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Meeting Notes

  • Date: 22-Jan-2025
  • Location: Online

Agenda

Quick update from each workstreams

  • Admin & Meta
  • Branding & Marketing
  • Communication & Outreach
  • Discourse & Editorial
  • Events & Conference
  • Sales & Partnership

Notes

Summary & Details are auto generated with light editing

Transcript | Video

Summary The VizChitra conference planning team finalized a three-year partnership with HSGeek for conference operations and reviewed progress on branding, sponsorship, and event logistics. Key decisions included a January 31st deadline for launch readiness, a paid main conference event at BIC on the 27th, and exploration of additional marketing resources. Next steps are to finalize all tasks by January 31st, and hold a pre-launch call next Wednesday to discuss document sign-offs and tactical launch elements.

Details

  • AI Note-Taking Tool Update: Gurman Bhatia announced that Gemini now handles AI agent work, simplifying the note-taking process. They also noted that while Gemini handles Hindi well, further testing is needed. Name recognition and order remain areas for improvement.

  • Conference Planning: Partnership Agreement with HasGeek: Amit Kapoor detailed a three-year partnership agreement with HSGeek for VizChitra conferences and events. The agreement includes a 50/50 revenue split after expenses, with HSGeek acting as the fiscal host. The agreement covers two event types: free community-building events and paid premier conferences/workshops. Community member expenses will be reimbursed, with guidelines for larger expenses. HSGeek will manage sponsorship, ticketing, sales, and platform aspects, while VizChitra retains editorial and branding responsibilities. Potential conflicts of interest regarding community member sponsorships and honorariums will require clear guidelines. Zainab Bawa provided an example of a conflict of interest scenario, suggesting community resolution. Any profit will be carried forward to fund future events and community honorariums.

  • Conference Planning: Budget and Revenue Projections: Amit Kapoor presented a draft budget, emphasizing that it's a projection and requires community sign-off. They projected a 25/65 revenue split between tickets and sponsorships, with workshops contributing the remainder. The pricing structure for tickets and sponsorship packages is still being finalized. They intend to target sponsors and attendees beyond Bangalore, including potential international speakers. Gurman Bhatia clarified that the conference itself will be a paid event, with staggered ticket sales and a live stream option. Annapurani Vaidyanathan confirmed understanding of the paid conference tickets versus free pre-events.

  • Branding and Editorial Updates: Hamsa Ganesh reported that branding assets are nearing completion, including the logo, color palette, and tagline ("A space to connect and create with data"). They plan to share these assets by Monday and discuss them with the core group. Poojil Tiwari is working on a one-pager and coordinating with Swathi Singh from the editorial team for content alignment. Swathi Singh shared a work-in-progress update on the HSGeek page, highlighting collaboration with Zenab. Zainab Bawa described a public review process for submissions, noting its value for community engagement, membership, and curation. Kiran Jonnalagadda elaborated, emphasizing the benefits of public reviews for feedback, talent recognition, and early engagement with the community. They also discussed the potential use of reviews to incentivize early ticket purchases. Concerns about diluting the main conference experience and the balance between broader engagement and exclusivity of the main event were also raised. Khyati Sagar added a sales perspective, highlighting public reviews as a hook for attracting submissions and as a selling point.

  • Event and Sponsorship Updates: Gurman Bhatia provided an update on events, emphasizing low-fidelity online community building activities until the launch. The call for proposals and registration for the first online event will coincide with the launch announcement. Amit Kapoor shared updates on the sponsorship deck and packages, including platinum, gold, silver, and bronze tiers. They also clarified sponsor responsibilities for booth setup and giveaways. Gurman Bhatia noted engagement with DVS for potential cross-promotion and resource access. Poojil Tiwari suggested changing to weekly calls in the lead-up to the launch to facilitate quicker progress. Amit Kapoor proposed a pre-launch call for next Wednesday. The date and venue for the main conference are set (BIC, 27th) , with workshop space still to be finalized. Rasagy Sharma expressed excitement about the venue, suggesting opportunities for exhibitions.

  • Launch Readiness and Timeline: Amit Kapoor reiterated the good progress on all work streams but emphasized the need to focus on launch readiness for the next meeting on Wednesday. They aimed to finalize all tasks by Thursday, January 31st, for the launch. Further discussions on document sign-offs and tactical launch elements would occur then.

  • Conference Marketing and Resource Allocation: Poojil Tiwari raised the need for additional resources to support conference marketing, particularly marketing analytics, suggesting either internal resource allocation or hiring a paid resource. Zainab Bawa suggested improving UTM tracking and identifying effective marketing channels to better understand customer engagement and purchases. Amit Kapoor indicated a willingness to add resources closer to the event if internal efforts proved insufficient.

  • Content Strategy and Volunteer Engagement: Gurman Bhatia proposed a strategy to streamline content creation by developing material adaptable across multiple platforms, minimizing redundant efforts. They suggested prioritizing strategic planning over manual tasks, delegating operational work to volunteers, especially as the call for proposals expanded the team. The use of internal scheduling tools and a consistent content strategy across platforms was discussed, with Swathi Singh confirming native tools were currently used. Amit Kapoor concluded that they should consider tool subscriptions (e.g., Canva, Buffer) if needed, balancing human resources with tool costs and volunteer contributions.