Guide to Planning and Running a JOTA/JOTI Event

1. Introduction

Purpose

The Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) and Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI) are annual events that bring together Guides and Scouts from around the world through amateur radio and the internet. JOTA/JOTI provides youth members with a unique opportunity to connect with peers globally, learn about different cultures, and develop communication skills in a fun and interactive environment. This guide is designed to help leaders and coordinators organise a successful JOTA/JOTI event, tailored to the needs of your group.

Audience

This guide is intended for Guide and Scout leaders, event coordinators, and volunteers who want to plan and run a JOTA/JOTI event. It is structured to assist organisers at any experience level, providing both basic information and advanced tips. Whether you’re a first-time organiser or an experienced coordinator, this guide will help you create an engaging and successful event for youth members of all ages.

Overview

This guide will walk you through each stage of the JOTA/JOTI event planning process, from initial preparation to post-event follow-up. It is organised into sections covering:

1. Planning Phase: Setting goals, forming a team, and organising resources.
2. Communication Setup: Establishing the necessary technology and network.
3. Event Day Preparation: A checklist to ensure everything is ready.
4. Running the Event: Tips on managing schedules, engaging participants, and solving problems.
5. Post-event Activities: Wrapping up the event, gathering feedback, and reporting.
6. Tips and Best Practices: Lessons learned, budgeting, and resource recommendations.
7. Appendix: Sample documents and resources to aid your planning.

By following this guide, you will be equipped with the tools and knowledge to create a memorable and impactful experience for youth members, fostering global connections and enhancing their scouting journey.

2. Planning Phase

Initial Preparation

A successful JOTA/JOTI event starts with clear planning and goal-setting. Begin by defining the purpose and objectives of your event. Think about the size of your event, and what you want participants to experience and achieve. Common goals might include:

• Giving youth members the opportunity to communicate with members globally.
• Teaching youth about radio and internet communication technology.
• Promoting cross-cultural understanding and teamwork.

Determine the Date and Time, and Duration

• Date: JOTA/JOTI typically takes place in October. Check the official dates and confirm your event timeline well in advance.
• Time Zones: Remember that JOTA/JOTI is a global event, so consider time zones if you want to interact with youth members in different regions. Scheduling time blocks for specific countries or regions can help maximise engagement.
• Event Duration: Will your event run one day? Or will it run the whole weekend? Consider the following:
  • Participant Availability: Do you have enough youth members attending to fill your planned duration? Ensure that there are enough participants to sustain the activities over the entire event.
  • Activity Scheduling: Plan activities that can be adjusted based on the duration. For a one-day event, focus on high-impact activities that keep participants engaged throughout. For a weekend event, include a mix of high-energy and relaxed activities to maintain interest and prevent burnout.
  • Leader Coverage: Ensure that you have enough leaders available to supervise the activities for the entire duration of the event. If running multiple bases, confirm that each has sufficient coverage throughout.
  • Logistics and Resources: Consider the logistical requirements for different durations. A weekend event will require more planning for meals, breaks, and accommodation if applicable. If you need to sleep over, this may affect the venue you choose.

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Organising a JOTA/JOTI event requires a team, each member responsible for different aspects of planning and execution. Here are some key roles:

Event Coordinator

• Oversees the planning and execution of the event.
• Communicates with leaders and stakeholders.
• Ensures all team members understand their responsibilities.

Radio Operator

• Sets up and operates the amateur radio equipment.
• Holds an amateur radio licence, if required by local regulations.
• Guides youth on how to use the radio safely and effectively.

Tech Support

• Handles internet and network setup.
• Installs and configures software (e.g., Skype, Discord).
• Troubleshoots technical issues during the event.

Activity Leaders

• Organise and supervise activities for different Guide/Scout sections (Joeys, Pre Juniors, Cubs, Juniors, Scouts, Guides, etc.).
• Keep youth engaged and ensure they’re using the equipment safely.
• Help run non-technical activities (e.g., games, crafts) to keep youth engaged between communication sessions.

Clearly define these roles, and assign team members well in advance. Having a clear division of responsibilities ensures smooth communication and prevents last-minute issues.

