TechSpeakers

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Mozilla TechSpeakers

Overview

Program objective: Increase developer awareness and adoption of the Web, Firefox, and Mozilla through a strong community-driven technical speaker development program.

Promo video - Introducing Moz Tech Speakers

  • Status: Program design (ongoing), we are now in Phase 2 of the program. Applications for the next session will open in November 2016. Please follow the Speaking category on Discourse for the latest information
  • Contact: Havi Hoffman, Michael Ellis
  • Current Team: Michael Ellis, Havi Hoffman, István Szmozsanszky, Dietrich Ayala
  • Original Team: Thanks to: Rosana Ardila, Dietrich Ayala, Soumya Deb, Emma Irwin, Janet Swisher
  • For the most current information about Mozilla Tech Speakers, please visit the Speaking topic on Discourse

Mission & Purpose

Increase developer awareness and adoption of Mozilla products and the Open Web as a platform:

  • Grow a base of qualified and well-informed volunteer speakers.
  • Support volunteer technical evangelism efforts with training for speaking and creating presentation materials.
  • So that contributors can present timely, relevant technical material at regional developer events.

Program Description

Mozilla Tech Speakers is a program to bring together volunteer contributors who are already speaking to technical audiences (developers/web designers/computer science and engineering students) about Firefox, Mozilla and the Open Web in communities around the world. We want to support you and amplify your work!

As Mozilla Tech Speakers, participants have an opportunity to work on public speaking skill development with a cohort of technical contributors from many countries. Mozillians old and new, at all levels of experience in public speaking and at different stages in their careers, are welcome to apply. Most participants are not native English speakers, but at this time you must be willing and able to communicate in English to participate in this program.

Practice and constructive feedback in a safe and friendly environment are at the heart of how we work together. We are always experimenting with the design of this program, learning from participant feedback, with the aim of being able to grow to meet the global demand for this type of training.

We are currently planning our next season of Masterclasses & Labs, and we will announce the opening of an application process on Discourse in November.

Desired Outcomes

  • Volunteer speakers have improved speaking skills and high quality technical content when representing Mozilla at influential developer events, and at relevant regional, educational, and community-run events.
  • Mozilla has a global team of trained speakers to send to conferences, to host workshops, and represent the project in other technical contexts.
  • Speaker materials and assets become easily discoverable and accessible (content and templates).
  • Graduates replicate the program in their regional communities.

How It Works (More or less)

Tech Speakers is a six week program that we're building. Originally, our program was by invitation only. The sessions combined group speaking practice and technical content development. Now we are growing the program through an application process.

Each participant:

  • Picks a topic at the beginning of the program
  • Develops a talk on that topic during the program
  • Submits their talk to a conference CFP by the end of the program

Each week:

  • Participants speak for two minutes on an assigned topic
  • The group provides feedback to the speaker
  • Occasionally guest speakers will join to teach their area of expertise

Materials

Phase 2: MasterClasses & Labs for Tech Speakers

  • For Phase 2 of the Tech Speakers program, we are seeking ~25-30 contributors already actively involved in technical evangelism and advocacy in regional, local or campus communities. We'll expect you to show us examples of how you are raising awareness and adoption of Firefox, Mozilla, and the Web through your current activities. We will be opening an application process in June! Stay tuned!
  • Phase 2 Summer Pilot consists of 3 Masterclasses (~ 1 hour on Air Mozilla) and 3 Labs sessions (1 hour in Vidyo), on alternating weeks, scheduled over a 2 month period, beginning in July and ending in late August. (The full calendar is still a work in progress.)
  • Here is the live application: Tech Speakers Phase 2 - Summer 2016! Applications will close at the close of July 4 (12:01am PDT July 5, 2016). Please include a recommendation letter.
  • Masterclasses are expert presentations to help you develop and practice your skills as speakers, trainers, and facilitators for technical audiences.
  • Masterclasses will be live-streamed on Air Mozilla and will be available to logged in participants to watch in real time or asynchronously. Each Masterclass includes practice exercises and homework assignments. Some of the practice and homework will take place in your Lab, some of it you’ll do on your own.
    • For example, the Masterclass about writing a strong talk proposal may include a homework assignment where you find a conference and write a CFP and bio.
    • A masterclass about the physical aspects of presenting may ask you to record a short video of yourself standing and presenting.
  • Labs are small group meetings that happen in Vidyo or via Google Hangouts during alternating weeks, facilitated by current Tech Speakers and Tech Speaker staff. You will be ‘assigned” a Labs group based on your timezone and availability. We expect you to attend all the Masterclasses and complete all assigned Labs homework in order to qualify as a Tech Speaker and be eligible for funding and other perks. We expect you to attend all the Labs sessions - if you miss more than one Lab, you will not be eligible to ‘graduate’ as a Tech Speaker.
  • If you are planning to go on offline or on holiday for several weeks in July or August, you might want to wait till we offer this session again. Expect to spend 2-3 hours weekly to attend sessions and complete assignments.

Project Meta

Resources for Speakers

  • Tools
    • Hemingway - online editor that analyzes readability
  • Places to Get Help
    • HelpMeAbstract - Get feedback on talk abstracts from real conference organizers

Mozilla Tech Speakers

This is a partial list of people who have completed the Tech Speakers program. If you completed one of the Phase 1 pilots (we did 3 pilots), you are welcome to add yourself and a link to your Reps or Mozillians page, or other relevant profile or contact info.

Timeline

Pilot #3 - Q1 2016, FEB

Pilot #2 - COMPLETE

  • Q3/Q4 - High-level Schedule
    • Determine schedule and general structure
    • Candidate selection process
    • Invite candidates
    • Select and invite guest speakers
    • Pre-program introductions
    • Program begins
    • Program completes

Pilot #1 - COMPLETE

The first pilot completed successfully.

  • Q1 February
    • Program design solidified
    • Program mission and goals socialized
    • Pilot design completed
    • Pilot participant list drawn up
  • Q1 March
    • Program design published on wiki
    • Workflow with Reps, MDN decided
    • Pilot participants selected and communicated with
    • Achievement criteria defined and published
  • Q2 April
    • Pilot is ongoing
    • Participants are working through the curriculum
    • Regular meetings for ongoing assessment
  • Q2 May
    • Pilot concludes
    • Post-mortem to identify improvements and impact
    • Program refinements from pilot results are implemented and communicated

Pilot Program

  • Description
    • Work with Mozilla Reps to select five participants
    • The selected participants help work out the kinks - refine criteria, identify mentorship needs
  • Outcomes
    • Set of program refinements required to be implemented prior to official launch

Communication

  • Announcements
    • Lists: devrel, mdn, mozillians, reps
    • Hacks - blog post (Havi/Mar 30)
    • Social: TBD
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