DrupalCon Chicago Session Selection Process

In an effort to keep the DrupalCon Chicago session process as transparent as possible we want to share the session selection process that will take the hundreds of proposed sessions and funnel them down to fill the available slots. Drupal is an open community and we feel that should translate to DrupalCon as well.

After session submission closed we opened up voting on sessions. To provide a listing where session ordering provides no benefit the proposed session list is sorted randomly each time it’s generated. We are using a five star rating based on the likelihood of attending a session. The voting closes December 24th at 9am ET.

If you want to vote and are unable to vote that means you are not registered to attend the conference or are not listed as a speaker for a session. So, sign up to attend and start voting.

Once the voting closes the track chairs will use the voting results, limits on number of sessions a speaker can speak at, feedback from previous DrupalCons, input from the team for the track, their experience and expertise in the area to fill the available spots in their track.

Then, on or before December 31st we will publish the list of selected sessions. We are providing a two month window where presenters can prepare the best sessions possible. Instead of waiting until the last minute they will have ample time to prepare their session.

If there are any questions about the selection process please post them in the comments to this post.

Comments

The text descriptions of the

The text descriptions of the FiveStar rating widget lead me to understand I should only be rating sessions that I either have an intention to attend or a strong reason not to attend. For me, though, I'm typically inclined to only rate sessions I'd actually be interested in while I just wouldn't bother rating sessions I have no intention of seeing.

Is there a guide somewhere to help me understand what the rating means? i.e. is it really just the number that counts and should I really rate everything, including 1 star for all the sessions I really don't want to attend?

Great Question

Ryan, that's a great question. So much so that I had to talk to Greg Dunlap, my DrupalCon Programming co-chair, before we had a good answer. Here is what we came up with:

There are no hard rules about this. The goal is to help the track chairs find the best quality content and help that bubble to the top.

Session selection is going to happen on a per track basis and not in an overall conference sense. If you are not interested in the Design/UX track, for example, voting sessions down on that track will not impact sessions getting in on another track.

If it were me voting I would do the following in my voting:

  • Vote on the tracks I plan to attend. If I have no interest in a track I would avoid it all together. Let the people interested in that track share what they want to see.
  • In the tracks I want to attend vote on the sessions. For example, I would vote for all the sessions in the coder track based on my likelihood of attending them.
  • If I know of a session that is low quality, even in a track I don't plan to attend, I would vote on it. Maybe I had seen it at a camp or someplace else and just know the quality. This will help the track chairs.
  • If I know a session that is fantastic, even if I don't plan to attend, I would give it a good vote. This will help the track chairs. Especially since we know there are some good sessions from people who are not known.

Again, these are just guidelines. Hope this helps with your voting.

Diamond Sponsors

 
Palantir.net
VPS NET

Platinum sponsors

 
Trellon
workhabit

Gold Sponsors

 
Treehouse Agency
Chapter Three
Microsoft
NorthPoint
Drupal Connect
HotDrupal.com
Duo