Venue and Equipment

Choosing a suitable venue and organising the necessary equipment is crucial. Consider the following:

Venue Selection

• Radio Survey: Conduct a radio survey of the venue before the event. Interference can be a problem for ham bands, so identify any potential issues early and adjust your setup accordingly. Interference has been an ongoing problem in our district—we are going to do a ‘Hall Safari’ over the Christmas break—spend a few days visiting all the halls in our district, testing HF comms at them all, and graphing the background noise levels to help find a better hall for next year’s JOTA/JOTI.
• Connectivity: The venue should have reliable internet access and, if possible, good mobile coverage for backup. This is essential for JOTI and online communication tools. We use a Mikrotik wAP AC LTE—200 Mbps down, 50 Mbps up 4G LTE, with ethernet out to a switch. Things like the Aussie Broadband $6 per day 1000/40 day-at-a-time plans are also fantastic, IF your chosen venue has been connected to NBN’s Fibre to the Premises. Note that you don’t NEED this level of connectivity. The previous year we had a lot less available 4G bandwidth, and so we ran an 8/1 Mbps throttle against every device on the network, and they all ran fine. It was the difference between using 8 GB of bandwidth last year, and using 220 GB of bandwidth this year. You might want a little more than 1 Mbps up per video chat if you are running 1080p cams (we weren’t last year, but were this year).
• Space: Ensure enough space for each station, including a dedicated area for radio equipment and an internet-based communication zone. Anywhere you are doing voice communications, you will want a quiet zone. Radio comms want a fairly quiet area just because you can struggle to hear between the noise. Skype calls—you don’t want background noise affecting how you are heard on the remote end.
• Electricity: Make sure there are enough power outlets for radios, computers, and other equipment.
• Acoustics: Check the acoustics in your planned hall or location. Having all activities in one large hall can make it very difficult to communicate in Skype/Zoom calls, especially if the space is echoey. Consider having a dedicated space for Skype calls to avoid these issues. But any dedicated space needs to be close enough to the rest of the ‘action’ to call youth members in quickly when a call comes in!
• Parking: JOTA/JOTI events can have a sudden surge in attendance if you have put ‘selected times’ on your permission forms—make sure your chosen venue has enough parking, and access so as to not become too congested during pickup/drop-off.

Equipment List

Prepare a detailed list of required equipment and assign responsibility for sourcing each item. Essential equipment includes:

• Amateur Radio Equipment: Radios, antennas, cables, throw weights, throw ropes, paracord, warning signs and tape, and any required accessories. (Note on warning tape and signs: We roped off our antenna operating area last JOTA. People proceeded to just lift ropes and WALK THEIR PETS THROUGH THE ANTENNA OPERATING AREA. Next year we will have Warning: Radiofrequency radiation in this area may exceed Public Exposure Limits. No entry without authorisation. Contact <number> for more information. signs printed out, and yellow/black tape to mark off the area instead of rope.)
• Computers and Tablets: Devices for youth members to participate in JOTI activities. My work donated old black-box servers to our group for JOTA/JOTI a few years ago. These are fantastic, as we had nothing before, but lugging PCs, monitors, keyboards, mice, etc., around takes a lot of room. A lot of people just trash their old laptops and tablets when they get new ones—maybe put a call out to the units/groups in your district to please consider donating their old laptops instead of trashing them when they replace them so they can be potentially recycled for JOTA/JOTI activities.
• Headsets and Microphones: Quality headsets to improve audio clarity, especially important for noisy environments. You may choose to use headsets for Skype calls, which would simplify noisy environments—you would need to ensure you are still maintaining child-safe scouting, have a way to monitor the content of calls, etc. We often find we need to help ‘translate’ for our youth members when talking to non-native English speakers in a lot of cases, as the younger sections need a lot more ‘words’ to understand context and need some prompting, so headsets may make this difficult. The better clarity from headsets may help with a lot of this however. Let me know what you think?
• Internet Modem/Router: A reliable internet connection is vital for JOTI, so ensure you have an adequate router and, if necessary, a mobile internet hotspot as backup. Wi-Fi access point(s), switches, network cabling, potentially fibre optic runs or Wi-Fi backhauls on a large campground.
• Cables and Chargers: Bring spare cables, chargers, and adapters for all devices.
• Safety Equipment: First aid kit, sanitising supplies, and any other items needed to ensure safety at the event.
• E-waste Deconstruction Materials: E-waste deconstruction is a popular activity. Ensure you have devices to disassemble (e.g., old laptops), but remember to remove internal batteries first.
• International Items: We set up a heap of clocks on various time zones from around the world (just $3.50 white plastic clocks from Kmart) along one wall of the hall, labelled with the timezone UTC Offset, and a recognisable city/country name from each timezone. This helped immensely while in video calls when a group said where they were from, as our members could look at the clocks and see what time it was there. We also bought a pin-up board from Officeworks with a black outline of the world on it, and then used paint markers to draw in the international hour lines, and all of the country names. As we made contacts on video and radio chats, we then put pins in the pin-up board to show where we had made contacts. Worked out about $50 for a full pin-up map of the world with timezone lines!
• JOTA/JOTI Badges: Scoutshop.com.au has JOTA/JOTI badges each year which youth members (and leaders!) can wear on their uniform for the following year. We charge $5 for youth members to attend our JOTA/JOTI event, and include the badge in the entry. The remainder covers stationery for signage, etc.

