#How to Run a big event like Datamovida.

#datamovida in a nutshell. Datamovida is a living, breathing data movement. Four amazing speakers share their inspiring data stories with 30 specially chosen experts at four unique locations that represent our ethos. Led by members of vizzuality’s team, the group is guided to each venue and introduced to the places and events that have shaped the city. Local drinks and food are dished up at each stop and time is made for conversations.

#Why did we do it?

The first datamovida was held on the eve of the International Open Data Conference 2016. Open data experts were travelling to our hometown from all over the world and we wanted to put our name on the map. We decided to break free of the conference room and organise an event no-one would ever forget. That event turned out to be datamovia.

#Process for agreeing to do it 1 - Make a proposal. What do we want to achieve by running this, what will the Return on Investment be? 2 - Check budgets; can we afford to do it? 3 - Get consent - you’re going to need a lot of help from people across the company to make it happen, so getting their buy-in and consent early on will be important to make it a success.

#Six tips for organising an event like this

For more information and tips from Camellia, read this retrospective

##Tip 1. Get organised. When we planned the first ever datamovida we used basecamp to create to-do lists and assign responsibilities. However, because a project lead wasn’t assigned straight away, the basecamp was a jumble of many ideas added in by different people. There were duplications and it was unclear when everything was supposed to be done by or what tasks were co-dependent on each other.

One evening, I turned off all my notifications and worked out a proper plan with realistic timescales and deadlines. I worked back from the day of the event itself and figured out when everything had to be done. Once this was done, I re-ordered the to-do list into a week-by-week checklist of tasks so I could look at basecamp each morning and see what had to be done that week. This meant that nothing would get forgotten or neglected because it was buried.

One thing I would have done differently was order the stickers earlier. They were the wrong colour but there wasn’t time to get them re-printed.

In short:

• Create a plan by starting at the day of the event and working back to schedule in everything that needs to be done to make the event happen.
• Create a to-do list in Basecamp and order the deliverables by the week in which they must be done. This means nothing will be duplicated and you can factor in things like supply times.

##Tip 2. Surround yourself with knowledgeable people. I don’t speak Spanish or live in Spain so datamovida would not have happened without Liuba and Laura booking the venues, ordering the equipment, paying the bills, and asking practical questions about the logistics of the event. We also wouldn’t have had the amazing speakers we had if it weren’t for Craig’s contacts and persuasive personality. And finally, the route we took would have taken forever to figure out if it wasn’t for the local knowledge of the Madrid team.

If I had done one thing differently, it would have been to get some advice from someone with experience of organising large, complicated events.

In short:

Choose people to help you who have experience, knowledge, and contacts that you don’t currently have.

##Tip 3. Delegate. This tip is an extension of the second one. One person alone cannot organise and coordinate an event that involves herding a large group of people through a busy city. Delegating specific tasks and roles to different people will help reduce the burden you put on yourself. By sharing the responsibility, you open up the possibility of finding a better idea or solution than the one you thought of yourself. Other people might point out something you hadn’t thought of yourself and reassure you when you freak out that no-one is going to turn up.

Organising datamovida was something we had to do on top of our regular, everyday job, so delegating was especially important for our team. Working together meant we could share the workload and take a personal interest in making sure it was a success.

In short:

• Don’t shred your nerves and have a break down. Share the burden with others by delegating tasks and responsibilities.
• Do this by giving people clear instructions of what is expected of them and set realistic objectives.

##Tip 4. Scout out potential locations on foot. When we started planning datamovida we originally thought we would start at the vizzuality office and make our way down to Media-lab Prado. But when we looked at google maps, we realised it was a very long walk and adjusted the route to start at the more central CARTO offices instead.

Once we knew which neighbourhoods we’d be walking through, I shared a request for venue ideas in the Madrid slack channel. Some great places were suggested and a small group of us went to check them out. Going out on foot was helpful because it gave us an idea of how long it would take to walk between each venue and see which streets would be too narrow or busy to take a large group of people along. In the end, we walked the route three times before the main event.

