Simon WillisonNov 26, 2022

I think 25 minutes may be my new favourite talk duration

On the one hand, it's a really difficult space to fill: it's similar to a 5 minute lightning talk in that you have to edit drastically to fit the space, but it's a longer slot so it takes ~5 times longer to prepare

But the act of editing down to 25 minutes enforces getting straight to the point while also being long enough to explore more complex issues

And then later people can watch the talk video at 2x speed in just 12.5 minutes!

Show threadColin DeanNov 26, 2022
@simon in my years of hosting conferences, I found that 25 minute talks with 10 minutes between works well for a rolling multitrack conference. It can easily extend to 40 minutes but keep the 10 minute between unless you're going to suffer Q&A, in which case it should be kept to 5 minutes or basically three questions. I don't like doing Q &A anymore, instead of allowing ample time for people to approach the speaker afterwards with the speaker accompanied by a staff member keeping things fluid.
Show threadmasukomiNov 26, 2022

@colindean @simon

At Abstractions conf they had a "speaker room" where the speakers would hang out after their talks and you could go ask them stuff without tying up the conference rooms, or blocking hallways

Bonus: the speakers ended up having great convos with each other about stuff which were fun to just listen in on.

Show threadColin Dean
@masukomi @simon that was one of my favorite features of that conf series and that will definitely return when Abstractions returns
Nov 26, 2022 at 6:19pmMastodon for Android
Show threadmasukomiNov 26, 2022
@colindean @simon still desperately wishing they'd release the videos they recorded. So many AMAZING talks that i want to share with others that exist nowhere else.