Guru Sessions

Thanks for your enthusiasm to share your knowledge with the Appsterdam community! To help prepare the session smoothly, we’ve prepared this speaker brief and action list.
This document contains information for the Guru, the Location Host, and the onsite Appsterdam Volunteer.

What is an Appsterdam Guru Session?

Appsterdam Guru Sessions allow you to share a technology or skill among your peers. They are informal, very hands-on technical sessions rather than straight presentations.
The Guru provides the expertise and session. The Location Host provides the space. Appsterdam will provide the Appsterdam Volunteer, publicity, attendee registration, attendees, pizza, beer, and good publicity for you and your company.
We maintain consistent branding and experience of the Guru Sessions. Principles: Very hands-on, not a four hour powerpoint presentation. Grassroots feel, not “pushed” by any company Sharing learning from people with real life experience Building the social aspect of Appsterdam community At end of session, attendees leave with first steps and confidence to make next steps
Excellent examples of the Guru Sessions were a 4 hour Test Driven Development session and a 6 hour Android introduction+guided hackathon.
So far, all Guru sessions have been entirely volunteer based. Gurus and Location Hosts are donating time for their own motivations (improve the Appsterdam community skillbase, raising awareness of their platform, getting fame and kudos and cred) 

A Typical Session

Every session will be different, but a typical session runs as follows

  • 11:30: Guru, Location Host and Appsterdam Volunteer arrive Appsterdam Volunteer is responsible for lunch & softdrink & beer delivery. Everyone works together to setup space, set out lunch materials 
  • 12:00: Doors open for attendees. Appsterdam volunteer welcomes attendees as they arrive, collects money Everyone enjoys lunch and socializes
  • 13:00: Session starts Appsterdam volunteer gives a kickoff announcement. Introduce what Appsterdam is, give specific thanks to location host, Guru’s company, any sponsors Guru takes over. From this point on, session design is up to the Guru.
  • 16:00 (or about an hour before session ends): Appsterdam Volunteer orders pizza for delivery at 17:00
  • 17:00: Session ends when pizza arrives! Everyone drinks beer and eats pizza and socializes until Location Host decides its time to close up. 

Guru (Speaker) Brief

We have found that sessions work best in this way
Ideally, learners should get actively participating within 15 minutes. Hands on keyboards, or working at the whiteboards, whatever your session demands. 
If you need to do any major “lecture” portions, they should be interspersed among the hands-on work. At the end of training, attendees should know how to execute the ideas you covered – get them over the bump so they can carry on themselves! If possible, share the next steps such as deployment We find 20 attendees is about the right number for most sessions. 
You are the expert and Guru, so please feel the freedom to adapt the session in the best way.
You are responsible to:
Prepare your own session (although we can help if you ask us) Bring your own adapter to a VGA connector Bring (or arrange) any other things you need for your session Identify if you need assistant teachers to help learners (we may be able to get volunteers to help) If applicable, please share your session code in Github at the end.
If you have costs in preparation (printouts, etc), please save your receipts and we will reimburse you. If the costs are expected to be higher than 50 Euros, please let us know in advance and we may need to adjust the price of the sesison. Location Host Brief
Thanks for offering your space for our session! The typical Guru Session needs the following: Meeting room or open space where about 20 people can sit, watch a presentation, and work on laptops. Power strips and wifi Plates, cups, napkins and cutlery for the lunch and pizza Whiteboard and/or flipcharts (optional)
You are responsible to
Open the space available 30 minutes before the session, Help the Guru and Volunteer during setup. Help locate materials, wifi password, etc. Be reachable during the event if the Volunteer has questions or needs site assistance. Enjoy the fame & pizza Tell us when to leave Optionally, the Guru or Volunteer may ask to see the space in advance, hopefully you can give them a tour.
If any of these give you trouble, please let us know and we’ll find a solution. Appsterdam Volunteer Brief
Appsterdam will always provide a volunteer onsite to ensure the Appsterdam tone and help the event moves smoothly. You will be responsible to: Arrange lunch if it’s a lunch session, or just beer delivery if it isn’t. You can pick this up yourself and bring it to the location Or ask the Location Host if they can accept Albert Heijn delivery the day before! There is a suggested lunch shopping list below, based on our experiences Arrive early to help setup the space and lunch. Be onsite liaison if anything is needed during the session. Take attendance and collecting the money, possibly giving out namecards if we have them Open the Appsterdam Guru Session with a kickoff announcement. Describe Appsterdam, thank the Guru & Location and any sponsors Order the pizza about an hour before session end If you are also participating in the session, be sure to set your alarm so you don’t forget! 10 large pizzas from New York Pizza are usually enough for 20 attendees + speaker/host/volunteer. Call them (0900-0102) and ask for a discount for so many pizzas, they usually give a good deal. Close the session and thank the Guru, kick off the pizza eating and beer drinking. Handle the money from the session, reimburse Guru, Location Host or yourself for any costs (lunch, pizza, etc) Help clean up and close up the space when it is time to go

Lunch Menu

For lunch shopping for 20 people, I recommend

  • 4 loaves bread
  • 3 “voordeel” packs of sliced cheese
  • 3 packs of sliced meats
  • Butter
  • Lettuce
  • Peanut butter, Hagelslag
  • 2 bags of potato chips
  • 2 boxes of grapes
  • Some juice and frisdrank, probably (check with Location Host, sometimes they are willing to provide it)
  • 48 beers (not for lunch, but for the pizza!)

Totally usually ends up around 40-50 Euros.

Template for the Meetup invitation

Guru, Location Host and Event Organizer should agree these basic items, and publish on Meetup as early as possible!
Title: Appsterdam Guru Session: [SESSION TITLE] Date & Time: [DATE AND TIME] Location: [COMPANY NAME AND ADDRESS] Max Participants: 20 Companies to be thanked: [Is the Guru doing this on his/her own, or is a company donating his/her time? Location Host. Sometimes there is also a sponsor] Text: Appsterdam Guru Sessions are informal, very hands-on workshops to share a technology or a technique. Explanation from your peers, open discussion and practical experience are key to these sessions. 
[EXAMPLE DESCRIPTION: On December 2, [the following design gurus from BNO and Appsterdam] will lead a hands-on session to teach designers about the App world. It’s aimed at designers who are starting to explore the App world, or looking to change from print & web design to Apps. We’ll teach you in the way designers learn best: establish the right design principles, apply them in workshops.]
And best of all, we’ll round off the afternoon with pizza and beer.
[EXAMPLE AGENDA Agenda: 12:00 – Doors open, gather, eat lunch 13:00 – Workshop starts 17:00 – Beer, Pizza and socializing until closing time ]
This session is targeted at [developers]. [LIST PREREQUISITE EXPERIENCE, TOOLS THAT ARE NEEDED]
We ask a €20 registration fee (payable onsite) to cover expenses and food. Space is limited to 20 people, so please notify us if you need to cancel before the session.