Considerations for Different Sections

Plan activities and equipment for each age group:

• Joeys and Cubs / Pre-Juniors and Junior Guides: Keep activities simple and engaging, focusing on hands-on experiences and supervised communication.
• Scouts and Venturers / Guides and Senior Guides: Encourage more independent exploration and global communication. They may also enjoy learning about the technical aspects of radio operation.
• Rovers / Olaves: Older Scouts can be given responsibilities, such as helping set up equipment, leading sessions, and teaching younger Scouts.

Budgeting and Funding

Estimate your budget based on the items above and consider possible funding sources:

• Scout Group Contributions: Check if the group can allocate funds for event supplies or equipment rental.
• Local Sponsorship: Reach out to community organisations or businesses that might sponsor part of the event.
• Donations or Fundraising: Consider small fundraising activities within the group to offset costs.

Completing this initial planning phase will set a strong foundation for a successful JOTA/JOTI event. A well-prepared team and properly equipped venue will allow you to focus on creating a memorable experience for the Scouts.

3. Communication Setup

Technology Requirements

• Video Calls: How you implement these will depend on your chosen format.

  Let me ramble for a minute and tell you a story… Two years ago we had six PCs on a long table set up for the JOTI portion of our JOTA/JOTI, and two random ones had webcams, and we organised Skype calls as a last-minute thing. Oh boy, we had no idea how popular they were going to be! At some busy times of the day, the crowd around those PCs was so large, no one could fit in that little room we had all the PCs in.

  So this latest JOTA/JOTI, we set up a large-screen projector and a Meeting Owl. That worked GREAT… until the hall got loud. Then it was something of a nightmare. If you haven’t used a Meeting Owl, it is a 360-degree camera which presents a 360-degree view of the entire area at the top of the ‘camera’ view, and then picks out up to three ‘targets’ for individual viewing, by VOICE—yes, it picks VOICES out via multiple microphones and targets them in the camera. It was a bit hilarious at times, as there would be a soft-spoken Joey (5–8-year-old) standing in front of the projector having a conversation, and then someone playing ScoutLink Minecraft at the other end of the hall would die to a creeper and scream, and the group in England we were talking to would be looking at their back, oops!

  But for most of Saturday when we had upwards of 20 youth members crowded around the Skype area at any one time, it worked fantastically.

  What are we going to do next year? Well, we’ll probably borrow the Meeting Owl again! BUT we will use a different venue where it is in a smaller area—and we’ll also have some standalone PCs with webcams set up for the quieter times.

• Call Matching Service: Sign up for the jotajoti.info call matching service well in advance, as registration closes early. For self-matching, create an engaging image to post on Facebook JOTA/JOTI groups. Recommended groups include:

  • JOTA JOTI SCOUT World 2024 (note that the name changes each year, but the group stays the same).
  • JOTA-JOTI International.
  • JOTA-JOTI Australia.

Internet and Network Setup

• If you do not need ethernet, you will find your setup a LOT simpler. We use desktop PCs, so we have network cabling and switches to cable. Set up and TEST everything (even if it’s in the parking lot at YOUR hall or work) a week or two beforehand. No one wants to be doing configuration resets and firmware upgrades the night before, or morning of JOTA/JOTI.

