ONA12 Session Selector FAQ

1. How does the ONA12 Session Selector work?

We’ve set up a Reddit community for you to vote and comment on the sessions in the Session Selector. All 230 of the session ideas submitted over the past few weeks are posted there. Using Reddit’s voting and commenting features, you can let us know what presentations you’d like to see at the conference.

In order to vote and comment, you’ll need to first sign up for a Reddit account.

Then, browse the submitted session ideas to pick out which sessions you'd like to see at ONA12 in September.

2. How does Reddit work?

Content that’s upvoted will rise to the front page, while content that’s downvoted will be pushed down. You’re able to comment and vote on any session idea, and you can also reply and vote on comments within those posts.

See Reddit’s help pages, including the FAQ and section on reddiquette, for more information on how to use Reddit.

3. Can I still contribute a session idea?

We’re no longer accepting session ideas, but you can apply to speak at the conference until March 27.

4. Why are all the posts uploaded from the same user accounts?

The submitted session ideas were randomized, formatted and posted to the Session Selector by ONA staff and members of the program committee. This process ensures that each session idea will be given a fair shot during the voting and commenting period.

The name of the actual session submitter is included at the bottom of the post. If it’s not there, that means the submitter did not want it included.

5. What happens next?

The voting and commenting period ends April 12. The ONA12 program committee will then use the results from the Session Selector to guide decisions about what sessions to include at the conference. The program committee and ONA staff make all final decisions regarding conference programming.

6. How does the voting work? (Added 3/23)

From Reddit's FAQ:

How is a submission's score determined?

A submission's score is simply the number of upvotes minus the number of downvotes. If five users like the submission and three users don't it will have a score of 2. Please note that the vote numbers are not "real" numbers, they have been "fuzzed" to prevent spam bots etc. So taking the above example, if five users upvoted the submission, and three users downvote it, the upvote/downvote numbers may say 23 upvotes and 21 downvotes, or 12 upvotes, and 10 downvotes. The points score is correct, but the vote totals are "fuzzed".

All sessions submitted to the Session Selector will be considered by the ONA12 program committee. The session scores are only one factor that the committee will consider when making decisions about which sessions to include at the conference.