Why you should be organizing an OpenCon satellite event

Chealsye Bowley
Jul 28, 2017 · 3 min read

Applications for the main OpenCon 2017 conference in Berlin are open until August 1. You should definitely apply! C’mon you only have until Tuesday, do it!

But what I want to do is encourage you, especially my librarian colleagues, to organize an OpenCon satellite event. I know what it is like to be rejected from OpenCon, what it was like to attend OpenCon 2016 in DC, and organize OpenCon SWFL at my previous university. OpenCon 2016 was great! I loved learning from advocates from all around the world and meeting new people passionate about advancing Open Access, Open Education, and Open Data. But I didn’t grow much as an advocate during the conference. I grew the most from organizing a satellite event.

If you are an active advocate, I want to challenge you to host an OpenCon satellite event in the next year.

Not everyone can go to Berlin, but OpenCon can come to everyone. Last year I had the privilege of being on the OpenCon 2016 organization committee. There were 10,000+ applications for 200 conference spots. (Don’t let those odds scare you — apply anyways!) The reality is though that there will be more amazing students, early career professionals, and advocates with incredible projects to share or who would be catalyzed by attending OpenCon 2017 that won’t be going to Berlin than those who do. But it is important to remember that OpenCon 2017 Berlin is just one arm of the OpenCon community. It is an awesome main meeting — but satellite events, calls, and meetups are where the majority of the OpenCon community interacts. Satellite events are not the consolation prize to me. They are the prize!

It is personally important to me to say this and hopefully convince you to host a satellite event, because when I was not accepted to OpenCon 2014 and OpenCon 2015 I felt that the work I was doing wasn’t important and I didn’t belong in this community. I don’t want you to feel like that. I don’t want the student or early career researcher at your institution or another one in your region to feel that way. I want to encourage you to tap into the true community if you haven’t already. OpenCon is not one conference. It is a whole community and the community can be brought to everyone through satellite events. Learn more about organizing a satellite event and register your interest in hosting! OpenCon will provide you resources, you’ll have help and encouragement from the awesome Lorraine Chuen, and you’ll extend the OpenCon community. So, what are you waiting for?

Yesterday I had a fantastic chat with Hillary Miller of Virginia Commonwealth University about the OpenCon Virginia satellite event she is organizing for January. I originally reached out to Hillary, because I was looking for a satellite event while I was living in Virginia during part of the fall. I left the call energized, so wonderfully excited about a regional satellite event that I think will be just as impactful for attendees as the main conference is. Psst… it is going to be really awesome, so if you’re within that region, add it to your calendar!

P.S. I really am bummed I’m not with an institution this year to organize another satellite event. So, if you’re in the U.S. (particularly the south as I’m primarily based there) and you want a partner to co-plan a satellite event, let me know. I’d love to help!

P.S.S. Materials from the OpenCon SWFL satellite event I hosted at Florida Gulf Coast University in February are available CC-BY in our Google Drive event toolkit. Please feel free to re-use, just make sure to copy and move first!

Written by

Community Manager @ubiquitypress. Communications + Advocacy Director @OA_Button. Rogue #scholcomm librarian. Fan of all things Open: research, data, 24hr diners

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