Planning Fedora Events with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Focus

Image Source; An X post, view link here

Successful events require careful planning and coordination. From selecting the venue and speakers to ensuring accessibility and engagement, every detail contributes to a well-organized and impactful experience.

At Fedora, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Team plays a vital role in ensuring that Fedora events uphold these principles. By prioritizing diverse representation, accessibility, and community engagement, Fedora events foster collaboration and innovation while reflecting the project’s commitment to inclusivity.

This guide outlines best practices for organizing Fedora events with a DEI-focused approach, ensuring that all contributors—regardless of background or experience—can participate fully and meaningfully.

Pre-Event Planning

This stage involves defining event goals and objectives, identifying the target audience while ensuring diverse representation, and selecting the event format (virtual, in-person, or hybrid).

Identify the Purpose of Your Event

Before planning an event, it is essential to determine its purpose and objectives. Clearly defining the event’s goals will guide decision-making, resource allocation, and overall event structure.

Consider the following when establishing your event’s purpose:

1. Recurring vs. One-Time Events

   • Is this a regularly scheduled event that occurs annually, quarterly, or at another set frequency?

   • Or is it a timely event created in response to a specific need or issue observed within the Fedora community?

   • Is the event an opportunity to introduce Fedora to a wider audience?

2. Community Engagement and Collaboration

   • Is the event designed to strengthen relationships and foster collaboration among Fedora community members?

   • Will it provide networking opportunities and build camaraderie within the community?

   • Does it align with Fedora’s broader mission, such as improving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in open source spaces?

A great example is the Fedora Week of Diversity, an annual event that highlights community members and their notable contributions. You can read more about it here

Define Target Audience

By understanding the event’s objectives, organizers can identify whether the audience consists of existing Fedora contributors, newcomers to open source, students, developers or underrepresented groups. This step is crucial because it helps tailor the event activities, speakers, and accessibility measures to ensure an inclusive and impactful experience for all attendees.

The Fedora week of Diversity reaches thousands of contributors from various backgrounds and time zones.

Selecting Event Format (Virtual, In-person or Hybrid)

At this stage, the organizers determine if the event will be virtual, In-person or hybrid. This is based on considering the audience's location, accessibility needs and budget.

• Virtual Event: This covers a larger audience and is very cost-effective. An example is the Fedora Week of Diversity.

• In-person Event: This is mostly for networking, hands-on workshops or training (e.g. Hackathons) and community bonding. A perfect example is the Flock to Fedora conference that takes place annually.

• Hybrid Event: Live-streamed and recorded sessions allow remote audiences to participate, making the event more inclusive

Speakers and Guests

Speaker at the 2023 Fedora Flock event. Image source

Speakers play a vital role in delivering insights and engaging audiences. A key strength of the open source community is its accessibility, bringing together individuals from various fields who apply their backgrounds in innovative ways. Culture, education, and lived experiences shape how people contribute to open source, influencing their problem-solving approaches and collaboration styles. By inviting speakers with diverse perspectives, you create a more dynamic, thought-provoking, and engaging experience for your audience.

Speakers Best Practices

At Fedora, we make sure our speakers are well-prepared and supported so they can deliver an engaging and inclusive experience. Here are some key best practices;

• Speakers must follow Fedora’s Code of Conduct to foster a welcoming environment.

• Speakers should encourage mindful participation by including Q&A, workshops and other interactive.

• Provide speakers with slide templates, and links to brand assets from our documentation for consistent branding.

• Speakers should stay within their allocated time to keep the event running smoothly. Here is the schedule for Fedora Week of Diversity

Call for Proposals (CFP)

A well-structured CFP ensures fair and transparent speaker selection and encourages a wide range of voices. It also outlines event themes, submission guidelines, and expectations. Here is the link to Fedora’s Call for proposals.

