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# System prepended metadata

title: Track Chair Runbook

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# Track Chair Runbook

As a track chair, you are responsible for the smooth running of your
track. What that means, exactly, will vary from one track to another,
but it probably means several of the following things.

## Before

Before the event, you have several responsibilities.

### Promote the CFP

The Call for Presentations (CFP) is open until Thu, 13 Jul 2023 23:59:59 GMT. The time is that specific because no matter when we close the CFP, someone will misunderstand the date or time by one day, and we are trying to avoid that.

Your responsibility as track chair is to promote the CFP to your ideal speakers. You know who those are. I do not. That is why you are track chair.

The most common source of these speakers is the dev@ list of the Apache projects that are encompassed by your track. However, as the subject matter expert, you know where else they hang out, and the right ways to reach them. **Do that.** Proactively. Repeatedly.

Promote the CFP now. Do it again a month before it closes, 2 weeks before, one week before, and the day before. Be annoying. No matter how repetitive you are, someone will say that you didn't tell them in the right place, at the right time, in the right way. C'est la vie.

### Sponsors

Sponsors are not your responsibility. However, if you happen to know of vendors in your topic space who might be interested in sponsoring, make intros to the planners.

### Talk selection

Once the CFP closes, you'll have access to the submitted talks. You will need to submit your track to the conference organizers to be slotted into the schedule.

You are expected to provide the list of sessions, in the order that you want them to appear. Note that there's no guarantee that your order will be respected, as there are other considerations, such as conflicts with other tracks, and the individual preferences of the speakers. But we'll try.

Try to craft a track that tells a story. At the simple level, this is an intro-intermediate-advanced progression. But perhaps you want to tell another story. For example, the progression from user to participant to maintainer. Don't consider your track as simply a heap of talks. Try to craft a message, and select talks accordingly.

### Promote the event

You are the primary liaison to the audience that you wish to attend your track. This is usually the dev@ and users@ lists for the Apache projects that are related to your track content, but you also know where else this segment of the community hangs out.

Once the CFP has closed, and once registration is open, you should promote the event to that community. Send reminders at various milestones before the event, such as 3 months, 2 months, 1 month, 2 weeks, and so on. 

Include a description of your track, the hightlight talks, and the registration information. Also promote the keynotes, the social events, and the appeals of the venue.

### Speaker relations

Once you have selected your talks, you are the primary contact for your speakers. Remind them to register. Remind them to book their travel, hotels, and necessary travel visas. Point them to the [visa invitation letter information](https://communityovercode.org/visa-letter/).

Check in with them reguarly in the months leading up to the event, to ensure that they have looked at the schedule, and don't have any conflicts.

Escallate to the planners if there's anything you're unsure of or need help with.

## During

(Note that there will probably be a TAC volunteer in each room, and
you can delegate stuff if you need to step out for something. You're
not necessarily tied to the room for the whole week.)

Show up early, leave late. Make sure that attendees know they're in
the right place, and, if they're not, direct them to other rooms. (ie,
you should know the general layout of the venue before each day
starts.)

Introduce speakers.

Give the speaker general instructions, such as

* Your session is 40 minutes long, and you are responsible for leaving
time for Q&A if you want.
* Speak into the microphone. No, your voice is not loud enough without
the microphone. No, it's really not. No, I don't care if you think it
is. The microphone is for the benefit of hearing impaired people like
Rich. Please use the mic.
* You have 10 minutes left.
* You have 5 minutes left.
* Your time is up, stop talking

Ask speakers to repeat the question, when they don't do so.

Ensure that the speaker takes all of their gear, and leaves the
podium, as fast as possible after the session, so that the next
speaker can set up. Ask them to take extended Q&A into the hallway.

Ask attendees to stop talking, whispering, taking phone calls, tapping
their foot on the ground, or being otherwise disruptive.

Report code of coduct violations to the event staff IMMEDIATELY.

Notify event staff immediately if a speaker is no-show.

Pick up trash between sessions. Reset chairs if someone has moved them
around.

Help troubleshoot A/V problems, and summon A/V staff if this takes
more than two minutes. Ideally, speakers will show up several minutes
early to get set up, but, of course, many of them won't.

Check badges. We do not expect you to eject people from the event, but
if folks are in the room without badges, please send a TAC person to
notify event staff, so that we can determine next steps.

I think that's probably everything, and I know it seems like a lot,
but most of it just boils down to being there, and adjusting anything
that's not running smoothly, and keeping event staff informed of
anything that you cannot address yourself.

## After

Follow up with your speakers to thank them. Let them know about upcoming events that they can submit to. Collect their slides. Tell them where recordings will be posted.