In short:

• Sketch out a rough idea for a route and check the walking times on google maps.
• Ask the locals for their venue suggestions.
• Spend an evening scouting venues and getting a feel for the area.
• While you are at each potential venue, talk to someone to find out if it’s possible to hire the venue for an hour on the night you will hold your datamovida.
• Once the route is finalised, walk it again to make sure all the streets are interesting and suitable for taking a large group along them.
• Remember that large groups walk very slowly so don’t try to make them walk too far in one go. - Pick venues that are no more than 15-20 minutes apart.

##Tip 5. Double check all your bookings (and be flexible when things go awry).

Two days before the Madrid datamovida took place, we got an email from Martinez Bar saying they had to cancel our booking because they had double booked the space we wanted. There was no way we’d have been able to find another place at such short notice so Laura got straight on the phone to sort it out. We’d originally booked the venue because it had an interesting little cellar area that was perfect for a group of our size. But sadly, the space had been given to another group and for whatever reason, they took priority over us. However, Laura was able to negotiate exclusive access to another area inside the venue and it was still a cool place.

The night before datamovida, a couple of us made a final run-through of the route to make sure there weren’t any road closures or problems that had appeared since our last scouting trip. At the venue that had almost cancelled our booking I asked about the food we’d ordered. The blank look I got in return told me that the food hadn’t been ordered. Apparently the guy hadn’t seen our email with our order. The moral here is that confirming in writing isn’t always enough to secure your booking or your catering. In future, we will confirm all the venues and catering by phone as well as email and follow up one week before the event is going to happen to make sure everything is going ahead as planned.

It’s important to remain flexible so that hiccups like this don’t derail the whole event. Good preparation will avoid, or at least mitigate bad situations from happening, but sometimes you need to go with plan B.

In short:

• Confirm your bookings over the phone and by email. Make sure you get a written notification that your booking has been received.
• Call each venue the week before the event to make sure the booking still holds.
• Be flexible when things change at the last minute.

##Tip 6. Don’t wing it. As the day of datamovida approached, I became acutely aware of how many plates were spinning. We were planning on taking 30 people to four different venues and at each venue we had to make sure we had refreshments, a screen and projector, wifi, and a PA system.

To make sure the whole thing ran smoothly and on-time, Laura, Liuba and I sat down to write a detailed schedule for the evening. We knew at what time each talk would start and end, how long we would spend at each stop, and how long each section of the walk would take. Bathroom breaks got factored in along with the fact people walk slower when they are part of a group.

Once we had our timings, it became very clear that some military style planning and coordination was needed. We had a group of willing volunteers who wanted to help out on the night so I split them into small advance parties, with two or three people in each one. Those parties were then assigned a venue to look after and given a box full of equipment and refreshments that had be taken by taxi to the venue. Upon arrival, the advance parties set up the equipment and made sure the space was ready for the guests to arrive. When the talk had finished and everyone else had departed, the advance party would then pack up and make sure no-one had got left behind. (Luckily no-one did).

We also assigned eight people to guiding roles. These people walked with the guests between each venue and told them stories about the city and our work, using a script prepared by Jamie who had researched the history and stories of Madrid. Everyone was fully briefed on their role the day before the event.

To make sure everyone knew what was happening at all times, we set up a whatsapp group. This meant the advance party could send us a message when their venue was ready, and I could send a message to say we were on our way. Having a whatsapp group became really useful when we fell behind schedule as it meant I could let the next venue know what was happening and where the group was.

In short:

• Make sure you have everything each speaker needs at the venue at which they are speaking. This includes wifi, screen, projector and PA system.
• Factor in time for people to use the bathroom at each stop.
• Factor in an extra 5-10 minutes walking time between each venue as groups tend to walk more slowly than someone on their own.
• Assign 2-3 people per venue to take equipment and refreshments to the venue, set everything up, and then tidy up afterwards.
• Assign a group of people to act as guides and prepare a script of interesting information for them.
• Brief everyone fully the day before the event so they know what their role and responsibilities are.
• Set up a whatsapp group and add everyone in the vizz team that is involved in the event.

