CommunityData:Meetup September 2026

We're meeting in Austin on September 25th - 27th!

We'll be taking notes in this shared Etherpad for full group events.

Organizers have used this etherpad to sketch plans and communications.

Photos[edit]

Location links/info[edit]

Parking info coming soon.

Agenda[edit]

Daily schedule[edit]

This is all still subject to change as we figure stuff out...

Friday, September 25th[edit]

Time	Event	Location	Notes
4:30-6pm	Maybe a public event (peer production book talk; poster session; happy hour across the street)? [Tentative]	[To Be Decided]	Several flights land at 3:21pm
6:30-8:30pm	Group Dinner	[To Be Decided]

Saturday, September 26th[edit]

Time	Event	Location	Notes
8:30-9am	Coffee Break	[To Be Decided]
9-10:30	Lightning Talks + CommunityData:The Great Half Bake-Off (Part 1/3)	[To Be Decided]
10:30-11:00	Snack/Coffee Break	[To Be Decided]
11:00-12:30p	Lightning Talks + CommunityData:The Great Half Bake-Off (Group 2/3)	[To Be Decided]
12:30-13:30	Lunch	[To Be Decided]	Lunch options [To Be Decided]
13:30-2:30pm	Lightning Talks + CommunityData:The Great Half Bake-Off (Group 3/3)	[To Be Decided]
2:30-3:00pm	Break
3-5pm	panel and group discussion about life and future of CDSC	[To Be Decided]
7-10pm	Group Dinner	[To Be Decided]

Sunday, September 27th[edit]

Time	Event	Location	Notes
8:30-9am	breakfast
9-10a	Unconference sessions [To Be Decided]
10-11a	Unconference sessions [To Be Decided]
11-12	Unconference sessions [To Be Decided]
12-1pm	leftovers for lunch?
1pm	cleanup and head back!

How lightning talks and half-bake offs will happen[edit]

We're asking everybody attending the retreat to give two talks: (1) a Lightning Talk Introduction, and (2) a submission to the Annual CDSC Half-Bake Off. Each person will have 10 minutes to give a presentation with the following three parts:

LIGHTNING TALK INTRODUCTION (5 minutes): Introduce yourself and your research interests and/or a recent research project you've worked on. Although you don't need to use slides, most people will. Our sense is that a good structure would be 1 slide about who you are, where you come from, what you do for fun, etc., and ~4-5 slides about a recent research project you are/have worked on, a proposal you're planning, or something else. It's up to you how to structure things and you can reach out to any CDSC faculty member for advice. You can also look in the drive to see some examples of what others are putting together.
Half-Baked Idea (2.5 minutes): Present a half-baked idea for a research project. No slides would be fine too! Any more than that and it sounds pretty baked! Remember that the whole point of the half-bake off is to present ideas that are incomplete. Don't feel like this has to be a polished idea or presentation. It can be a loose research topic that you don't know how to approach or a specific idea or anything in between. The point is to get our creative juices flowing and to spark conversations. For inspiration, read the wiki page on CommunityData:The Great Half Bake-Off or look at last year's submissions.
Half-Baked Q&A (2.5 minutes)

The only real rule is that timing (5, 2.5, 2.5 minutes for each person) will be RUTHLESSLY enforced.

Please upload your slides to this year's Google Drive folder ([Forthcoming]) and make sure the presentation has your name in the file.

Unconference Ideas[edit]

Attendee List[edit]

Attendee	Friday Session/Dinner	Saturday Sessions (incl breakfast & lunch)	Saturday Dinner	Sunday sessions (inc breakfast & lunch)
Dionna	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Maddie	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mako	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
[Your name]	[Yes/No]	[Yes/No]	[Yes/No]	[Yes/No]

Dietary Restrictions[edit]

[No need to add yourself here if you are unrestricted.]

Name	Dietary Notes
Mako	Vegetarian
[Your name]	[Your dietary notes]

Accommodations[edit]

Guests seeking accommodation[edit]

If you need accommodations, please fill out the form below.

Name	Do you need accommodations?	What kind are you looking for (Local Host, AirBnb, Hotel)?	What nights?	Are you okay with lodging with other people? Or would you prefer a place to yourself?	Are you okay with sharing a room? (If so, do you have a gender preference?)
Dionna	Yes	AirBnb (but overall fine with anything)	Both (25th and 26th)	Lodge with others!	Yes, female
Maddie	Yes	AirBnb (but also good with anything)	Both (25th and 26th)	Lodge with others!	Yes but would prefer not to if that's possible/reasonable per budget!
Mako	Yes	Open to anything	Both (25th and 26th)	Lodge with others!	Yes, OK with anything
[Your name]	[Yes/No]	[Local Host / AirBnb / Hotel]	[Which nights?]	[Lodge with others, or prefer your own place?]	[OK sharing a room? Gender preference?]

Potential hosts[edit]

If you are willing to host someone from out of town, please add yourself to this form:

Name	Description of sleeping arrangement (how many couches, guest rooms)	Location (neighborhood, distance to venue)	Match
[Your name]	[How many couches, guest rooms?]	[Neighborhood, distance to venue]	[Leave blank — organizers fill in]

Travel Plans[edit]

If you are traveling in from outside, add your name and arrival details here (days, times and flights if you have them, status (purchased/in-progress), any notes).

Copy /paste format, fill in with your details:

[NAME]
- 🛬Date - [WEEKDAY], September [DAY] [time and flight information]
- 🛫Date - [WEEKDAY], September [DAY] [time and flight information]
- Status: [PURCHASED / NOT PURCHASED]

Mako
- 🛬Date - Friday, September 25th on Alaska 352 (departs SEA 9:03am, arrives AUS 3:21pm)
- 🛫Date - Sunday, September 27th on Alaska 339 (departs AUS 7:07pm, arrives SEA 9:36pm)
- Status: PURCHASED

Dionna
- 🛬Date - Friday, September 25th on Alaska 352 (departs SEA 9:03am, arrives AUS 3:21pm)
- 🛫Date - Sunday, September 27th on Alaska 339 (departs AUS 7:07pm, arrives SEA 9:36pm)
- Status: NOT PURCHASED

Maddie
- 🛬Date - Friday, September 25th on Alaska 352 (departs SEA 9:03am, arrives AUS 3:21pm)
- 🛫Date - Sunday, September 27th on Alaska 339 (departs AUS 7:07pm, arrives SEA 9:36pm)
- Status: NOT PURCHASED

Previous Meetups[edit]

We meet once a year (formerly twice a year when we were a little smaller) and you can see what we've done in the past at: