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HOST A NODE

Thanks for your interest in hosting a node of the 2019 Computational Law & Blockchain Festival! We’re thrilled to have your city as a part of this exciting global initiative.

In order to establish an official node of the 2019 CL+B Fest, you must register your node and agree to the terms and conditions of participation at the following link: REGISTER.

Hosting a node takes significant planning and organization. Of course, how you set up your own node–tracks, schedule, etc.–is up to you. A node can be anything from a university classroom or co-working space focused on a single track of the Festival (e.g., the Hack track) to a full-scale conference at a large innovation center, law firm, or corporate campus covering all three tracks. Nodes should feel free to use and contribute to our collection of educational and prototyping resources.

Below, we provide recommendations on how to host a successful node. tl;dr:

  1. Build an organizing team and partner with local meetups
  2. Choose your Festival tracks, content (keynotes, workshops, etc.) and schedule (feel free to use our template schedule)
  3. Develop a budget and seek sponsorships or in-kind support
  4. Find a venue with great A/V, connectivity, and food options
  5. Invite local speakers, moderators, mentors, and judges
  6. Promote your node and invite participants through social media, etc.
  7. Find volunteers to help manage your node (1 volunteer per 10 participants)
  8. Draft an enforceable code of conduct to promote a welcoming environment
  9. Comply with applicable laws, rules, and regulations
  10. Have fun!

To host a successful node, we recommend you take the following steps as soon as possible:

  • Seek organizing partners: As a first step, we recommend reaching out to like-minded meetups, universities, law firms, and corporate partners to make your node as successful as it can be. Larger cities typically have Legal Hackers, legal technology, civic technology, blockchain, and smart contracts Meetups, and many universities and law schools have student clubs covering those topics. Consider contacting the group organizers to ask about partnering on your node.
  • Choose your schedule: Nodes are encouraged to host all three tracks of the Festival (Learn. Hack. Discuss.), but ultimately the structure is up to you. We’ve created a template schedule you may use for your node.
  • Develop a budget and find sponsors: Each node is required to cover all of its own costs, and each node will be free to attend and participate (e.g., nodes may not sell tickets). The costs to host a node of the Festival will vary from city to city, so we recommend developing a budget for your node. A successful node likely will require some institutional sponsors (university, corporate, law firm, etc.) to help cover the costs of the event. If a sponsor is unable to provide monetary support, consider asking if they would be willing to provide “in-kind” contributions of venue space, food and beverages, prizes, etc. We recommend keeping costs as low as possible and only accepting the amount of sponsorships you need to cover costs.
  • Secure a venue: Find a location that can accommodate the expected number of attendees, with at least one room for each track you plan to host (i.e., learn, hack, discuss).  Rooms should have tables and chairs that enable learning, discussion, and collaboration, as well as power outlets for charging devices.  Great event spaces could include: universities, co-working spaces, corporate offices, law firms, and dedicated community event spaces.
    • Ensure audio/visual equipment: Great equipment is key to a successful node. Nodes should have A/V for presenters and Q&A (e.g., microphones, PA system, projector, screen) and A/V to record presentations to post online.
    • Provide free connectivity: All nodes should provide free Wi-Fi connectivity for participants in order to allow participants to collaborate and share their hacks and ideas.
    • Offer refreshments: Nodes should provide adequate refreshments for attendees, including coffee/tea and snacks. If nodes do not also provide meals, there should be adequate time and nearby options for participants to buy their own food.
  • Find speakers, moderators, and local judges: We strongly recommend relying on local experts to provide keynote addresses, teach educational sessions, lead workshops, moderate policy discussions, provide coaching, and judge hackathon participants. With the event only a few weeks away, reach out to potential speakers as soon as possible.
  • Establish an invitation website and promote your node: We recommend creating a Meetup event, Eventbrite, Splash, Facebook Event, or similar website to enable interested participants to learn more and RSVP. Once you have established your invitation website, promote your event through local media, meetups, social media outlets, and word-of-mouth. Because attendance and participation in a node will be free of charge, you should expect 25-50% attrition from your total RSVP count (i.e., if 100 people sign-up online, 50-75 people will attend).
  • Find volunteers: Volunteers are perhaps the most important part of hosting a successful node. We recommend building a team to help with event setup and breakdown; participant sign-in; food and drinks; coordinating speakers; and answering questions. Consider having one volunteer for every 10 participants.
  • Develop a code of conduct: To ensure a welcoming and safe environment for all participants, a successful node will have a Code of Conduct regarding appropriate and inappropriate behavior during the Festival, with consequences for violations of the code.
  • Share Resources and Tools for LEARN and HACK tracks: We have put together a list of open-source computational law and smart legal contracting resources you can use for prototyping during the CL+B Fest in your node. Your participants may use these (or similar) resources either for  LEARN track educational sessions (teaching attendees how to use the tools) or for HACK track prototyping challenges. We strongly encourage nodes to share these resources with their attendees so they can get familiar well in advance of the festival.
  • Comply with all applicable laws and regulations: Each local node of the Festival is solely responsible for compliance with any applicable laws, rules or regulations in its jurisdiction, including but not limited to laws, rules or regulations related to (1) prizes or contests, (2) securities and finance, (3) the unauthorized practice of law, and (4) political advocacy. Neither Legal Hackers, LLC nor the global organizers of the Computational Law & Blockchain Festival are responsible for the conduct of any Festival node. Each node must have adequate disclosures explaining that any information presented at the Festival is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal or financial advice.
  • Provide local awards and have fun: Celebrate your local winners with awards and prizes! Seek ways to make your node fun for all participants — this is a Festival, after all.

We will be providing more resources, including resources for tracks and templates, as the event approaches.

#clbfest2019

Brought to you by:

In collaboration with: OpenLaw, the Accord Project, Monax, Legal.io, MIT Media Lab (law.mit.edu), Stanford CodeX Blockchain Group, Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy Clinic, and more…

Questions? Email us: clbfest2019 at gmail.