Fedora’s week of diversity included a CFP during the last year event hightling the topic of interest, format used, code of conduct and submission guideline

Accessibility and Code of Conduct

A welcoming community sets clear expectations for behaviour, and Fedora’s Code of Conduct ensures that everyone feels respected and included, whether new or existing community members. At events, this should be visible and easy to reference, so attendees understand expected behavior. Additionally, organizers should notify the Code of Conduct committee in advance to ensure preparedness.

Beyond community guidelines, accessibility is key to making sure everyone can fully participate. Here’s what to consider when planning your event:

Location:

• Pick a venue that’s easy to find and accessible by public transportation.

• Ensure it has ramps, elevators, accessible seating, and restrooms.

• Avoid locations with restrictive travel policies that could limit attendance.

• Provide clear maps and directions, highlighting accessible routes.

• For online events, use a widely accessible platform like YouTube to ensure easy access, live-streaming, and captions.

Date and Time:

• Choose a time that accommodates the majority of the audience.

• Avoid scheduling events on major cultural or religious holidays to ensure inclusivity.

• Record sessions for people who could not attend an in-person event.

• List event times in UTC alongside major time zones to avoid confusion.

Communication and Visual Accessibility:

• Offer sign language interpreters or real-time captions (CART services).

• Provide translated materials, live interpretation, or captions in multiple languages.

• Avoid flashing lights or overly stimulating visuals that could trigger sensitivities.

• Make sure assistive listening devices are available if needed.

Dietary Needs (In-person event):

• Include a section for dietary restrictions in the event registration form.

• Offer meal options that consider religious and cultural needs (e.g., halal, kosher, vegan, gluten-free).

• Clearly label all food with ingredients and allergens.

• Provide a variety of non-alcoholic drinks, including water and juices

Check out the following links for more accessibility guides:

Diversity and Inclusion: The Ultimate DE&I Event Planning Checklist

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity: A Guide for Event Planners

Event Promotion & Community Engagement

Now that all the event plans are in place, it’s time to spread the word and get people excited. After all, what’s an event without attendees? Promoting the event effectively ensures maximum visibility and engagement. Here’s how to make that happen:

Marketing Strategies for Outreach

• Create a compelling event announcement that highlights its purpose and key speakers. Utilize Fedora’s blogs, Fedora’s magazine, and discussion forums.

• Work with the Fedora design team to create visually appealing graphics tailored to the event. Here are some examples of printed materials for outreach.

• Collaborate with Fedora’s marketing team.

• Encourage Fedora contributors and past attendees to amplify the event through their networks.

• Highlight stories from past diverse attendees to encourage broader participation.

Engaging Local DEI Communities for Participation.

• Engage DEI-focused groups by offering scholarships or sponsorships.

Leveraging Social Media

• Promote the event on Fedora’s official X, Mastodon, and Instagram.

• Host pre-event Q&A session to drive participation

Post-event Follow-up

• Share event coverage across Fedora’s platforms. Follow Fedora’s SOP for Stream uploads for guidelines.

• Create a detailed report documenting attendee demographics, accessibility feedback, and overall participation. Check out the Fedora Week of Diversity report to see how the report can be structured.

• Gather input from attendees and speakers through surveys to identify strengths and areas for improvement. This can be done by sending them post-event emails.

• Offer mentorship programs for new contributors who engaged during the event.

Recommendations from My Research

Based on my research, I recommend that Fedora:

• Properly document and sustain long-term partnerships with DEI-focused communities to ensure continuous collaboration and future reference.

• Regularly update the list of upcoming events to keep the community informed and encourage participation.

• Call for volunteers and provide them with necessary training early in the planning process to help with event execution, ensuring a smoother experience for organizers.

• Release registration forms in advance to collect essential attendee information and accessibility needs, which will improve logistical planning.

• Offer more structured mentorship or training for first-time speakers to improve session quality and boost confidence.

Conclusion

Creating inclusive and accessible events ensures that everyone in the community can fully participate and contribute. While Fedora has made significant progress in fostering diversity and accessibility, there’s always room to grow. By refining strategies, strengthening partnerships, and actively incorporating community feedback, Fedora can continue leading the way in building truly inclusive open source events.