OKFest Info Pack: Guest Programme Planners

As you all know, having been here from the beginning, the Open Knowledge Festival’s programme is amazingly diverse this year, with over 150 sessions and satellite events in 13 guest-planned Topic Streams from “Transparency and Accountability” to “Openness in Sustainability”. Around 100 OKFest organizers and Guest Programme Planners have been involved in building the programme – and even more of you are giving a presentation, participating in a panel discussion or running a workshop. This is why we think you are all awesome. You’ve made OKFestival what it is!

Truly, it has been the diversity and commitment of the people involved that has been the strength of this (very much community-run, on a shoestring budget!) event – the largest open data gathering we’ve ever seen. At the same time, we do realise that the vast number of organizers and speakers may create some challenges for communication – so this page will share practical information for each of you as speakers to ensure your experience is inspiring and pleasant!

If you have questions during the week that aren’t answered here, please go to the Info Desk, where #OKFestCrew and Core Crew folk will be available to help you out. Best of luck, many thanks, and we’ll find you all in Helsinki!

GPP Bulletins and Emails

You all should have already received Participant Bulletins #1, 2 and 3 (as well as many emails with updates and fun new things to do!) from Kat and Juha - but if you haven’t been getting emails from us, please let us know via info (at) okfestival.org. We want to make sure everyone is in contact, as communication is key to this event running smoothly!

Venue Location and Spaces

  1. To get to the OKFestival venue at Aalto University School of Art and Design (Arabia Campus) we have prepared a few sets of directions based on your mode of transport. Details are also provided in the OKFestival print pamphlet above.
  2. Venue Photos + Floorplans - the Aalto Uni venue are in a former factory, which makes exploring it quite the adventure! This should give you the clarification you need to find your sessions, but if you get lost, there will also be signs posted throughout the venue, and you can always pop by the Info Desk if you have a question or need a guide!

Key Times and Dates for GPPs

  1. Tues - Fri, 9 - 10 am: Every morning between 9:00 and 10:00 (before the INSPIRE Morning Plenary), free morning coffee will be served at the INSPIRE Foyer. This time will serve as the meeting point for Session Hosts & Speakers as well as a space for you to meet invited guests before it all kicks off.
  2. Tues - Fri, 10-11 am: MORNING INSPIRE PLENARIES. Details on the Schedule for each day. Be sure to direct guests to these to hear summaries of what’s happening each day - also, be sure that at least one of you is available to do a brief shout-out for your Topic Stream on stage during the ‘Topic Streams of the Day‘ portion of the plenary!
  3. Tues evening after programming: OKFestival Welcome Reception for all guests, hosted by the Open Knowledge Foundation‘s Rufus Pollock, with music and drinks. Don’t forget to tell your speakers and guests to join us!
  4. Fri Summary Day in INSPIRE Auditorium: You’ve already gotten an email from Kat about this, but we also ask that someone from each Topic Stream come to the INSPIRE Auditorium in the afternoon to summarise and reflect on how the week went. This doesn’t have to be a GPP - it can be a guest or a participant - but we’d like each Topic Stream to be represented. Don’t forget to let us know who is coming on the Planning Pad.
  5. Sat evening: The OKFestival ‘karonkka‘ - after cleaning up the OKFest venue, we will arrange an OKFest decompression event for #OKFestCrew and GPPs, to thank each other and say goodbye one last time! Details will be emailed.

Lunch Vouchers and Food

A healthy lunch of Finnish cuisine options will be provided by a local catering company in the INSPIRE Foyer for a discounted rate of 8EUR/day. To reserve your lunch, vouchers are available online until 3pm GMT on Mon Sept 17th.

If you’d like to eat at the venue, we strongly recommend reserving in advance to avoid long queues. For the more adventurous, there are also various restaurants and cafes in the neighbourhood to explore. Light snacks will also be for sale in the INSPIRE Foyer in evenings.

 Important Documents

>> Info for your Speakers and Session Hosts: this is a useful page with all the information those involved in your programming will need to get started during the week.

>> Contact Information Master Document: OKfest Core Organisers, Guest Programme Planners, #OKFestCrew, Venue staff, Tech contacts, etc (add yourself here if you’re not added already so we can find you!)

>> Venue Photos + Floorplans - the Aalto Uni venue is a bit complex, but quite beautiful - this should give you the clarification you need to share with speakers/session hosts!

>> Tech info: Technical information about all OKfest spaces (an Etherpad page - will be updated regularly)

>> Schedule for setup (Sat 15 + Sun 16 + Mon 17) and takedown (Sat 22)

>> OKFestCrew schedules for Mon 17 Sept-Fri 21 Sept

>> OKFestival graphics (logo, font, banners, etc)

The OKFestival Participant Package

When you arrive at the OKFestival venue on your first day, you’ll receive the following info pack in your participant bag which provides all the details you’ll need for the week – but here it is in PDF form for those of you who want a preview!

Participant Info Pack for OKFestival 2012 from

That’s it for now, guys. We’ll see you this week!