Because sometimes you just have to make an example out of an event...

TIGJam was a four-day event at Hacker Dojo -- "an environment of intense game creation".

Why was it so successful?

1. It was organized by three people for a specific community which was part of a larger community (TIGSource and the indie game scene)
2. It's annual, so more care can be put into each event
3. They came up with date options and then polled the TIGSource community for the final date
4. They registered the event for approval with Hacker Dojo as soon as they knew (2 mo in advance?)
5. They used Eventbrite and charged $50. It was clear this went towards food, shirts, and a big dinner at the end of 4 days.
6. They collected shirt sizes on Eventbrite so they knew exactly how many to order.
7. Night before the first day, they had dinner with some of the people that flew in, then went to the Dojo to arrange the space. It was quick and easy with about 9 people.
8. They emailed out a schedule of landmark events night before, which included:
• Daily intro / announcements
• Lightning talks or demos in the evenings
• Dinner at the very end
• In daily announcements they reminded people the schedule, told them how Hacker Dojo works, that people might walk through, that there are more bathrooms, that other than snacks they have to get their own food. TIGJam staff would attendees ask to tidy up a bit.
9. They made their website tigjam.com show an embedded Google Doc only when accessed from the Dojo. It was used for coordination, announcements, help wanted, but also lots of fun (collaboratively edited and projected on the wall, of course).
10. Format was very open ended, allowed for lots of emergent things to happen, like tournaments in the evening. One was streamed online and had cash prizes donated by attendees.
11. Every day they would take out full trash, empty out the water in the cooler, then get more food, drinks, and ice.
12. They used the Google Doc for special requests on food. Particularly useful when getting alcohol. One person joked and wanted 1985 scotch whisky. We actually had enough to get it for him, made a big deal of it when they gave it to him and said he should share it. He did and was really happy they got it for him.
13. They kept the AC on during the day and at night opened the rolling door. This kept the place cool, relatively unsmelly, and let us "open up" in the evenings.
14. They prepaid a Sunday dinner at a nearby Indian food place for 70 people
15. They asked for help cleaning up before the event was over. Everybody was more than willing.
16. They kept receipts and had a Google spreadsheet of money spent
17. At the end they have almost $500 remaining, which they used to get Hacker Dojo a gift (a new Cisco WiFi access point for the new units!)
18. They sent out a postmortem survey to all attendees after, asking what what did they love, what could have been better, what should they try next year.
19. They hired a truck to haul away excess trash, as required by Dojo policies, but rarely followed. (If your event is so large it overflows the dumpster, you need to solve the problem somehow.)

Kudos to Jeff and the TIGJam team.