Festive Tech Calendar 2024: My Journey with Data Popkorn
A Few Words About Festive Tech Calendar
Festive Tech Calendar 2024 is an incredible community initiative by CloudFamily, offering a platform for tech enthusiasts to share their knowledge and passion. This is my fifth contribution to this series, and every year has been an exciting journey. Big thanks to Gregor (blog|X) and Richard (blog|X) for running the whole event and letting me be part of it once again!
Please check their JustGiving website where they are raising money for Beatson Cancer Charity.
Previous contributions
2020: The MS Excel - An Unexpected Journey with PowerShell
2021: Arm Your Bicep with D(i)SC
2023: When Python Crashed My Spreadsheet Tea Party
Introducing My First Tech Event: Data Popkorn
What Inspired Data Popkorn?
Festive Tech Calendar inspired me, alongside community-driven initiatives like T-SQL Tuesday (which by the way has a running invitation for the next week by Kevin Chant), where contributors share knowledge on a specific theme.
These events encourage contributors to share knowledge on specific themes, and I wanted to create something similar: a platform where data professionals could share bite-sized knowledge asynchronously. The goal was to combine education with accessibility—short, impactful videos that could inspire and be enjoyed anywhere, anytime.
What Is Data Popkorn?
Data Popkorn is a unique platform where data experts present short, impactful videos designed to fit into your busy schedule.
Key Features
- 100% Free: Knowledge should be accessible to everyone.
- Bite-Sized Content: Videos are capped at 5 minutes, perfect for a coffee break or commute.
- Flexible Viewing: Learn at your own pace and on your schedule.
- Expert Insights: Videos from seasoned data professionals sharing practical tips and tricks.
How to Enjoy
- Sit back.
- Relax.
- Let the flow of Data Popkorn educate and entertain you!
Visit the DataPopkorn YouTube channel here!
Organizing Data Popkorn: The P.O.P.K.O.R.N Framework
P – Plan the Vision
Every successful event begins with clear goals. The vision for Data Popkorn was simple:
- Make it easy for new speakers or first-time creators to participate.
- Focus on short, impactful knowledge that inspires and engages.
Lesson learned: Clearly communicate who is behind the event.
In today’s world, anyone can organize an event, so being transparent about the organizer builds trust and helps presenters decide if they want to participate.
O – Organize the Details
This was the most challenging phase, involving:
- Recruiting speakers from other conferences like (SQLBits, SQLDay, Pass Data Community Summit), as well as identifying emerging professionals.
- Using Sessionize (free for community events) to manage session submissions.
- Collecting videos via OneDrive and scheduling release dates.
- Choosing YouTube as the primary platform for hosting the videos.
- Promoting the event via LinkedIn and other platforms.
- Using ChatGPT for generating illustrations and promotional graphics.
Lesson learned: Communication tools matter. Plan for alternatives, as spam filters or platform issues (e.g., OneDrive link issues) can disrupt communication.
Sometimes the emails did not reach the speakers or the selected service was not accessible (for some reason OneDrive links/invitation did not work well with gmail adresses).
P – Promote with Purpose
- Promotion relied heavily on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and YouTube.
Lesson learned: Build engagement on all platforms and encourage network sharing.
While external referrals performed well, YouTube’s organic reach needs improvement. Explore additional promotion avenues like the SQLcommunity slack or Reddit.
K – Keep the Flow Smooth
- Pre-scheduling videos ensured a seamless release process. This approach avoided the stress of live events and allowed for targeted, timely promotions.
Lesson learned: Schedule content early to handle potential interruptions (family, health, or work emergencies).
Uploading and scheduling videos takes time, so don’t leave it until the last minute!
O – Observe and Adjust
- Technical glitches, such as OneDrive access issues or speakers’ hardware failures.
- Unforeseen personal emergencies (e.g., illness or work conflicts).
- First-time speakers facing difficulties with video editing or audio quality.
Lesson learned: Create a group communication space to foster collaboration and support among speakers and organizers.
A place where speakers and organisers can support each other, so it’s a collaborative effort and not individuals left alone with their own issues.
R – Reflect and Improve
- Engagement metrics are exciting, but the real value lies in personal growth and meaningful audience feedback.
Lesson learned: Don’t obsess over metrics
Focus on creating value and enjoying the process. Numbers are just a by-product.
N – Nurture Relationships
- The event does not end when the videos are live. Highlighting individual contributions on social media ensures ongoing engagement and builds momentum for future events.
Lesson learned: Plan 2–3 future events ahead to maintain continuity and stay organized.
With that in mind, the Call for Sessions for DataPopkorn 2025 Spring is open.
General lessons learned
- Flexibility is important: Life happens — be kind and supportive of contributors juggling health, family, and work priorities.
- Short and Sweet works: 5-minute videos hit the sweet spot, but adding an optional 1-minute track could encourage even more participation.
- Community is Everything: Many contributors were first-time speakers; fostering a welcoming environment made all the difference.
- Iterate and Improve: From technical platforms to promotional strategies, there is always room to do better next time.
Thank You and Final Thoughts
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the Festive Tech Calendar content! If this inspires you to host a similar event, go for it—you’ll learn so much along the way.
Illustrations
Shoutout to ChatGPT’s image generation tools for creating visual content. It is proof that you do not need to be a designer to add creative flair to your projects!
Mikey
