GOAT 2024 Program
GOAT is an unconference. The program is mostly an unstructured schedule with activities determined by YOU, ultimately reflecting the 2024 cohort’s unique mix of interests.
It is also informed by the thoughtful information shared by you in the application forms, and contextualized by discussions from the GOAT forums, community calls, and activities to date. We hope to shepherd the thread of cumulative community discussions through structured sessions that emphasize concepts, concerns, and opportunities that affect the broader open ag tech community today. This year, we’re trying something new: we invited applicants to propose sessions ahead of time as well! That means that this year, we will have a higher number of structured sessions. Given the number of connected efforts, parallel organizations trying to coordinate collaboration in open ag tech, and the overarching maturity of the network of GOAT adjacent communities.
Program Details
Our program will continue to evolve as folks register. For a sneak-peak for how things are shaping up, take a look at our preliminary program. There will be a physical version of this at GOAT itself. We’ll try to keep one source of truth – but once GOAT begins, the in-person schedule is typically the “correct” one.
See our Preliminary Program (v1)
Tab 1: General schedule structure. You can also use “views” to see the daily agenda, salon session only, unconference session timeslots only. See image below:
Other tabs are mostly place holders for IRL organizing!
- Tab 2: Salon sessions scheduling [under discussion]
- Tab 3: Unconference session scheduling, including workshop sessions [will happen live at GOAT]
- Tab 4: Where we’ll finalize speaking order and layout for demos etc.
Program FAQ
What is the Welcome Reception?
On Sunday night, as people are arriving at different times to Paicines Ranch, we will hold space for an informal, meet and greet! Come to the barn with a beverage of your choosing, we’ll hang out, and chat before walking over to dinner together.
For other activities, including an evening social gathering, post/monitor: https://forum.goatech.org/t/goat-2024-megathread-including-food-socials-and-other-chatter/1687
What are the Opening & Closing Circles?
An open space to reflect and capture nuggets of truth, and adjust on the fly as needed.
How does the Unconference Co-Design Session work?
We’ll co-create the program on the first day of gathering itself. We’re just providing details in case you are curious or haven’t done this before, but please don’t worry, it’s not too scary, 🙂. During this time, we will collectively identify topics of interest, cluster them into sessions, decide what will happen in each session, and finalize the GOAT 2024 program! There’s 5 steps:
-
-
- Brainstorm [sticky notes handed out, people stick em up]
- Identify sessions and topics.
- Grab a sticky note, place it on the wall, ideally near something similar.
- Cluster [sticky notes clustered by everyone]
- Identify overlap in topics, and create higher level clusters that still allow for shared goals.
- If you have a topic you are jazzed about, chat with people around you to see if it makes sense to combine, or even how you can create complementary or connected sessions.
- Define [fill out an “unconference” session template]
- We’ll invite people to propose and (very very briefly!) describe sessions during this time. Note any potential conflicts (e.g., is there a topic you don’t want to schedule to conflict with?).
- Confirm you’d like a session to happen by giving it a description and steward.
- Vote [gauge interest]
- Dot voting to gauge interest in sessions. It’s not a commitment, but consider that you are communicating to the facilitator whether or not there is enough interest in a topic for it to happen. Ultimately you’ll vote with your feet by actually attending the session, or not!
- Schedule [place on the timetable]
- Think of an ideal date-time to seed your session.
- Place your session on a physical conference schedule in the room. This time slot is not guaranteed and please do NOT move someone else’s schedule.
- During a break, a pair of organizers will review the schedule, assess any conflicts, and discuss with people.
- Please note: workshops will also be assigned times during this.
- Brainstorm [sticky notes handed out, people stick em up]
-
How do the Unconference Sessions work?
Once we’ve got sessions on the schedule, it’s up to YOU, as either session-steward or participant to get the party going. TBH socializing your session and chatting with others is the best way to figure out what to do. If people are, they will show up, if they are not then consider rolling your ideas into other sessions with broader interest. If people don’t turn up, it’s usually not personal, there’s a million different things going on, and think about how you can pivot and find your flow in another session. Anything is OK!
