Creating Talks

Responsibility for generating talk ideas and getting the word out about each talk is shared by all. Anyone may offer ideas for talks using an online entry form.  A small loosely-structured team of organizers welcomes and reviews incoming ideas around stated themes, selects and schedules suitable talks, and posts the blurb for upcoming talks. Some discussion about selecting and scheduling upcoming talks may simply occur after any given happy hour.

It is up to all participants to routinely invite and welcome new people. It is easy to share a link to pointandpint.blogspot.com. Those of you suggesting ideas or offering to give a talk must reach out to your networks to promote it. Invite people who are likely interested in the topic to come and join in the discussion, and encourage them to extend that invitation to their friends and colleagues.  It is easy to share a link to any particular talk at pointandpint.blogspot.com.  You may also want to promote using word-of-mouth social media including calendar events to which people may RSVP.

Especially welcome now are ideas for talks/speakers that fit the theme of community-driven economic development, or community development in general.  Please review the "About", "Themes", and "Civility" pages for context.  Prepared talks are to be kept short (20 minutes or less) in favor of more time for questions and answers and for casual conversation among participants.

Ideas for talks can be submitted using the online entry form here.
And here is a preview of some of the text entry questions that may demand some thought in advance...

...for any specific topic that you suggest:

• Title of your talk (response required, 150 characters or less)
• A short blurb for use in promoting the event (response required, 1500 characters or less)
• What will participants learn (and perhaps do differently as a result)? (6000 characters or less)
• Relevance.  How does this talk fit into a stated theme? / Why does it matter to people in their everyday lives? (3000 characters or less.)
• One or more thought-provoking question(s) that may encourage discussion and reflection on this topic among participants? (600 characters or less.)

...if you are nominating yourself as a potential speaker:

• List several of the upcoming dates (fridays) that would likely work for you

...in general:

• Identify up to four audiences that might be especially interested in attending this talk. About how many you would invite, and about how may might attend?

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