Host Guide#

Welcome to the Host Guide, a place for call hosts to get help, info, advice and best practices for conducting engaging and effective meetings.

Check the Suggested Meeting Script section if you want more info for running a great meeting, and peruse the other sections for basic info and additional context. This documentation can be used as a template, the host can duplicate the guide and update the links to reflect their individual meeting or simply use it as a reference point in planning.

⏰ Basic Meeting Event Info#

You can check the Jupyter Community Meetings calendar for the exact time of each meeting in your time zone.

Each meeting should have a collaborative public agenda document (for example on HackMD). The agenda link should be included in the event’s description in the shared Google Calendar.

🎯 Meeting Purpose/Goals#

Meetings are a way to connect members of our community. All participants should feel welcome and be heard. In line with that:

Meetings should be…

  • Positive and friendly

  • Welcoming and open to people from diverse backgrounds

  • Newcomers in particular should be welcomed and encouraged to chime in, discuss, participate, or to simply observe if that is their preference.

💬 Topics#

Each meeting should have a list of topics that are generally discussed. Contributors can propose topics before or during the meeting.

(If using this document as a template, replace this section with a list of topics that are discussed at your meeting.)

Before the Meeting#

💪 Host Responsibilities#

The host should facilitate the flow of a meeting. That means:

  • Soliciting topics for the agenda:

    • Share the agenda document in the chat multiple times. On Zoom, for example, new participants do not see previous chat messages.

  • Curate agenda topics

    • Is the proposed speaker’s topic appropriate for this call?

    • Is there enough time for all speakers?

    • Any other measure that host deems is important as a public reflection of Project Jupyter

  • Going through the agenda:

    • Do time checks/pause + move on to hit all items when there are time concerns

  • Guiding discussion:

    • Read chats aloud for participants + the recording

  • Maintaining order / Making sure everyone has a chance to speak:

    • Interject when someone has their hand raised

  • Mention/link to the Jupyter Code of Conduct and how everyone is bound to it (including the host)

Partner with another contributor (who has recording privileges) to do the following:

  • Record the meeting. The contributor you’re partnering with can start and stop the recording following your verbal cue. These are posted to YouTube.

  • Remove unwelcome recording bots:

    • Per the Jupyter community page, participants should not record meetings on their own. The host should ask participants that look like AI recording bots:

      • To identify themselves and state whether they’re recording

      • If they get no response from the account, the host should assume it’s recording, and remove it from the meeting.

✏ Meeting Checklist and Script#

⏳ Prior to meeting start#

  • Make sure you have a solid tech environment that will allow you to focus on your hosting duties. This includes a stable internet connection, a good quality microphone, and a quiet environment. Ideally, the ability to share your camera may support your ability to connect with the participants in the call.

  • Share the agenda in the Zoom chat the [meeting agenda](insert agenda)

    • The agenda is a collaboratively created document made by the participants.Ensure a section for today’s meeting is created, with today’s date and a table for participants to record their names (which can be copied/pasted from lower entries). The agenda will also be used as meeting minutes.

🎙 Start the Meeting!#

Create a script from these talking points or use the script below if you want!

  • Inform people when you’re about to start recording

  • Introduce yourself

  • Describe what the call is

  • Welcome all newcomers

  • Point people to the code of conduct: jupyter.org/conduct (send link to chat)

  • Encourage attendees to add discussion points to the agenda

Sample script

Before we start the recording, does anyone have anything they’d like to say off the record? (Remember to say “We will now begin recording/The recording has ended” before starting/stopping recording :)

Hello and welcome to our [full date] Jupyter Community call. I’m [host name] and I’ll be your host today. This is a place for all contributors to connect with each other and the community about any exciting work happening in the Jupyter Community. A special highlight and welcome to all first time participants! We want all newcomers to feel welcome, we invite you to join in on discussions, introduce yourself, or add items to the agenda.

Please keep in mind that this call will be recorded and posted to YouTube for the community to view. This call is a part of the Jupyter community; we follow the Jupyter Code of Conduct, which you can read about at jupyter.org/conduct[Meeting host insert link in the meeting minutes template]

If you have a topic you’d like to discuss, please add it to the agenda. (Share agenda link in the chat)

🎺 Closing message#

Create a script from these talking points or use the script below if you want!

  • Thank attendees for joining

  • Ask for feedback on running the call to be posted to Discourse

  • Announce date of next call and send link to Hackmd to submit topics

  • The community is welcome to join public meetings! Send link to meeting chat: Jupyter community calendar

  • Encourage people to reach out if they want to host

  • After ending the recording, ask if anyone wants to say anything off the record

Sample Script

Thank you to everyone for joining! I’m happy to have you all as a part of the Jupyter community. If you have any feedback, please direct it to Discourse. We’d love to hear what you think about the call or how to improve future meetings. Our next call will be [day, month]. Check out the Jupyter community calendar to see what other types of meetings are happening in between.

The following message is recommended for Community Calls or similar events that engage with the broader contributor community:

If you have any interest in sharing in future [title] calls, please do! It doesn’t have to be a big share, a polished share, or a technical share, just show off what you do with Jupyter that excites you. Submit topics here [platform/link]. If you’re interested in hosting a community call, feel free to reach out. It would be great to get different people interacting with the community.

After the recording ends:

If you have anything you would like to add off the record, please feel free to discuss that now.

🎉 After the Meeting#

Congratulations 🚀 on a finished meeting. Pat yourself on the back. Contributions like yours help to make the Jupyter community better!

A few post-meeting items for either the host or meeting-facilitator to complete:

  • Finalize meeting minutes: Go back to the notes and make any needed additions, corrections and formatting needed in order to make the notes easy to understand by someone who did not participate in the meeting.

  • Publish the minutes:

    1. Copy the contents of the minutes into a markdown file in this folder: jupyter/jupyter.

    2. You’ll also have to add a table of contents entry here once you add the actual file.

  • Upload video to YouTube: You can share the link to the recording along with the thumbnail image for the video, with someone who has access to upload to the Project Jupyter YouTube channel. The thumbnail can be created from the slide here: Video title slide

  • Post recording on the following thread on Discourse (this link lives in the HackMD and should be kept up to date).

🌅 The Jupyter community depends on volunteers like you, so again we would like to thank you for helping Jupyter bring open source tools for interactive computing to the world.

Current System for Zoom Host Priviledges#

To get the recording afterwards, you will need to have a person with host privileges request the recording from Linux Foundation.