Radio Setup

• This should be as self-explanatory as setting up your network, but let’s quickly set out the basics, as maybe you don’t operate portable every day. This last JOTA/JOTI, our HAM unexpectedly got called away, and messaged me to go ‘You’re a full call! I know you host the DSTAR and APRS websites, I’ll lend you my gear, give you a quick rundown, you’ve got this!’ In my head I went ‘Yeah, I used to throw my 857 and a Buddistick in the nappy bag when I’d take my daughter out for a play in the park, this will be fine!’. Narrator: It was not fine.

  Oh my word, I re-learnt SO much theory on that Saturday morning, hanging the G5RV in the trees behind the hall, learning how to drive his ICOM. Wishing I still had the old toughbook I used to take EVERYWHERE that had all my cheat-sheets. Don’t get me wrong, I had an absolute BALL. But I’d also forgotten so many little things. Like which bands use LSB, which use USB. Like back when I worked HF portable, if I got a lot of noise, I’d pick up and go to another park. You can’t do that once you’ve chosen a JOTA venue. So do your RF surveys up front!

Software Setup

• At the very minimum you will want Skype, and potentially Zoom. Skype is the number one application used for JOTI; probably 95% of your contacts will be via Skype. You will want a Skype account per computer you are using for video calls. I would also recommend having a mobile or tablet on each of those Skype accounts, so that you can be chatting with contacts and organising upcoming meetings while the youth members are on other calls on the computers. What we did on our main Skype ‘computer’ at the most recent JOTA/JOTI was have a laptop connected to a projector—the projector was set up as a second screen, and the Skype calls were on the second screen, with the main Skype window on the main laptop screen, so the leader handling the calls at the time could be chatting while there was a call going on.

4. Event Day Preparation

Pre-event Checklist

• Equipment testing (both radio and internet). Set up and TEST everything (even if it’s in the parking lot at YOUR hall or work) a week or two beforehand. No one wants to be doing configuration resets and firmware upgrades the night before, or morning of setup.
• Final confirmation of schedule with participants.
• Preparing materials for different sections (Joeys, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers, Rovers).
• Livestream Preparation: If you plan to watch the nightly livestream (11 PM UTC+11), note that the embedded YouTube video on the jotajoti.info site gets re-linked each day. Refresh the page before viewing it each night if you’ve left the browser open.

Base Setup

• Step-by-step setup instructions for each base: The more detailed the better. If you have a leader who is not tech-savvy, they will appreciate this. Remember sometimes plans change - the person who set up the base may not be the person who is running it all weekend. Or the person who planned a base may fall ill and not be able to make it at all, and the base may need to be set up by someone who has never seen the instructions before. Make sure the instructions are clear and easy to follow.
• Safety and supervision guidelines: Ensure that all leaders and participants are aware of safety protocols and guidelines for each activity. This is especially important for activities involving technology or equipment, or any base which may have a higher risk of injury. Ensure that all leaders monitoring internet communication bases are aware of the Safe JOTA-JOTI Pledge, and that they are monitoring all communications to ensure that the pledge is being followed.
• Leader Assignment: Have a leader for each separate activity base at your site. If there are two bases in close proximity, one leader may manage both, but depending on the activity, it may be best to have one leader per base.

Communication Etiquette

As a primarily communication-focused event, communication etiquette is very important at JOTA/JOTI. All participants must make the Safe JOTA-JOTI Pledge when signing into the site. It is good to remind the youth, and oneself, of the following from time to time—maybe even put some on posters:

