why does a speaker request require date, time, and attendee count?

[carehart]

When one uses the speaker request page, the form offers a date and time (for an event) as well as expected speaker count (among other things)--and it REQUIRES that the requester indicate these 3 things. But I wonder why?

What if the person requesting doesn’t have a specific date in mind but is just open to whenever the speaker may be available? And why should attendee count be required? Not all speakers will make a judgment based on that. :-)

[ddspringle]

The required fields were a requirement handed down from Adobe. In most cases someone requesting a speaker should have a date/time in mind for their event (e.g. conferences, user group meetings) and an estimated number of attendees.

Also, the date is now relevant to when speaker feedback is requested from the one requesting the speaker.

If a requester is just looking for anyone to speak at any point in time, then they can suggest a date that works for them when making the request and the speaker and requester can work it out in email.

No, not all speakers will make a judgement based on number of attendees (or even date) but some will and the data can be used later by Adobe to judge attendance at events their program members are presenting at.

[carehart]

But Denny, you made my point both times: “In most cases someone requesting a speaker should have a date/time in mind for their event”, and “No, not all speakers will make a judgment based on number of attendees (or even date) but some will”.

So that explains why they should not be required fields.

Are you saying that someone at Adobe is saying that they MUST BE REQUIRED? That would seem odd, given both points about how some requesters and presenters would NOT require these things to be brought together.

/charlie

From: Denard Springle [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2014 12:42 PM
To: teamcfadvance/cfSpeakerList
Cc: carehart
Subject: Re: [cfSpeakerList] why does a speaker request require date, time, and attendee count? (#10)

The required fields were a requirement handed down from Adobe. In most cases someone requesting a speaker should have a date/time in mind for their event (e.g. conferences, user group meetings) and an estimated number of attendees.

[ddspringle]

No, I'm saying the 'majority' of speaker requests would include this information, not 'some'. Most.

Making them not required seems counter productive. When filling out any other form where a field is required that you don't have a full answer to... do you simply stop filling out the form or do you put something, anything, in it's place to get to the next step?

The opposite, leaving those fields blank, limits the functionality of the application, provide an ability to simply not include that information (which most speakers asked indicated they would like to have) and yes, is counter productive to the requirements requested by Adobe.

In my view, the occurrence of an individual wishing to request a speaker for an event they don't know when is going to take place or how many people might attend is too rare to warrant disabling the functionality of speaker feedback and indications of nice to have data supported by the majority of speakers.

[carehart]

OK, if you say so. I was just trying to help, and to understand completely the motivation, to help decide whether and how to press the point. I certainly meant no offense.

/charlie

From: Denard Springle [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2014 3:01 PM
To: teamcfadvance/cfSpeakerList
Cc: carehart
Subject: Re: [cfSpeakerList] why does a speaker request require date, time, and attendee count? (#10)

No, I'm saying the 'majority' of speaker requests would include this information, not 'some'. Most.

[ddspringle]

Sorry Charlie - I was a bit coarse about the feedback and for that I apologize.

I just don't see any benefit, in this case, to making those fields not required as it is in opposition to some of the stated goals of the application and only serves (what I would consider to be) a vast minority of users in a single possible use case.

In either case, the application is open source so if someone decides I'm wrong and wants to remove the requirements, I will accept the changes and commit them to acpspeakers.com.