The following is a list of expectations regarding conference attendance. All conferences are virtual unless otherwise noted.
Resources
Content Team Conference Notes Folder
Attendance
Any writer with a ticket to a conference is expected to make the most of the opportunity. The writers will be free to choose which sessions they attend, they are expected to fill their working day by attending virtual sessions. Writers are not obligated to attend all sessions, or even every relevant session, only enough to fill 8-10 hours, depending on the writer’s normal hours.
Writers are expected to submit a tentative schedule. These schedules should be included in their folder with their notes on each session, either by downloading a copy from their account on the conference’s website or by typing it out in a document. Any notes to a downloaded .pdf can be made in a separate document.
Attendance Outside of Work Hours
Writers are not expected to watch sessions outside of working hours, however they are welcome to do so if there are additional sessions they’re interested in that they are unable to view during their normal working hours. However, they will not be paid for these additional sessions and should not clock in or out.
Managing Work Load
If conference attendance could lead to falling behind in daily work, writers are expected to reach out to the Content Team Lead immediately. Together, they can make adjustments to initial expectations or, in extreme cases, assign that writer’s ticket to another person.
Email/Message Monitoring
While writers are not obligated to perform regular work tasks during conference days, they must continue to monitor their emails and messages and respond to any issues that come up.
Knowledge Sharing
Writers are expected to take notes during each session, which will be kept in their respective folder in the conference folder of the Content Writing Drive. These notes do not need to be transcriptions of the session, but they should be decipherable by other viewers.
Following the end of the conference, the writers in attendance will gather to review their notes and organize the most helpful pieces of knowledge to share with the rest of the team. A follow-up discussion will take place between the whole team in which the conference attenders can present what they’ve learned to the rest of the team and answer questions about the experience. A short write-up summarizing these points will also need to be submitted.
Communication Between Attendees
Conferences will come with their own Teams channel. These temporary channels will only include writers scheduled to attend the respective conference and the Content Team Lead. They will act as a platform for the Team Lead to make announcements regarding the event and also as a way for attendees to communicate directly about their experiences, including interesting facts, sessions that went well, and sessions they recommend skipping.