• No Personal Information: Ensure that youth members do not share personal information such as their full name, home address, or phone number. Stick to first names and general locations only.
• Language and Clarity: Speak clearly and avoid using slang that others may not understand, especially when communicating with non-native English speakers. Be patient and repeat yourself if needed.
• Turn-Taking: In group calls, ensure everyone gets a chance to speak. Avoid talking over others, and listen attentively when others are speaking.
• Supervision: Make sure an adult is supervising all communications to maintain a safe environment, especially when using online platforms like Skype or ScoutLink.
• ScoutLink Etiquette: If using ScoutLink for text and voice chat, remind participants to follow the platform’s rules, such as keeping conversations on topic, avoiding inappropriate language, and respecting moderators. More information can be found on the ScoutLink website.
• Respect and Politeness: Remind participants to be respectful and polite during all communications. Treat others with kindness, as you would in face-to-face interactions.
• Technical Issues: If technical issues arise during a call, stay calm and polite. It can be helpful to have a backup plan, such as reconnecting or switching to another communication tool.
• Relevance: Keep conversations relevant to scouting activities and the event. This helps maintain focus and ensures a positive experience for everyone involved.
• Handling Disruptions: If someone is disrupting the communication or not adhering to the guidelines, have a leader step in to resolve the situation calmly and respectfully. If needed, end the call and report the issue to the appropriate event coordinator or platform administrator.

5. Running the Event

Managing the Schedule

• Create a Detailed Agenda: Develop a clear, hour-by-hour schedule for the event. Include start and end times for each activity, allowing enough time for setup, participation, and transitions. Display this schedule prominently so that everyone is aware of the plan. If you have youth members helping run activities, rotating them between activities can help ensure that no one becomes ‘bored’ with their activity.
• Assign Timekeepers: Designate leaders or older youth members as timekeepers to help ensure activities stay on track. They can give gentle reminders to leaders and participants when it’s time to wrap up an activity and move on.
• Buffer Time: Include buffer time between activities to account for any unexpected delays. This prevents activities from feeling rushed and helps accommodate participants who may need extra time.
• Flexible Adjustments: Be prepared to adjust the schedule based on participant engagement or technical issues. Flexibility ensures that the event remains enjoyable even if there are unexpected changes.

Participant Engagement

• Tailor Activities to Age Groups: Different sections, such as Joeys, Cubs, Scouts, and Venturers in Scouting, and PJs, Juniors, Guides, and Senior Guides in Guiding, will have different levels of interest and ability. Create age-appropriate activities that cater to their skills and attention spans to keep everyone engaged.
• Hands-On Activities: Incorporate hands-on activities like e-waste deconstruction or paper aeroplane competitions. These activities tend to be popular across different age groups and keep participants engaged.
• Interactive Games: Include communication-related games that involve teamwork, such as scavenger hunts, trivia contests about different countries, or radio-themed challenges. Games can be a fun way to practise communication skills and keep participants actively involved.
• Rotation System: Use a rotation system where groups move between different activity bases. This helps maintain interest by ensuring participants are not stuck at one activity for too long. It also stops the ‘ScoutLink Minecraft’ activity base from being jammed up by one group all day.
• Encourage Participation in Calls: Encourage youth members to take turns leading conversations during radio or video calls. Provide a list of questions or prompts to help them get started and build their confidence. I can’t emphasise enough how much having this printed out really helps!

Problem Solving

• Technical Issues: Have a dedicated tech support leader on hand to troubleshoot issues with radios, internet connections, or software. Create a troubleshooting checklist for common issues such as internet disconnection, microphone problems, or radio interference.
• Backup Plans: Prepare backup activities that don’t require technology in case of technical difficulties. For example, have team-building games, crafts, or guiding-/scouting-themed challenges that participants can do without relying on equipment.
• Calm Conflict Resolution: If there are disagreements or challenges between participants, ensure leaders step in calmly and mediate the situation. Use positive language and ensure everyone feels heard. Encourage cooperation and teamwork to resolve issues.
• Emergency Contact: Have an emergency contact procedure in place for significant problems, such as a major equipment failure. Designate one person as the primary point of contact for escalation and external help if needed. Even outside of the usual activity emergency contact, just someone who will be available for running around to track down replacement equipment, or go shopping at the drop of a hat—any hat.

6. Post-event Activities

Wrap-up and Clean-up

• Packing Up Equipment: Ensure all equipment is returned or stored properly. Create an inventory checklist to help track all items. If you ran the event for all three days, consider organising extra hands to help with the pack-up, as leaders who participated all weekend may be too tired to also handle this task. Assigning roles for packing up ahead of time can help streamline this process.
• Post-event Communication: Send a thank-you note or email to all participants and leaders. Include highlights of the event, achievements, and a reminder for any upcoming activities or opportunities to stay connected. This helps maintain the positive energy of the event and fosters a sense of community.

