[Inpycon] [RFC] Abolish QA Time

[Sharmila Gopirajan]

Another issue that I see with on stage Q&A is the time pressure to answer
immediately. Yet, One of the advantages of on stage Q&A is, when there
really is a good question, everyone benefits.

If we have an online forum or mailing list for attendees, we could give the
speaker the option of an AMA post conference where all attendees could
participate.

Regards,
Sharmi

On Sun, Jun 16, 2019 at 7:07 PM Pradyun Gedam <pradyunsg at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, 16 Jun 2019 at 2:27 PM, Vijay Kumar <vijaykumar at bravegnu.org>
> wrote:
>
> Please let me know your thoughts on this.
>
>
> It is important to note why PyCascades removed Q&A -- to "*make it a more
> friendly environment for first time and new speakers*.", which is
> especially relevant to PyCascades, since it is a single track conference.
> PyCascades also goes out of it's way to be welcoming, and has a substantial
> effort put into Diversity and Inclusion (they have a Diversity Chair), so
> removing a potential area of stress for such speakers is especially
> relevant to them. I don't think these points apply to PyCon India, since
> the structure of the conference is different and there are a lot of
> cultural differences in the audience.
>
> Eric Holscher's has a blog post [1] about a few approaches that are
> better than "let anyone in the audience ask a question publicly". I think
> we should support the ones that are relevant to us (I think it's all of
> them are but I defer to the organizers to decide, since they'll have to do
> the prep for them).
>
> As another data point, PyCon US 2019 provided options for speakers to
> choose from, 5 minutes prior to their talk (No Q&A, 5 minutes Q&A, book a
> room after talk for Q&A). They received feedback that this is good
> information to have, and that it should be communicated earlier to the
> speakers (i.e. when accepted / when applying).
>
> So, I think a good approach for PyCon India here would be to:
>
> - Provide multiple options to all speakers (none, open space for
> discussion, curated questions, questions during talk etc)
> - Properly communicate that Q & A is optional and what forms it can take,
> to speakers.
>   - Add this as a part of CFP so that potential speakers know about their
> options (too late this year but is a good enhancement next year).
>   - Confirm the preference with accepted speakers when they receive their
> acceptance, and prior to their talk as well.
> - Have printed papers for volunteers containing instructions for
> volunteers to follow/do (about handling Q&A)
>   - This should really be for all things in the session.
>
> [1]:
> https://www.ericholscher.com/blog/2016/nov/12/questions-at-conferences/
>
>
> Best,
> Pradyun
>
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