Agenda

Setting the agenda

Dear all,

We still have 2 weeks before the start and it is great to see topics/groups already self-organizing. We have almost 200 people signed up on this mailing list which is pretty massive.

First of all: we want to state we want to be inclusive. We also abide by a code of conduct:

Please be helpful, considerate, friendly, and respectful towards all other participants and respect the environment. We don't condone harassment or offensive behaviour at our conference. We consider it against our values as human beings. We're voicing our strong, unequivocal support of exemplary behaviour by all participants.

It may sound like stating the obvious, but anyone who has concerns should contact the organizers. Let's be nice to each other :). Other than this policy the BioHackathon is pretty much policy free. We aim for free software and free data solutions, but what individuals and groups choose to do is up to them. The BioHackathon is simply a way to groups choose to do is up to them. The BioHackathon is simply a way to combine our efforts.

In other words, this is a self organizing BioHackathon. It is to scale without massive overhead. What does this mean?

1. Groups form themselves
2. When a group becomes too large, split it up. Typically I would suggest a group should be no more than 8-10 people. Unless you want it to be larger (like the policy group, I can imagine).
3. Every group appoints a coordinator before the start of the BioHackathon. Ideally someone who already is taking initiative and is happy to put time in coordination

Within group communications is up to the coordinator and group. There will be options to choose from. You can be a member of multiple groups. Participate in whatever way you care.

Global coordination - that is with the organizers - is handled through this mailing list first and through IRC and tools like Slack second.

We also will have streaming video and video meeting room options.

All activity and notes can and probably should be recorded on the BioHackathon wiki as it tracks one historic record of activity. Notably the wiki is stored in git and anyone with github access can add to it:

https://github.com/virtual-biohackathons/covid-19-bh20/wiki

Rather than having a top-down view and coordination of activity we are encouraging a bottom-up view. In the next E-mails we'll give thoughts on what we can pursue and what output channels we have. We will also invite some people to bootstrap groups.

The organizers.