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Sprints Checklist

Sprints Checklist

This checklist is written for the 2026 conference which is being held at the end of August. The dates should be updated for the next conference.

Pre-conference

  • Brainstorm ways to make sprints friendlier to new contributors
  • Update documentation dates
  • Revise sprints questions on tickets
  • Update the sprints page on the site
April
  • Check-in about learning sprints after OG window closes
May and after
  • Blog article on contributing to sprints
  • Blog article on how to prepare for sprints as a leader
  • Blog article on how to prepare for sprints as a contributor
  • Social media posts on projects that will be showing up
  • Social media posts on the sprints blog posts
June
  • Check-in on venue
    • Confirm room with adequate space for 100 people
    • Ask about TV to support presentations
    • Confirm sprint supplies have been ordered (paper, markers, pens)
    • Confirm sprinters will have access to water
    • Ask about additional smaller room for new feature review team
  • Determine support needs for sprint leaders (in-person and virtual)
  • Give or find someone willing to give lightning talk plugging sprints
  • Find someone to lead intro to contributing to Django
  • Find someone to lead the new feature review process
    • Go through the feature list together, air different views, and work toward consensus
    • Leave comments capturing what was discussed and where things landed
    • Consider pre-work to identify the order of features to review
July
  • Reach out to sprint leaders with preparation resources
    • Project sprint leaders
    • Intro to contributing to Django speaker
    • New feature review leader
  • Reach out to sprint contributors with preparation resources
August
  • Hold office-hour events to help people configure their machines
  • Finalize plan for signs, pens, and markers

Recruiting sprint leaders

  • Recruit sprint mentors
    • Review list of ticket purchases for who is sprinting
  • Encourage projects to have a list of easy tickets ready and publish them beforehand
  • Post on social media asking who is going to sprints to lead a project
  • Some projects to reach out to:
    • Django
    • PyBee
    • Django Girls
    • PyLadies
    • Django REST Framework
    • Wagtail
    • Other DRF packages
    • Django Commons (and its packages)
  • Coordinate online sprint participation
    • Identify sprint project leaders who won't be in person (recruit, but don't actively plan until confirmed)
    • Set up Slack channels per project; encourage use of huddles for synchronous conversations
    • Coordinate with Django Discord
    • Use the forum for project and sprint communication

During conference

  • Verify strong Wi-Fi in the venue (work with the venue team on this)
  • Check the temperature of the sprints rooms
  • Make sure sprinters know when & where lunch is so food isn't wasted