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An unconference is a participant-driven meeting. The term "unconference" has been applied, or self-applied, to a wide range of gatherings that try to avoid hierarchical aspects of a conventional
conference
A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic.
Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...
, such as sponsored presentations and
top-down
Top-down may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* " Top Down", a 2007 song by Swizz Beatz
* "Top Down", a song by Lil Yachty from ''Lil Boat 3''
* "Top Down", a song by Fifth Harmony from ''Reflection'' Science
* Top-down reading, is a part of ...
organization.
[ ]
History
According to
Tim O'Reilly
Tim O'Reilly (born 6 June 1954) is the founder of O'Reilly Media (formerly O'Reilly & Associates). He popularised the terms open source and Web 2.0.
Education and early life
Born in County Cork, Ireland, Tim O'Reilly moved to San Francisco, C ...
, the first unconference (reducing the usual emphasis on formal speeches and emphasizing informal connections instead) was organized by
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...
in 1828.
[ ]
The term "unconference" first appeared in an announcement for the annual XML developers conference in 1998.
Unconferences often use variations on
Open Space Technology
Open Space Technology (OST) is a method for organizing and running a meeting or multi-day conference, where participants have been invited in order to focus on a specific, important task or purpose.
In contrast with pre-planned conferences where ...
, the format/method developed by Harrison Owen in 1985. Owen's 1993 book ''Open Space Technology: a User's Guide'' discussed many of the techniques now associated with unconferences, although his book does not use that term.
The term was used by Lenn Pryor when discussing
BloggerCon BloggerCon was a user-focused conference for the blogger community that ran between 2003 and 2006. BloggerCon I (October 2003) and II (April 2004), were organized by Dave Winer and friends at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for the Internet and ...
(a series of conferences organized by
Dave Winer and first held October 4–5, 2003 at Harvard's
Berkman Center for Internet & Society.)
[ ]
Sarah Winge, the organizer (with
Tim O'Reilly
Tim O'Reilly (born 6 June 1954) is the founder of O'Reilly Media (formerly O'Reilly & Associates). He popularised the terms open source and Web 2.0.
Education and early life
Born in County Cork, Ireland, Tim O'Reilly moved to San Francisco, C ...
) of
Foo Camp, an early unconference, drew on her experience of open space and conversations with Harrison Owen to develop the format.
BarCamp Mail Archive
/ref> The first Foo Camp happened October 10–12, 2003, in Sebastopol, California
Sebastopol ( ) is a city in Sonoma County, in California with a recorded population of 7,521, per the 2020 U.S. Census.
Sebastopol was once primarily a plum and apple-growing region. Today, wine grapes are the predominant agriculture crop, a ...
. In 2005 some of the attendees from previous years decided to produce their own "Bar" Camp. These three events, BloggerCon, Foo Camp and BarCamp helped to popularize the term "unconference".[ ]
Format
Typically at an unconference, the agenda is created by the attendees at the beginning of the meeting. Anyone who wants to initiate a discussion on a topic can claim a time and a space. Some unconference sessions (for example at FooCamp or BarCamp) are led by the participant who suggested its topic; other unconference sessions are basically open discussions of the session topic.
An "unconference" is particularly useful when participants generally have a high level of expertise or knowledge in the field the conference convenes to discuss.
Facilitation styles
An unconference can be conducted using a number of facilitation styles. Some of these are:
* Birds of a feather
* Dotmocracy
Dot-voting (also known as dotmocracy or voting with dots) is an established facilitation method used to describe voting with dot stickers or marks with a marker pen.
In dot-voting participants vote on their chosen options using a limited number ...
* Fishbowl
* Ignite
To ignite is the first step of firelighting.
Ignite may also refer to:
Music
*Ignite (band), a melodic hardcore band from Orange County, California
* ''Ignite'' (Econoline Crush album), 2007
* ''Ignite'' (Shihad album), 2010
* "Ignite" (Eir Aoi s ...
* Knowledge café
Knowledge can be defined as awareness of facts or as practical skills, and may also refer to familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often defined as true belief that is distinct ...
* Lightning talk
A lightning talk is a very short presentation lasting only a few minutes, given at a conference or similar forum. Several lightning talks will usually be delivered by different speakers in a single session, sometimes called a data blitz.
Some fo ...
s
* Open Space Technology
Open Space Technology (OST) is a method for organizing and running a meeting or multi-day conference, where participants have been invited in order to focus on a specific, important task or purpose.
In contrast with pre-planned conferences where ...
* PechaKucha
PechaKucha (Japanese: ぺちゃくちゃ, IPA: etɕa kɯ̥tɕa ''chit-chat'') is a storytelling format in which a presenter shows 20 slides for 20 seconds of commentary each. At a PechaKucha Night, individuals gather at a venue to share personal ...
* Speed geeking {{Unreferenced, date=February 2012
Speed geeking is a participation process used to quickly view a number of presentations within a fixed period of time. Speed geeking gets its name from speed dating, since they both employ similar techniques.
...
* World café (conversation)
A world café is a structured conversational process for knowledge sharing in which groups of people discuss a topic at several small tables like those in a café. Some degree of formality may be retained to make sure that everyone gets a chance t ...
Notable unconferences
* BarCamp
* FooCamp
* EdCamp An EdCamp is a participant-driven conference – commonly referred to as an "unconference". ''EdCamps'' are designed to provide participant-driven professional development for K-12 educators. ''EdCamps'' are modeled after BarCamps, free participan ...
References
{{Unconference
*
Meetings
Social information processing
Articles containing video clips