Feedback Collection

• Collecting Feedback: Use both surveys and interviews to gather feedback from participants, leaders, and parents. Digital surveys (such as Google or SharePoint Forms) can make it easy for participants to provide their input. Include questions on what they enjoyed, what could be improved, and suggestions for future events. Keep any surveys short and to the point. No one likes a survey longer than a few questions.
• Analysing Feedback: Compile the responses to identify trends or common themes. Create a list of actionable points for improvement. Make sure to communicate key learnings back to the leadership team to make future events even better.

Post-event Report

• Event Summary: Write a summary of the event, focusing on lessons learned, key highlights, and successes. Include statistics such as the number of participants, radio contacts made, and activities completed. Use this report to share insights with the group and provide a record for planning future JOTA/JOTI events. Including photos and quotes from participants can make the report more engaging.

7. Tips and Best Practices

Lessons from Experience

• Technical Glitches: One common pitfall is underestimating potential technical issues. To avoid this, always conduct a full equipment test a week before the event and have backup devices available for radios, computers, and internet. A lot of equipment may have sat unused since the last JOTA/JOTI event—you don’t want to find out while setting up that a device has failed.
• Bandwidth Issues: Insufficient internet bandwidth can be a major obstacle, especially during high-traffic times. Ensure that you have tested your internet connection with the expected number of participants and consider bandwidth throttling or limiting individual services to maintain a stable connection.
• Leader Fatigue: Running a multi-day event can be exhausting for leaders, which may impact the quality of activities. Plan leader shifts so that everyone has time for rest, and assign extra help for packing up equipment after the event. If your leaders are staying overnight, making sure they have comfortable seating, and somewhere quiet, out of the way to sleep, especially if they have different ‘sleep times’, will go a long way to managing leader fatigue.
• Participant Burnout: Youth members, especially younger ones, can become overwhelmed if activities are too long or complex. Plan a mix of high-energy and low-energy activities, with breaks in between to keep participants engaged and refreshed. It might sound ‘boring’, but Joeys, and even Cubs when tired, REALLY enjoy just sitting down and drawing. Also, Kumihimo Braiding is always a REALLY good one for the youth to start at a base, and then carry around with them as they go to other bases, to settle nerves.
• Clear Communication: Lack of clear instructions can lead to confusion during the event. To avoid this, provide leaders and participants with printed schedules, activity instructions, and communication guidelines ahead of time.
• Radio Interference: Unexpected radio interference can disrupt communication. Conduct a radio survey of your venue beforehand and identify areas where interference might be an issue. Have alternative communication methods available as a backup. If you find that radio is not usable, check out ‘Zello’. It is a mobile-phone-based ‘two-way radio’ style program, which is used heavily during JOTA/JOTI. You can connect to JOTA-based channels, or set up your own private channels for your youth members to practise their calls and communications on locally.
• Engaging Quiet Participants: Some youth members may be shy or hesitant to participate in group activities. Encourage leaders to actively involve these participants by assigning them small, manageable tasks or pairing them with more confident peers.

8. Appendix

Sample Documents

• Sample Information Sheet
• Blank Information Sheet
• Equipment Inventory Checklist

Resource List

• https://www.jotajoti.info/ - Primary JOTA-JOTI coordination, register your site here, do the safety training, register early for video calls and other activities, etc.
• https://vkjotajoti.com/ - VK JOTA-JOTI information, register your activity here.
• https://www.scoutlink.net/ - ScoutLink is a digital service which provides a moderated environment for Guides and Scouts around the world to communicate via WebChat, Minecraft, and TeamSpeak.
• https://www.scouts.com.au/programs/jota-joti/ - Scouts Australia JOTA-JOTI information.
• https://www.arpansa.gov.au/sites/default/files/rps_s-1.pdf - ARPANSA Safety Code S-1: Maximum Exposure Levels to Radiofrequency Fields - 3 kHz to 300 GHz. This is the document which sets out the maximum exposure levels to radiofrequency fields in Australia. It is a good idea to have a copy of this document on hand at your JOTA/JOTI event, especially if you are running a radio base.
• https://www.scoutshop.com.au/ - Scout Shop Australia, where you can purchase JOTA/JOTI badges, and other scouting supplies.