##Some other useful tips ###Invites. Invites were sent using nvite. The IODC speaker list was mined for interesting-sounding people to invite. Craig sent an email after the event to thank everyone for coming.

###Photographer. We hired a photographer to take photos of the event. This is probably the thing I am most glad we did because Beatriz captured some fantastic memories for us and the photos were a big hit on Facebook and Twitter.

###Name tags. We made name tags for everyone. The tags used first name only and gave the name of the organisation that person works for.

###Hookers. In the British navy they call the people who escort guests from the front door to the dining room ‘hookers’. At datamovida we had people filling this role and it meant we could properly welcome the guests and show them the way from reception to cinema room.

We also encountered another type of hooker on our walk in Madrid. Although we had done our best to avoid the red light hotspots, we had an unexpected encounter that we were able to laugh off with promises that it hadn’t been our intention.

##Lessons Learned/ how to improve next time I would go to Madrid sooner.

There is nothing like being there in person to ask for people’s advice and scout out venues. Finding the right venues took longer than expected, start scouting asap.

I would avoid trying to plan anything over the summer holidays.

Almost everyone took a long holiday over the summer and they were really busy with work before and after it. This meant almost all the planning happened in the six weeks preceding datamovida, making it more stressful.

I’d have started organising datamovida sooner.

Related to the last point, I should have set out the timeline and re-organised the to-do list sooner. Everything would have been less stressful if the venues had been booked sooner and the invites sent out earlier. I think my lack of event experience meant I didn’t appreciate how big this task was and how long it would take to make certain decisions (e.g. venues, invite list, branding etc)

I wouldn’t assign hosts.

Before the event I assigned three guests to each of the guides. The idea was that these guides would keep an eye on their guests but in practice this didn’t happen because it was too complicated to coordinate during registration). The group is small enough to keep everyone together and ensure everyone feels welcome.

I would have given the photographer a better brief.

The brief should have said what we wanted Beatriz to take photos of, what style we wanted, and what kind of filter/editing we wanted on the photos. Beatriz did a great job but when she turned up she wasn’t sure what to do and Carlos (our PR person) came to me asking for more directions on what we wanted. The final photos had grainy, dark filter which I thought looked good and felt right but not everyone agreed. When we do datamovida in Washington (or elsewhere) we should think about what we want to capture on film and how we want the photos to look. Should they be more glossy? Should the colour be lighter to reflect the spring season?

I should have checked Beatriz’s portfolio. This is crazy, but I never checked Beatriz’s work before hiring her. She was recommended by David’s wife and I trusted her opinion but that was not a sensible business decision. Always check someone’s portfolio before hiring them and don’t hesitate to ask your teammates if they recommend any suitable qualified people.

Should we have hired a videographer? We considered hiring a videographer for the event and even though we decided not to, I still wonder if we should have. Capturing the talks on video would mean we could re-watch them and use them in blogs, on social media, and as marketing collateral. But, the logistics would have been tricky given we went to four very different venues.

Swag Next time I would insist that we get t-shirts. There was a moment when we weren’t going to order any but I am so glad we got them. The t-shirts looked fantastic and made it clear who was on the vizz team and who was a guest. I wore my t-shirt to IODC and having the vizzuality name on my clothing was a way for people to open conversations with me and recognise I worked for vizzuality.

Twitter I wish I’d checked which account I was tweeting from before I started tweeting on the night :-/
Otherwise, it was a good move to live tweet from the event.

Starting on time If we ever do another datamovida in Spain I will remember that everyone turns up late in Spain. No-one arrived on time. We started late and we had a tight schedule. Lie when you tell people what the start time is.