As I often do, I was shuffling through magazines to see what I was going to carry with me on a recent trip. I try to catch up on my industry publications while I wait in the airport or while flying. It's the only time I feel I can truly disconnect from technology.
Anyway, something caught my eye on the front of one of the magazines--the article title "Content Unbound." It was about the "unconference" experience and how it can revolutionize content.
I thought, *that* is what I need to read...let's breathe some new life into our conference! I like the way we operate, I enjoy the conference committees and totally admire the work of the conference planners. But I occasionally want us to try new things (within the limitations of our contracts, budgets, etc., of course).
The thought behind the "unconference" isn't new to the world and some of you have even been to a totally unconference event. The unconference is where the attendees (this means YOU!), through the use of technology (like wikis and blogs), organize the topics, set the schedule, and deliver the content. This idea was what prompted the Denver Conference Committee to create the Synergy Sessions that we had at the 2007 conference.
In the article "Content Unbound" from Convene, the magazine from PCMA (the association of conference planners that I belong to), our own Stephen Abram says that an event that doesn't use social media, virtual reality, and other tech techniques and tools might be considered an "old-fart conference" and cause people to not want to participate.
Neither I nor Stephen (I assume) is calling anyone an "old fart." What he and I agree on is that we have to try new things.
Where am I going with this? Am I totally throwing out what the 2009 Annual Conference Planners and committee have put together? Of course not!
What I would like is to hear from you! What types of activities would you like to see at conference that are unconference-esque?
Some ideas to think about:
1. Having an "unconference room" available during each time slot (or at least a few times a day) during the conference. We'll provide a wiki and participants can use it to plan information-sharing sessions. Or even debriefing sessions. No formality, no A/V, maybe a flip chart, and you can get back to talking.
2. More lounge areas so you can gather as you please and maybe start discussions and/or network between sessions and INFO-EXPO visits.
3. Hands-on technology. Would you like to see some of the 23 Things in action? Do you want to share your experiences with 23 Things tools and actually show them to others?
These are just a few ideas to start the discussion. I WANT to hear from you. What you like and don't like about this idea. (Did I say I want to hear from you?)
If you want to know more about unconferences, check out this article from BusinessWeek and these wiki pages from PALINET.
There are things we can and can't do, but send me ideas for what you think SLA should do with the unconference concept. If you don't want to post a comment to the blog, email me directly at kfoldvik@sla.org.
