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 one or more aspects of a conventional conference, such as high fees, sponsored presentations, and top-down organization. For example, in 2006, CNNMoney applied the term to diverse events including Foo Camp, BarCamp, Bloggercon, and Mashup Camp.[1]
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History
Unconferences often use variations on the Open Space Technology[2] format/method developed by Harrison Owen developed in the mid 1980's. 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. 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. Unconferences typically feature open discussions rather than having a single speaker at the front of the room giving a talk, although any format is permitted. This form of conference is particularly useful when the attendees generally have a high level of expertise or knowledge in the field the conference convenes to discuss.
Many unconference features match the characteristics of the traditional science fiction convention held since the 1930s, events which include many members of the geek community.[citation needed]
The term "unconference" first appeared in an announcement for the annual XML developers conference in 1998. The term was used by Lenn Pryor when discussing BloggerCon and was popularized by Dave Winer, the organizer of BloggerCon, in an April 2004 writeup. The first BloggerCon was held October 4-5, 2003 at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society. Sarah Winge, the organizer (with Tim O'Reilly) of Foo Camp, an early unconference, drew on her experience of open space and conversations with Harrison Owen to develop the format.[3] The first Foo Camp happened October 10-12, 2003, in Sebastopol,_California. 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". Foo and Bar Camp in particular popularized the form where "there is no agenda until .. the attendees made one up."
Styles of facilitation
An unconference can be conducted using a number of facilitation styles. Some of these are:
- Barcamp
- Birds of a Feather
- Dotmocracy
- Fishbowl (conversation)
- Knowledge Cafe
- Lightning Talks
- Open Space Technology
- Pecha Kucha
- Speed Geeking
- TeachMeet
- Citizen Cyberscience Summit[4]
- World Café[5]
References
- ^ Craig, Kathleen (June 6 2006). "Why "unconferences" are fun conferences". Business 2.0 Magazine. http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/05/technology/business2_unconference0606/index.htm.
- ^ OpenSpaceWorld: CollectedResources
- ^ BarCamp Mail Archive
- ^ http://cybersciencesummit.org/2010-summit/ The London Citizen Cyberscience Summit
- ^ Juanita Brown and the World Café Community (2002). The World Cafe : A Resource Guide for Hosting Conversations That Matter. Whole Systems Associates.
External links
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