Making the next GovCamp Scotland better
Post by Jonathan Waldheim-Ross
It has now been a few months since Scotland’s first Govcamp (in a decade) and the silence from the organnisers has been deafening.
There are of course many reasons for this, primarily the boringly obvious one being that we are all very busy people, with various commitments both inside and outside of work.
As dedicated digital professionals we do like nothing more than reflecting on anything we’ve been involved in though, from both a comms and process improvement perspective.
So you’ll be pleased to hear that the organising group have managed to get together to discuss our experience of planning and running the event.
All teams need to inspect their processes
Using the Continue / Stop / Invent / Act template familiar to many delivery teams, we convened to look back. Super Mario made an appearance, and people had plenty to say.
These lessons in their raw format, alongside the data we collected in the post-event survey will be so useful for organising the next GovCamp Scotland.
Some high level themes in the retro included:
Delivery and atmosphere - The event was well received, with great vibes, plenty of opportunity for mingling, and an excellent venue with awesome catering.
Identity and engagement - It stood out from typical conferences, with clear roles, enthusiastic pitching, and memorable touches like Ross’s kilt and Hugh as compere.
Operational challenges - Attendance was slightly below target, planning felt pressured, and there were gaps in comms, and post-event processes.
Refinements for the future - Session format variety, volunteer roles definitions and development of a sustainable model for running the event.
What next for Govcamp Scot?
In the retro, we wondered: how could we do a comparable or even a better event? We ran this one on a shoestring budget, but could we manage that again? Could we run the event elsewhere in Scotland to make it easier to get to? Maybe we need to set up an entity to make the thing more sustainable - but what kind, and how to keep it as a community event rather than an enterprise? How do we attract those people who made a success of this event again, and bring in the other groups we felt were missing?
A lot of questions and challenges. But we can’t be daunted.
Overall the reaction to this year’s event was phenomenal, feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive and it seems there is a decent core of public sector digital practitioners who felt this was a worthwhile event.
Ultimately, we decided that the only way to figure it out if it will work again is to go again. We are excited about bringing this community of practice together again as well as the opportunities to try new things as well. And this time to bring in fresh perspectives and energy into the organising group.
If the next (2026?) event is to prove as big a success then a new organising committee will need to be formed soon, so if you would like to be involved get in touch.