In the Planning Events section of the Handbook, we talked about splitting the year up into logical pieces for your community (semesters, terms or quarters), and doing a big advertising push at the beginning of each. Start by sending out a broad call for participation and input, like the template here.
About a week after that first mail, send one like the template below, reminding people about Study Group, and encouraging them to participate by leading a demo session. For the survey, best to just include the same one from the previous mail, to continue collecting input there.
Variables:
- LOCATION: where your Study Group is - city, institution or otherwise.
- LINK: the link to your main Study Group webpage listing your events.
- SURVEY LINK: link to your input survey
- THE ORGANIZERS: the names of all the Study Group organizers for your local group.
------------------ letter template ------------------------------
Hi everyone,
Have you had a chance to check out the Study Group that's started here at LOCATION? We're a group of scientists, researchers and students who get together to share skills and work together on problems like programming for research, open science strategies, and data management in the lab. Check out our event listings on our website: LINK.
At Study Group, the curriculum is completely driven by you. We like demo-driven, hands-on lessons that show off what tools and techniques you are actually using in your research, and we would be delighted if you would come lead a demo on a topic of your choice. You do not have to be an expert to lead a Study Group lesson! We want to see how you use these tools in real research - and no one knows better than you how you get things done!
Please fill out the survey below, whether you'd like to lead a Study Group session, or just attend one; and if you're up to lead a demo, you can let us know in that survey, too. Leading a demo at Study Group is a great way to practice your teaching and speaking skills in a casual environment, and attending is a great opportunity to learn new skills and meet new colleagues. We hope you'll join us soon!
Survey link: SURVEY LINK
Best regards, THE ORGANIZERS