OpenEd20

State and regional OER conferences are critical to achieving sustainable open education efforts because it provides the opportunity for many more faculty, librarians and students, who could not otherwise attend an OER conference, to learn about open education practices. The pandemic led to the cancellation of all physical state and regional conferences planned for 2020. Some moved to an online delivery platform while others went completely online. In this session, experienced state and regional conference organizers will share their experiences with past, present and future OER conferencing at this level. Among the issues the panelists will address are:

* How to manage a completely remote conference and will that be the future of state and regional OER conferences;

* Best practices for organizing a state or regional-level conference and how to structure the planning committee;

* Strategies for creating an inclusive conference that supports diversity and encourages participation from faculty, librarians, students and others with a vested interest in open education;

* Working with third-party virtual conference companies for support of a totally online conference;

* How can the open community better share resources (e.g., planning documents) in an open fashion in support of conference planning and organizing.



As more states develop organizations for leading and managing their open education programming and initiatives for statewide action and advocacy, the open community will see the growth of state and regional conferences. Now is the time to learn how we can all help each other to develop skills and methods for organizing successful physical and virtual conferences.

Learning Outcomes:

* Examine how the pandemic has affected state and regional OER conferences and how this could impact future conferences in a post-pandemic world;
* Identify best practices for organizing OER conferences that use face-to-face, online or hybrid approaches that lead to successful programs;
* Learn the logistical methods for organizing conference planning teams and how to operate effective in virtual spaces;
* Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of onsite and remote OER conferences.