Welcome to the home for the MIT Libraries' Lightning Talks!

Every other month (or so), we gather to share short talks with each other. Everyone working for the MIT Libraries, in any capacity, is invited.

Next meeting: Thursday, October 10, 2019

Future schedule

Generally, this series will take place every two months near the end of the month. The exact date and time will vary in order to try and give everyone a chance to participate, with these general scheduling guidelines:

  • Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the preferred dates.
  • Meeting times will vary between 10 AM and 4 PM, but will not take place over lunch.

Format

  1. Anyone can come, and anyone can speak. Both are optional. Sitting and watching others is fine.
  2. Talks should last no more than five minutes. Shorter is fine. We will have a gong as a gentle reminder if you go too long.
  3. The topics can be anything you wish that is work-related. Go deep into the weeds on something, talk about what you do normally, or step off the beaten path. We have a list of past topics that others have given if you find that helpful.
  4. There is no set format. Make slides, show a demo, or just talk. Bring notes, or not. Talks are meant to be informal affairs and should not require significant preparation.

Topic ideas

Do you want to give a talk, but are unsure what to speak about? Anything is fair game. Some ideas for topics might include (but are not limited to)

  • Share a tool, technique, or other knowledge that you've learned.
  • Pitch a project - or a problem - that you think should be addressed.
  • Talk about a coming development in a community to which you belong.
  • Tell us about something that you are excited about.

Please note, as you look over the list of past topics, that this series started within the developer group - so many of the topics listed spring from that community. This focus is not a requirement, and will hopefully become less pronounced as we continue to see a wide range of talks.

More information

There are a variety of articles that describe the lightning talk format. One in particular is "Why you should try lightning talks" by Charlie Koster.

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