This blog post is about my experience report of STePIN Summit 2020. I was one of the volunteers who did the tweeting of talks. In a way, we all volunteers reached the essence of each speaker's presentation to people who could not attend the virtual conference. It was two days virtual online conference organized by STePIN Forum on 03rd Sep 2020 and 04th Sep 2020.
Disclaimer
No one has paid me or asked to write this report. I'm recording my experience of the conference here.
STePIN Summit 2020 and Registration
STePIN Forum has given me an invitee pass for the past STePIN Summits. This time it was a virtual conference as we have a pandemic situation from COVID19. I wrote to one of the organizers asking I'm available as a volunteer. I got an immediate response acknowledging the request.
I joined a group of other volunteers. Our volunteering task was to watch the Social Media for hashtag #STePInSummit2020 and tweet about the conference's talks. Organizers briefed us and were available to contact for any clarifications before, during, and post conference.
I got a free pass this time as a volunteer for STePIN Summit 2020. I'm glad I could be part of the conference. If I were to buy the ticket, I could not have afforded it in my present financial situation.
I thank STePIN Forum and STePIN Summit 2020 organizers for the kind gesture.
STePIN Summit 2020 and Volunteering
I made sure that I will be on time with an infant around me. I had to take care of an infant and do the tweet. I liked this challenge in front of me; I dived into it.
Listening to each speaker, I made my notes in a format whose length fits to tweet and yet makes sense. My kid stared at me to see how crazy I was talking to her, making my notes, tweeting, and reading. While I did this, I was making sure that follow up consecutive tweets matched the context and stayed relevant with what was said by the speaker.
In between, the kid pulled the laptop and said, she will also work along with me. I had to negotiate with her and continue my work. I did it well; I was successful.
The platform used in this virtual conference had provision for sponsor booths, reception, and tables for attendees. I have tried to capture a glimpse of it.
When the multiple session tracks kicked in, I decided to be in one session and cover it in my tweets. The other volunteers were covering the other session tracks.
In one of the sessions, how Ramit and Vipul engaged the audience for a while is interesting. When Ramit asked anyone of you want to share, I wanted to talk and share. It was an opportunity for me. I did not utilize it. By the time I was ready, the discussion between Vipul and Ramit by answering the questions from attendees was engaging. I continued listening to it.
My break time was the tea and lunch break. The volunteering occupied me to that extent.
My Experience
I did my best to cover the speaker's presentation and thought. I got direct messages (DM) to my tweet handle thanking from attendees who missed a few sessions and from people who could not attend the conference. The DM's said they could see the presenter's talk in my tweets.
I feel that I have done good work in the assigned job as a volunteer. I thank STePIN Forum for the opportunity and kind gesture. I enjoyed this conference with my kid beside me.
