[Thanks to Amanda for putting this together. If you have suggestions or additions, let me know and we'll get this updated.]
Startup Camp Primer: FAQs for Unconferences
1) Unconference? What's that?
An unconference is a conference that is conceived, organized and delivered
by a group of loosely connected professionals centering on a common
interest, theme or idea that has generated "buzz" in their community. A
topic is chosen, then organizers volunteer. The event is held a short time
after that.
2) What's the difference between an unconference and a conference?
An unconference is participant-driven and relies solely upon relevance to
"The Next Thing" in technology and trends. A regular conference is generally
vendor-driven, designed to generate interest and subsequent sales of
products and services based on current technology and trends. Many
presenters at an unconference also present at a regular conference, using
the unconference for practice and spontaneous focus groups. Because the
unconference is loosely structured and does not have a price tag on booths
or floor space, professionals and researchers who would not otherwise find a
venue in which to present their ideas and findings get a chance to speak.
2) If it is a nearly spontaneous event, how is it organized?
The first job for the organizers is to find a venue/sponsor. Then based on
the capacity of the location, plans are made accordingly. Organizers
pre-select a few reliable speakers to fill prime attendance time on the
major arena, leaving a few openings on the schedule for spontaneous
presentations.
3) How do people hear about an unconference?
Notices are posted on social networks, blogs, public event calendars and
other forums. People who are "plugged in" to the communities where the
notices are posted generally recognize it as an unconference and
pre-register. There may be supporting events in the meantime to get people
excited about it: mixers, dinners, small groups posting notices that they
will be attending other unconferences in other areas. People who are
attending also invite colleagues and associates to attend as well to build
and maintain professional relationships.
4) What happens at the unconference?
The day of the unconference, participants arrive and pick a time to present,
then choose which presentations to attend. Participants are free to move
from presentation to presentation to see as many as possible. There is also
usually an after party at a predetermined location.
5) What benefits are derived from an unconference?
At an unconference, people find jobs, ideas, missions, meaning, relevance,
context and free transmission of ideas outside the boundaries of corporate
culture.
6) What are the risks associated with hosting an unconference?
An unconference has the same liabilities and risks associated with holding
any public event. That said, unconferences are generally organized and
attended by professionals with day jobs who are community-oriented and
respectful. It is highly unlikely that thugs have any interest in attending
an unconference.
7) What challenges do unconferences face?
Unconferences are directed chaos. As such, anything can happen (or not
happen). People do espouse rather raw opinions about products and
technologies, or the folks behind them. The event can be a little disjointed
and a treasure hunt for good presentations. People may also be more
interested in talking to each other than attending presentations.
8) What facilities and resources does an unconference need?
In general, the unconference needs at least one presentation space and a
gathering space for a one day event. A two day event should have a location
where participants can roll out a sleeping bag and crash the night before
and the first day of the event. A three to four presentation space event is
ideal. Each presentation space should have a projector.
9) Are there any famous unconferences?
There are several successful unconferences with a sizable following:
FOOcamp: The original, annual invitation only, no-structure, no plan, tent
on the lawns event hosted by publisher Tim O'Reilly.
http://wiki.oreillynet.com/foocamp07/index.cgi
BarCamp: An international spin-off of FOOcamp. Unlike the highly technical
FOOcamp, BarCamp is consumer and B2B oriented with a heavy dosage of
populist geekage. http://barcamp.org/
G33k: G33k events are paraprofessional events that occur in between
unconferences. Popular activities include sp33d g33king and pitch practice.
Note: Satellite SIGs may also use MeetUps in between G33k events.
10) Where can I learn more about unconferences?
There are several resources around the web where you can find information on
unconferences.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconference
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/understanding_the_unconference/
http://www.unconference.info/
I've been drumming up support for a Startup Camp here in LA. In trying to convince people at UCLA to host it, I ran into a problem. They hadn't heard of StartupCamp or UnConferencing. And I had a helluva time describing it concisely.
So, I asked the BarCampLA google group for some help in compiling information that would describe what an UnConference is and what StartupCamp is all about. I'm not sure which wiki is the right place to post all this info, so I'm just gonna use my blog for a while. If anyone wants to put this on a wiki, let me know. I'd be happy to move it. Or you can move it and just tell me.
So here goes....
http://www.startupcamp.org/
- the original thing in San Francisco
- http://wiki.startupcamp.org/wiki/AboutStartupCamp
Other UnConferences
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp
- http://barcamp.org/BarCampLosAngeles