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Overview of Lightning Talks Responsibilities

Work with Program team to determine time in schedule for lightning talks.

Have a way for attendees to sign up for lightning talks. We have used Google sheets for a few years. 2025's spreadsheet for reference Decide if sheets should be unlocked during conference, day by day, or all at once ahead of time. Set up a shortened link for opening slides. We've used bit.ly the last few years.

Establish rules for lightning talks for the conference.

2025 rules: - maximum of 5 minutes - Preference will go to attendees who are not giving a talk or organizing. This has been enforced loosely in 2024 and 2025 on a case by case basis.
- Determine if a lightning talk belongs in Community Updates. In 2025, there were a few signups that better fit that section of the conference (just after Keynote each day).

Host the lightning talks (or recruit a host): - Share the rules and expectations at the beginning of the session - Ensure that speakers are ready early in the session - Call speakers up to the stage, help them get ready - Keep time and help the speaker wrap up at the end of time.