First thing which comes to mind is: how well prepared the formstormers should be.
Reasons I find it important are:
- 3hours is not a longtime, so the long brainstorming would be inappropriate. (on the pic below this edition of FormStorm happens closer to the point B)
- Different levels of prepared-to-send-in is a challenge for the following reason: if we want to be realistic about the success of the application, most robust and fleshed out projects should get most attention and peer-review. However, ones at the creative stage might appear more exciting, because this stage is more fun than a brushing up stage. We have to bear this in mind.
So, my suggestion is, that FormStormers should be prepared, and even more so, given different levels of priority. Equality is for kids and kittens.
COPY STANDARD WORKSHOP PREPARATION / HOMEWORK
This means that the FormStrom 3hour Online Edition should have a prep stage. We don’t have to invent the wheel here, because we can copy a standard preparation to a workshop at the academic conference.
Each FormStormer does 1.Short personal presentation with the focus on relevant fields of knowledge/expertise/experience. 2.Short description of the project. 3. Relevant links. 4.Short list of main needs/problems/questions. Highlighted keywords is great - speeds up the process.
FormStormers quickly look through each other’s homework.
That’s usually a standard procedure before any workshop they do during conferences, for the purpose of not getting stuck in the Chaos of Creativity Stage.
I agree that FormStormers of all levels of preparedness will benefit from participating and should do so, but categorization and priority might be useful from the practical point of view.
This all might sound a bit strict, but I think it is never to late to add some chaos, I’m quite good at it. So we should not worry about making a structure too rigid: it’s only for 3 hours and there is no risk of loosing any of the valuable chaos.