Small Web September: Retrospective & Feedback!

[enchantedsleeper]

As I mentioned in the Wrap-Up Post for Small Web September, now that the event is all done and dusted, I'd love to know if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions to share! (It's totally okay if you don't, of course!)

This is the first time that the event has been run, and I'd be excited to run it again next year if there's interest. But I'd also love to know if there's anything that people would like to change, add, or do differently. Freeform thoughts are incredibly welcome, but I've also come up with some prompts/questions if you're not sure what aspects of the event to feed back on:

• What did you think of the event format? (Regular 'check-in' posts with engagement/replies in the comments)
• What did you think of the check-in frequency? (Weekly check-ins for a total of 5 during the month). Too many/too few/about right?
• What did you think of the themes (goal-setting, troubleshooting, recs, etc.) - are there any others you'd like to see?
• What did you think of the timing and duration? (I like the name "Small Web September", but I'd still be open to feedback about how September works for everyone, timing-wise! And who knows, maybe there'll be ideas for events at other times of the year... 🗓️)
• Do you have any other thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks in advance for anything you'd like to offer! 😊

Comments

[tempural]

First of all thank you so much for everything! And for having pre-made questions for us to answer, cuz i def need that help to think of things to comment...!

• What did you think of the event format? (Regular 'check-in' posts with engagement/replies in the comments)

I liked it! Checking in thru the week felt nice, and then refreshing the page the next day to see what else people have made. I feel like people who post later in the week may not get as many eyes on their post though, so I wanna see if DW has email notifications for posts within a community 🤔

• What did you think of the check-in frequency? (Weekly check-ins for a total of 5 during the month). Too many/too few/about right?

Just right! 5 feels perfect, especially with the retrospective and wrap up to digest everything.

What did you think of the themes (goal-setting, troubleshooting, recs, etc.) - are there any others you'd like to see?

Loved all the themes. Felt like they fit in perfectly with a "narrative" of us trying to get stuff together, doing research, and then finding help. I especially love the rec theme, I love browsing curated links! As for other themes... Maybe one week focusing on accessible HTML (for screen readers and general best practices)? CSS styling?

• What did you think of the timing and duration? (I like the name "Small Web September", but I'd still be open to feedback about how September works for everyone, timing-wise! And who knows, maybe there'll be ideas for events at other times of the year... 🗓️) Do you have any other thoughts or suggestions?

The timing was good, I don't think there's too much other stuff happening in September and 1 month is good to get one small project done! I'd love to see other events at different times. Maybe some very small events, like a week-long bash, or even a flash weekend where everyone huddles for what time they can find from friday to sunday?

Anything is cool really, I'm just glad this is on DreamWidth cuz it seems like almost everything else is on twitter, tumblr, or discord and i can't keep up with those sites! Thanks again for a smooth fun event where I got a lot done and got to see so many other people's marvelous work.

[enchantedsleeper]

Thank you so much for all the detailed thoughts! <333 You know what, that's a good point about posts/replies later in the week (as I checked in at the end of the week on a couple of posts myself, due to being busy...) - I think you can turn on tracking for a specific post and get notified about new comments, and I imagine that would also translate into emails if your notifications are set up that way? Maybe it's something that could be included in the event information.

Accessibility best practices is a great theme idea - and I feel like mobile-responsive HTML/CSS would be a useful one to have, too...

I think some flash events would be fun! It would be cool if other members of the comm came up with an event or two - I expect people might feel like they don't have the right status to run an event, but I'm just a regular member of the comm and decided to run something because kalloway encouraged me to give it a go xD It would be nice to see other people try that out!

Thank you for being a part of the event!! \o/ <3