The purpose of this space is to provide the Paleo Data Working Group with a transparent way to keep track of topic ideas, and to schedule and plan happy hour events.
Is this happy hour related to any topic idea issues? If so, please link to issue(s) here:
Please note that until the end of October 2025, we have funding for Alex Cano (NMNH) to assist with happy hour logistics. In the checklist below, tasks that Alex will do are noted. Other tasks are the responsibility of the PDWG member hosting this happy hour.
[x] (Alex) Create a Google Doc for shared notes in the appropriate folder of the PDWG Google Drive, e.g. 2024 Paleo Happy Hour Notes Recordings, using the naming convention of _YYYYMMDD_paleo-happy-hournotes, e.g. “20240111_paleo-happy-hour_notes”
To create a new shared notes doc by copying one from a previous Happy Hour, go to File > Make a copy from within the previous Google Doc, then rename the new document
Make sure that Sharing is set to “Anyone on the internet with the link can edit”
A couple weeks in advance
[x] Prepare for the topic by creating presentation or activity materials, if necessary, and/or by coordinating with guest speakers
The week of
[x] (Alex) Create a Zoom link for the Happy Hour meeting
[x] Send out a reminder email to paleo-data@googlegroups.com including details about (at least) the Happy Hour date, time, topic, and Zoom link
Example email subject: "Thursday 5/17 at noon Eastern - Paleo Data ‘Happy Hour’”
Example email text: “Please join us for the next biweekly Paleo Data Happy Hour on Thursday, May 17th at 12pm Eastern (UTC-5). The Zoom link for this meeting will be: [insert link]. Our theme for informal discussion this week is a working session for identifiers. In December 2020, Holly Little led a Happy Hour overview of where and why we might want to be using unique identifiers in our collections data. If you have time, reviewing the recording, notes, and/or slides [include links] from that may be useful preparation for this Happy Hour, in which we will be focusing on specific identifiers (e.g. Wikidata QIDs, WoRMS AphiaIDs, Macrostrat IDs, etc.) that work best for specific types of data (e.g. people, taxa, stratigraphic units, etc.)."
[x] Post a version of the reminder email to the #general channel on our Paleo Data Slack
The day of the scheduled Happy Hour
[x] Launch Zoom at least 5 minutes prior to the scheduled meeting time so that you can confirm Zoom is working as expected
[x] At the scheduled start time, welcome everyone and let them know the meeting will be recorded
[x] (Alex) Begin recording
[x] Lead or otherwise facilitate the progress of the Happy Hour, including introducing speakers (if appropriate), sharing the link to the notes document, moderating conversation, and closing the meeting on time
[ ] (Alex) Cross check Happy Hour attendance between the shared notes self-reported attendance and Zoom; update the shared notes as needed
If necessary, after the meeting ends you can find the attendance report in your Zoom account online, go to Reports > Usage then select the date of the Zoom meeting and look for a column called Participants
After the scheduled Happy Hour
[x] (Alex) Make the recording available by downloading an MP4 file from Zoom and uploading it to the appropriate folder of the PDWG Google Drive, e.g. 2024 Paleo Happy Hour Notes Recordings, using the naming convention of _YYYYMMDD_paleo-happy-hourrecording, e.g. “20240111_paleo-happy-hour_recording”
[x] (Alex) Update the topic on our GitHub website here by adding a link to the recording and by moving the topic down into the relevant section, e.g. from “2024 – Upcoming” to “2024 – Past”
[x] (Alex) On the shared notes Google Doc, change the Sharing setting to “Anyone on the internet with the link can view” to better protect the document from unintentional editing in the future
[x] Coordinate any followup from the Happy Hour as necessary, e.g. making progress on group action items, or thanking guest speakers
Checklist for hosting a PDWG Happy Hour
Is this happy hour related to any topic idea issues? If so, please link to issue(s) here:
Please note that until the end of October 2025, we have funding for Alex Cano (NMNH) to assist with happy hour logistics. In the checklist below, tasks that Alex will do are noted. Other tasks are the responsibility of the PDWG member hosting this happy hour.
A month or more in advance
A couple weeks in advance
The week of
The day of the scheduled Happy Hour
After the scheduled Happy Hour