Problem

Small budget for professional development for a department of 50+ that spanned four time zones

Solution

A five-hour, virtual conference

Backstory

Jim oversaw a group of writers (known as content developers) and editors, most of whom worked from home offices and no more than eight in any one location. The team was hungry for professional development opportunities. In a good year, a couple of them were approved to enroll in half-day, in-person seminars within short driving distance. Otherwise, they settled for asynchronous online training.

In 2016, we created the Content Developer and Editor (CD&E) Symposium for team building and to share knowledge.

Objective

Capture some of the best parts of an on-site conference (such as dynamic speakers and sharing knowledge with people who don’t usually work together) while taking advantage of technology, with convenience, interactivity, and chat.

Format

Each CD&E Symposium was presented in Teams (or Skype) and included:

• Opening session to set the tone and review ground rules
• Ice breaker activity
• Keynote address from a company leader
• Presentation from an external expert
• Peer-led sessions
• Closing session

Ground rules

Expectations of participants evolved over the years based on feedback. We shared the ground rules in advance and reiterated them in the opening session.

• Set work availability to Do Not Disturb.
• Turn video on, unless you are eating.
• Mute microphones, unless you are talking.
• Keep the chat professional and on topic.
• Be engaged (no multitasking).

Best practices

• Involve team leaders. Managers served as the selection committee for peer presentations, attended dress rehearsals, and served as technology assistants during the live sessions. Other team leaders led ice breaker activities and breakout sessions.
• Pick a guest speaker who will excite the audience. You can get more for your budget for a virtual presenter because you don’t have travel costs. We searched TED talks, podcasts, and conference agendas for dynamic speakers who could present on a topic related to the year’s theme.
• Practice in the platform. Every presenter had a dry run before the Symposium. This allowed them to get more comfortable with the technology and time their presentations. Leaders simulated audience interaction and provided feedback on the activities, visuals, and delivery.
• Have contingency plans. When a speaker was unable to attend on short notice, we conducted breakout sessions to discuss issues important to team members.
• Set expectations that attendees are not available during the conference. Attendees should let colleagues outside of the conference know they are not available and to adjust workflows if needed.
• Create and keep a tight schedule. Between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern, we scheduled 20 minutes for lunch and 10-minute breaks about every 90 minutes. We encouraged attendees to have quick-and-easy options for food and drinks.
• Close with reflection. We went on camera, and all attendees took turns sharing one thing they enjoyed about the Symposium, which created buzz for some peer sessions.
• Post peer session recordings. Attendees will want to watch sessions they weren’t able to attend, and some sessions will be valuable for your library.
• Gather and share feedback. We gathered feedback at the end of each session and for the entire Symposium with short, online surveys. Session results were shared with the presenters, and overall results were shared with all attendees. Session presenters also completed a survey about their experience and how much time they spent preparing.
• Debrief. The day after, the management team debriefed for one hour to review feedback and capture lessons learned.

Conclusion

Over four and a half years, we had four CD&E Symposia, with the final Symposium occurring just weeks before the pandemic. Each instance drew rave reviews from attendees, and the model was copied by other departments in the organization.