/tinycon

A place to share technical topics with low preparation and no homework

tinycon - University of Arizona Libraries

tinycon logo

tinycon (noun) - A place to learn and share technical topics with low preparation and no homework Open. Optional. Fun.


How it works

Every month, IT Professional from across the University of Arizona gather for a tiny conference with crowd-sourced topics. The topics are issues in this GitHub repository, and are chosen based on the number of thumbs-up (👍) reactions they receive.

See all proposed topics, sorted by thumbs-up reactions.

Suggesting and voting for topics

  • To suggest a new topic, create a new issue and give it the topic label. See below for kinds of things to share.
  • If you want a topic to be chosen for the next tinycon, give it a thumbs-up reaction.

How to join

Tinycon is open to the public and you don't have to do anything to join. If you want to get an official invite delivered to your inbox every month, let me (Christopher Green) know by sending an email to cg433n@email.arizona.edu and I will add you to the tinycon email list. The official invite tells you when and where we are going to meet and which topic was chosen.

Kinds of things to share (these make good topics)

  • Is there anything you do as part of your daily work that others may not know about? If it would help others to know, share it here.
  • If you do 10% time, what are you learning about? If at least one other person would be interested, it's probably valuable to share.
  • What new thing have you learned in the past week? A new way to manage your time or plan your tasks? Something new in your field of work?
  • Is there a thing that you know how to do that you wish more people knew how to do? Let them know how!
  • Have you read any interesting articles or books in your field of expertise recently? Share a summary and let us know your favorite takeaways.
  • What tools do you use in your daily work? Let everyone look over your shoulder by doing a live demo.

For anything you're sharing, consider what takeaways you hope people can get from your topic. And for anything you're sharing; prepare your material if it's helpful to you, but remember that it's also helpful for others to see how you might approach and solve a problem. It's OK if you stumble through.

Every topic can be shared using a different format. Here are a few:

  • Show and tell
  • Masterclass
  • Like to like
  • Phone an expert
  • Debate
  • Blind leading the blind
  • Game
  • Live coding

Todo

  • Create stickers
  • Create tiny fliers with short URL