Thursday, March 19, 2015

Blogging formula: Conference reports

I wrote about my formula for writing technical articles. I also have one for trip reports, to talk about conferences I attended. Having a fixed structure means I can plug in the content from the conference and publish the blog post a day or two after the conferences ended, while it is still fresh on people's minds.

Here is my formula, using Øredev as an example.

1. Introduction

I introduce the event many different ways:

  • Explain why I was there.
  • If I was speaking, talk a bit about the CFP process.
  • Pull out one interesting thing from the conference.

Here is what I said about Øredev:

When Cate and I was touring Copenhagen, we talked about how we got into public speaking. One thing led to another, and we decided to publish a newsletter together. We had a little bit of time on Monday before Øredev, so we put together our first issue in the hotel lobby!

2. Highlights

I point out things that I enjoyed. This is pretty easy because I tweet during the conference, so I just embed the tweets in my blog. I also search for the conference hashtag and include other people's tweets.

I also include photos from the events. Photos are great because they take so much space that you post looks rich even if you did not write many words. Same goes for embedded tweets.

Selected tweets from Øredev:

3. My talks

If I was speaking, I mention my talks, embedding or linking to slides and videos if available. Usually I keep this pretty short, assuming people can check out the slides or videos if they are interested.

My talks at Øredev:

4. Conclusion

Quick summary of my general impression, usually just a sentence or two. This is what I said about Øredev:

Tack så mycket, Øredev!

Exercise for the reader to figure out what it means :)

Posted by at 3:40 PM
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