{"id":70764,"date":"2014-05-07T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2014-05-07T13:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=70764"},"modified":"2014-05-07T09:59:17","modified_gmt":"2014-05-07T14:59:17","slug":"the-ins-and-outs-of-unconferences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=70764","title":{"rendered":"The Ins and Outs of Unconferences"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Katherine Kimball Adelberg, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Michigan<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Ins and Outs of Unconferences<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"Katherine<\/a>Have you ever attended an unconference? Neither had I, until I hosted one in March.\u00a0It was an incredible experience; this was the first time I\u2019ve ever seen participants in a\u00a0training session stay late! I\u2019m now an unconference convert.<\/p>\n

What is an unconference?<\/strong><\/p>\n

An unconference is designed to recreate the informal conversations that happen\u00a0between presentations at large conferences. Often those conversations are more\u00a0memorable than the regular sessions. In an unconference, the schedule is not\u00a0determined beforehand; instead, attendees arrive ready to participate and facilitate\u00a0topics of discussion that interest them most.<\/p>\n

An unconference is created with a theme in mind.<\/strong> Once participants arrive, they\u2019re\u00a0given Post-its and asked to record topics on that theme they would be interested in\u00a0discussing with the group. Everyone\u2019s Post-its are collected in a central place, and\u00a0participants vote on the topics they\u2019d like to discuss. Proposals receiving the most votes\u00a0are selected for further discussion. Volunteers are then selected from the participants\u00a0to facilitate a topic. Everyone then breaks into smaller groups with members migrating\u00a0from group to group wherever their interest takes them. To wrap up, the groups\u00a0reconvene and share their insights.<\/p>\n

My unconference did not go quite like this. We got through the voting process and\u00a0had a good sense of what topics were most interesting for the group. However, at this\u00a0point, several people said they didn\u2019t want to split into smaller groups; instead, they\u00a0wanted to hear everyone\u2019s input. We put it to a vote, and wound up staying together as\u00a0one group.<\/p>\n

What is it good for?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Taking a snapshot! This format is a fantastic way for managers or trainers to get a sense\u00a0of what topics are on everyone\u2019s minds. The environment fosters a free exchange\u00a0of ideas and provides great networking opportunities. Our participants ranged\u00a0from system administrators to circulation clerks. That diversity led to interesting\u00a0discussions that would not have been possible in a more structured format. Though\u00a0some participants were more knowledgeable than others, the \u201canonymous\u201d method of\u00a0proposing topics via Post-it meant that everyone\u2019s voices were heard, even if some were\u00a0more talkative than others. I was amazed at the diversity of topics proposed. As the\u00a0curator of a monthly webinar series, I found this invaluable in determining future topics.<\/p>\n

Preparing for the unconference:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. Find a space. You\u2019ll want a flexible space large enough to accommodate the\u00a0possibility of rearranging into smaller groups.<\/ol>\n
      2. Ensure that enough bandwidth and electrical outlets will be available for\u00a0participants. Though the focus is on discussion, participants will be taking notes\u00a0on their devices.<\/ol>\n
        3. Determine a theme to tie everything together. It could range from extremely\u00a0focused (training patrons, for example), to general (like technology).<\/ol>\n
          4. Determine a budget. This was easy for me, as my budget was $0. I drove my\u00a0own car, my employer already had the Post-it\u2019s, and the host library provided\u00a0refreshments.<\/ol>\n
            5. Publicize the event and recruit participants! Information about the format\u00a0should be included: you want attendees to arrive ready to participate. I also\u00a0made sure to invite people that I knew would be interested in participating. I\u00a0also encouraged them to think about leading discussion topics. As it turned out,\u00a0everyone arrived with several topics in mind and we stayed together as a group.<\/ol>\n

            Should I host an unconference at my library?<\/strong><\/p>\n

            Yes! My fears about this format were unfounded. Instead of worrying about whether\u00a0we\u2019d be able to spark a great discussion, I should have been worrying about whether I\u00a0had scheduled enough time for the event!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            by Katherine Kimball Adelberg, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Michigan The Ins and Outs of Unconferences Have you ever attended an unconference? Neither had I, until I hosted one in March.\u00a0It was an incredible experience; this was the first time I\u2019ve ever seen participants in a\u00a0training session stay late! I\u2019m now an unconference convert. What is an unconference?…<\/p>\n

            Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":56971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,3638,5921,6206,6207],"class_list":["post-70764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-michigan","tag-katherine-kimball-adelberg","tag-unconference","tag-what-is-an-unconference"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Katherine-Kimball-Adelberg.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-ipm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}