We have a GOAT Design Methods Zine with suggestions for different approaches to holding a session. It doesn’t have to be all lightning talks or unstructured discussions! Before the session, talk to other people and discuss what might be some pleasant and productive ways to use your time together. At best, you accomplish a goal you set out. At minimum, you take a lovely walk!
Questions? Early Ideas? → Post here: https://forum.goatech.org/t/goat-2024-unconference-session-discussion/1686
I wrote up a proposed session, what’s happening with that?
One of two things will happen this week: you’ll get an email inviting you to post it on the GOAT forum as a Workshop, Unconference Session, or to attend the Demo Bazaar. OR we’ll be working with you and a few others to curate a salon session. For details on Workshops, Demo Bazaar, and Salon Sessions, see the next three FAQ sections.
What is a workshop session and how can I offer one?
Workshops will run during Unconference Session time slots, but require preparation by the session creator. This may include getting feedback before the conference, confirming signups ahead of time (i.e. you’re bringing hardware to share), etc. Workshops can range from user testing, education, to any sort of co-working / co-hacking / co-creation sessions! It’s your conference, your workshop!
Propose your workshop here → Post here and start your thread: https://forum.goatech.org/t/goat-2024-workshop-sessions/1685
YOU are responsible for your workshop logistics, and this is the place to get buy-in and prepare, e.g. if you need to bring X number of items for Y workshop participants. Remember, we’ll schedule the workshops during the “unconference” time slots live at GOAT 2024.
What is the Demo Bazaar and how do I share my stuff?
Demo Bazaar is a time to show us what you do and teach people how to use your stuff! We will have tables setup for anyone who wants to demo tools, methods, or do any other hands-on activities.
If you want a table for Demo Bazaar → Sign up here: https://forum.goatech.org/t/goat-2024-demo-bazaar/1684.
If you have specific space needs (e.g., access to electricity, more than one table, a table with chairs), let us know and we’ll see what we can do. We cannot provide monitors and other peripherals so please come prepared. That said, If you ARE coming from far away and need help situating generic equipment, share in your post, and we’ll see if we can connect you with another participant that can help!
What are Salon Sessions and how will they work?
In the Salon Sessions, we will gather as a full group around GOAT community themes that, we hope (!), represent shared work, interests, and priorities. Salon sessions are curated, facilitated conversations among a set of “first” speakers, with interaction and open discussion to follow. The sessions topics were seeded by attendee proposals collected during the application process, with additions to the core speaker set based on general application information, and additional topics selected from community discussions more broadly.
Look at the program spreadsheet to see the list of the salon sessions under discussion. For each we are working with a group of people that spoke about these topics in their application forms. If you did not receive an email from us, and feel like you have a concrete perspective you’d like to contribute as a “first” speaker, please post email goatech.org@gmail.com, and we can pass your name onto the facilitator.
But why “salon”? Historically, salons were private, intimate, intellectual and social gatherings, where ideas were exchanged in an open, yet curated manner, popular during the period of “enlightenment” in France. We acknowledge that they were also problematic, in the sense that they evoked a sense of elitism, privilege, and formality, centered on social dynamics. There exist analogous gatherings across cultures, we use the term “salon” out of our own familiarity with the concept, and share this background to explain how and where the idea of this session style came from. Though our intention with the GOAT salons includes the concept of a community call, town hall, or public forum, we chose this term to acknowledge that we did curate the conversations and select the “first” speakers. We hope this background allows for each of us to also reflect on the privileges that we hold that allowed us to attend the gathering, and to consider how we may extend these privileges to the many people with voices that matter, who were unable to join us.
Who have we learned from?
This program structure and design approach is influenced by the GOSH community events framework, dweb camp, unconferences at large, and other events that the current organizers have participated in. We aspire to remix the GOSH events framework to develop an analogous guide for the GOAT community!
