help out during the conference. If you volunteer for two or more shifts (at an average of three hours each), you will receive a free ticket for the conference.

We are looking for folks to help out in these roles:

Venue set up - Prepping the main conference hall on Saturday (after the boat ride), including preparing the registration desk, laying out swag, arranging writing day boards, and other light physical labor
Writing day - Assisting the Writing Day coordinator, including general information inquiries, directing attendees to specific tables, helping writing day project leads with logistical questions, and other duties as assigned
Registration desk/Info - Registering people in the main conference hall and answering any questions
Speakers - Finding speakers and making sure that they’re where they need to be when it comes time to speak
Talk Timing - Keeping track of the length of the talks and warning speakers when they’re running out of time
A/V and tech support - Assisting presenters at the time of their greatest need while on stage - issues with slides, video, or audio portions of their presentation. Please apply for this role if you have some A/V knowledge; experience troubleshooting different operating systems is a plus!
Floaters - Other duties as assigned ;) Assisting with odds and ends, requests from other volunteers and organizers, as well as answering questions; overall, being generally helpful
Unconference - Camping out in the unconference area downstairs, keeping the place in order, updating unconference room schedule, and so on
Job Fair- Helping vendors set up their tables before the job fair, or helping with setting the room back for the unconference sessions that follow in the afternoon
Venue take down - What’s more fun than setting things up? Taking them down! Helping with taking down the conference set up and leaving the conference hall better than we found it
Prague expert - New this year! If you are a Prague local and would love to share your tips and recommendations or answer questions about places to eat, sightseeing, services, accommodation, or other events that are happening around the conference, we’d love to have you on board!

If you’re not entirely sure how to do any of these tasks, don’t worry, the organizers will be available for questions and any problems you may encounter. We also have a dedicated volunteer coordinator, and some volunteers from previous years will join us again, so you will have support.

To register as a volunteer for the conference, please read and fill out the Call for Volunteers form. You will receive additional information by mid-July regarding shifts, detailed duties, and other updates to the volunteer duties and schedules.

Please email our volunteer coordinator Sasha Romijn at wtd@mxsasha.eu if you have any questions about volunteering for the conference.

Sponsors and job fair

We’re glad to welcome another round of sponsors to the conference this year. Thanks sincerely to the following companies for joining our sponsor lineup and supporting the Write the Docs community:

We’re especially excited about the new Job Fair this year, along with the other normal sponsorship activities that we have had in past years. If your company is hiring or looking to learn more from our community, you can find sponsorship information on the conference website.

Tickets Update, Shirts on Sale, Call for Volunteers

2018-03-19T00:00:00Z

Greetings, fellow documentarians! The Portland conference is less than two months away, and we can’t wait to see you all soon! Here are the latest updates from the conference team to help you prepare.

Tickets are selling out

Every year we are amazed at the growing support of our community, and tickets have been selling out earlier each conference. We are now about 85% sold out, and judging from past events we do expect to be sold out within the next few weeks.

If you’re still on the fence, now is the time to decide and get your tickets.

Shirts on sale

As you probably noticed, we are not including shirts with your conference ticket this year. This is due partially to the logistics of sizing, ordering, and managing stock, but also because of the inevitable leftovers that we find ourselves with every year.

Inspired by our friends at DjangoCon US, we decided to shake things up and sell shirts separately, so you can buy exactly the fit and size that you want! You can now visit our Write the Docs Portland 2018 Pop-Up Shop and order this year’s branded shirt. The campaign will run until April 15th to allow for timely delivery of your shirts ahead of the conference.

And don’t worry, you’ll still have a Write the Docs Portland 2018 souvenir from the conference even if you decide not to order a shirt.

Call for volunteers

There is plenty to do during the conference and volunteers are essential to the success of the conference. We are looking for folks who are willing to help out during the conference. If you volunteer for two or more shifts (clocking in at an average of three hours each), you will receive free registration for the conference.

We are looking for folks to help out in these roles:

Ballroom setup - Prepping the main conference hall for the main conference, including laying out cables/power strips, arranging tables/chairs, and other light physical labor
Writing day - Registering people and general information inquiries, most likely directions to various rooms and schedule questions, assist with other duties as assigned
Registration/Info - Registering people in the main conference hall and answering any questions
Speakers - Finding speakers and making sure that they’re where they need to be when it comes time to speak
Talk Timing - Keeping track of the length of the talks and warning speakers when they’re running out of time
Floaters - Other duties as assigned ;) Assisting with odds and ends requests from other volunteers and organizers as well as answering questions; overall, being generally helpful
A/V Troubleshooting - This on-call role will assist presenters at the time of their greatest need while on stage - issues with slides, video, or audio portions of their presentation. Please apply for this role if you have some A/V knowledge, experience troubleshooting different operating systems is a plus!
Unconference - Camping out in the unconference area downstairs, keeping the place in order, updating unconference room schedule, and so on
Job Fair setup/take down- Helping vendors set up their tables before the job fair, or helping with setting the room back for the preconferences that follow in the afternoon
Ballroom take down - What’s more fun than setting things up? Taking them down! Helping with taking down the conference set up and leaving the conference hall better than we found it

If you are interested in volunteering for the conference, please read and fill out the Call for Volunteers form. You will receive additional information in early April regarding shifts, detailed duties, and other updates to the volunteer duties and schedules.

Please email Becky at b.yoose@gmail.com if you have any questions about volunteering for the conference.

Welcome to our newest sponsors

We’re glad to welcome another round of sponsors to the conference this year. Thanks sincerely to the following companies for joining our sponsor lineup and supporting the Write the Docs community:

We’re excited about the new Job Fair this year, along with the other normal sponsorship activities that we have had in past years.

If your company is hiring or looking to learn more from our community, you can find for information for Portland and Prague sponsorships.

Prague conference launch

In case you can’t make it to this year’s Portland conference, or if you can’t get enough of Write the Docs, we’re happy to announce that ticket sales and call for proposals are now open for our Prague conference, September 9-11.