OpenNews After Party toolkit

You go to a great event, maybe hosted by OpenNews in some way, and spend the week or weekend surrounded by excitement and passion and innovation and ideas and you’re ready to bring it back to your newsroom. So now what?

These resources are here to help.

How to get the most out of this toolkit

Personal practice, skillsharing, tough conversations … how can we help?

Planning exercise (what to do before you go)

How a few minutes of prep work can set you up for success.

Get organized (tips for the flight or train ride home)

Three ways to collect your thoughts for effective sharing.

Write a 1-pager for your boss

How to identify key takeaways and suggestions and share them with a manager.

How to host a brown-bag session

An effective, informal way to share information with peers.

How to make handouts and tipsheets

Good takeaway materials are clear and memorable.

Setting SMART goals

A framework for figuring out your vision, then making a plan to act on it.

How to build your case for change

Four key steps to putting together the case for your new idea.

There are many ways you can make use of the After Party toolkit. You can read through the entire package and decide to use all of the resources we’ve developed. You might also skim over the entire package and decide to use just one of the resources included here—that’s totally fine!

But if you’re looking for a bit more structure, we’ve included the following personas and recipes to help create distinct pathways through the toolkit. Again, these are just starting points and recommendations, and you can mix and match across the toolkit however you like. Take a quick read through the persona statements below. If any of them sounds familiar to you, go ahead and explore the toolkit in the order recommended for that persona.

I didn’t do any prep, but this seems like a great idea. Where should I start?

• Start with “Get organized (tips for the flight or train ride home)”
• Next dive deeper with “Write a 1-pager for your boss”
• Finally, use the “SMART goals” exercise to create your vision

I go this event every year but my boss wants more out of me this time.

• Start with the “Planning exercise” before you go to the event
• Next dive deeper with “Write a 1-pager for your boss”
• Then, share what you learned by checking out “How to host a brown-bag session” and “How to make handouts and tipsheets”

I’m a manager of a team and I want my team to learn a new skill or workflow.

• Start with “Get organized (tips for the flight or train ride home)”
• Next use the “SMART goals” exercise to create your vision and plan
• Learn “How to build your case for change”
• Use the resources on “How to host a brown-bag session” and “How to make handouts and tipsheets” to arm your team for success

I’m a newsroom leader who wants to make a significant change in how we operate.

• Start with the “SMART goals” exercise
• Next, use the “Planning exercise” to get the most out of your event
• Finally, use the “Get organized (tips for the flight or train ride home)” and “Write a 1-pager for your boss” activities to make a plan for change
• You may also want to check out “How to build your case for change” to learn how to message your plan to the team

I’m new or young in my newsroom and still getting established. How can I still contribute?

• Start with the “Planning exercise” before you attend your event
• After your event “Get organized” as quickly as possible
• Next “Write a 1-pager for your boss” and see how they would like you to contribute
• Maybe even offer to “Host a brown bag session” and check out the resources there

I’m an only-lonely in my news organization, I have no one to share with!

• Start with the “Planning exercise” before you attend your event.
• Try setting some “SMART goals” to make a longer-term plan for how you want to make the event valuable
• After the event, use the “Get organized” exercise to see what you learned and how you want to apply it to your work

This resource is part of the OpenNews After Party toolkit, developed by Emma Carew Grovum. It’s meant to help you get the most out of SRCCON—or any journalism event—and share what you learn with your own organization.

The toolkit is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, and we’d love to see you use or adapt it for your own event—all we need is a link back here. We’d also be thrilled to hear how you put what you learn into practice, so please tweet us at #OpenNewsAfterParty!