The 1st On Think Tanks Conference is an opportunity for OTT Team Members and collaborators to come together to learn about their work and seek out possible opportunities for collaboration over the following year.
The OTT Conference is comprised of two parts:
- A closed OTT Team meeting (13th -14th February) and
- An open meeting involving think tank scholars, funders, supporters and thinktankers (14th – 15th February).
OTT Team Meeting – 9:30am Monday 13th to 1pm Tuesday 14th
The OTT Team meeting will take place on between Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th. During the meeting, Team Members will discuss various existing projects and future initiatives.
These include:
- The On Think Tanks School and the new Fellowship Programme
- The Open Think Tanks Directory
- On Think Tanks TV and plans for the future
- How to assess the quality of the evidence presented by think tanks
- Evaluation methods and how to incorporate context
- Developing a simple communication health-check for think tanks
This is also a chance for team members to get to know each other better – the OTT team is spread across five continents!
OTT Open Meeting – 1pm Tuesday 14th to 6pm Wednesday 15th
This meeting is open to OTT’s friends, partners, collaborators and supporters. We have suggested three types of sessions:
- Presentations, which will be brief (each presentation should not be more than 45 minutes including Q&A) and include a request for feedback or a discussion.
- Challenge sessions, which ask the participants to reach practical and actionable recommendations. A facilitator will be appointed to lead the discussion towards them.
- Discussions, which involve several inputs and an open conversation. A moderator will be appointed to ensure an open and broad discussion.
The outline below provides an indication of the themes we would like to address and who may play a leading or discussant role in the sessions. We invite all to prepare a short presentation (there will be a projector if you need one -or maybe use props or flipcharts) or a simple intervention.
Topics and issues considered for the On Think Tanks Conference include:
- Lessons on supporting think tanks
- How to mobilise domestic funding for think tanks in developing countries
- How can think tanks work and think politically to bring about social chance -and how can funders help them
- The Open Think Tanks Directory and the opportunities it presents
- The On Think Tanks School and the Fellowship Programme
- Developing a new research agenda on think tanks
- How to support and lead think tank networks
- Evaluating think tanks: rankings, ratings and awards
- How to develop standards for think tanks to help research users decide what research to trust
- The future of research communications
This is an invitation only event but keep an eye for #OTTC and #thinktanksmatter on Facebook and Twitter for updates, pictures and video.
Participants include:
| First Name | Surname | Role | Company | Note |
| Enrique | Mendizabal | Founder and Executive Director | On Think Tanks | |
| Vanesa | Weyrauch | Director OTT School | On Think Tanks | |
| Leandro | Echt | Coordinator OTT School, Latin America Editor | On Think Tanks | |
| Eva | Cardoso | Programme Manager | On Think Tanks | |
| Erika | Perez-Leon | Editor and Content Manager | On Think Tanks | |
| Jeff | Knezovich | Director of Communications | On Think Tanks | |
| Annapoorna | Ravichander | Asia Editor | On Think Tanks | |
| Ruthpearl | Wanjiru | Africa Editor | On Think Tanks | |
| Andrea | Ordóñez | OTTS Facilitator | On Think Tanks | |
| Dena | Lomofsky | OTTS Facilitator | On Think Tanks | |
| Carolina | Kern | OTTS Facilitator | On Think Tanks | |
| Stephen | Yeo | Collaborator at Large | On Think Tanks | |
| Zuleyka | Ramos Tamara | Administrative Coordinator | Universidad del Pacifico and On Think Tanks | |
| Clara | Richards | Senior Programme Manager | INASP | |
| Jordan | Soukias Tchilingirian | Lecturer | University of Bath | |
| Marcos | Gonzalez Hernando | Visiting Lecturer | City University of London | |
| John | Schwartz | Founder and Managing Director | Soapbox | |
| Till | Bruckner | Advocacy Manager | Transparify | |
| Anya | Pearson | Policy Communications Adviser | Soapbox | |
| Peter | da Costa | Technical Advisor | Hewlett Foundation | |
| James | Bramble | Director | Grant Smart Limited | TBC |
| John | Young | RAPID Head of Programme | ODI | |
| Ajoy | Datta | RAPID Research Fellow | ODI | |
| Natalie | Nicholles | Director RSA Global | The RSA | |
| Michael | Kleiman | Director | Mediatank | |
| Inna | Rudolf | Project Manager | BMW Foundation | |
| Simon | Keogh | Evidence Broker | DFID | |
| Mikaa | Mered | Chief strategy officer | European Think Tanks Observatory | TBC |
| Alex | Stevenson | Think Tank Awards | Prospect Magazine | TBC |
| Tom | Jeffery | Editor | Think Tank Review | |
| Alex | Ademokum | Research Specialist | DFID | |
| Guy | Lodge | Director | Kivu International | |
| Adanna | Shallowe | RSA Global Manager | The RSA | |
| Priyanthi | Fernando | OTT Advisory Board Member | International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific | |
| Richard | Lukacs | Advisor (Global governance, platforms, think tanks) | Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations Office and to the other international organisations in Geneva) | TBC |
| Will | Paxton | Director | Kivu International | TBC |
| Jenny | Lah | Consultant | Hewlett Foundation | Skype for funding discussion |
| Sophie | Hall | Policy Communications Adviser | Soapbox | |
| Hans | Gutbrod | Director | Transparify | |
| Goran | Buldioski | Director | Think Tank Fund |