Unconferences Making Meetings Better

BarCamps, ProductCamps, unconferences and mini-unconferences are user generated conferences - open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants. These gatherings usually include both face to face (f2f) and virtual interactions including online presentations and discussions. The first BarCamps focused on technology but this concept is morphing rapidly and being applied to conferences on products, services, movements and more. Key characteristics are user driven themes and agendas, very informal settings, low cost and rapid deployment on fairly short time horizons. Their growing popularity offers opportunities for the meetings industry - a point of view that might not be the first conclusion of meetings professionals.

Having lurked and participated in a variety of Twitter chats identified by hashtags like #eventprofs, #assnchat, #buzz2009, it's clear that these gatherings enable dedicated experts to introduce and share useful insights and advice. I recently hung out at a presentation entitled "ProductCamp: How the Unconference is Changing Everything." It's hard not to see similarities between the focused intensity of Twitter chats and half-day or day-long unconferences. It's not hard to see both as being useful in developing meeting event plans using the input, energy and buyin that is native to these gatherings. What I was most taken by was the rich array of open-source (read "free" or low-cost) tools that are available for prospective planners of these more informal events and it's potential for the meetings industry.

Newcomers will find that these hour-long chats can be lively and informative. During a recent #eventprofs discussion, the exchange focused on how associations can provide "more value than just f2f meetings" and "how they can do more with the money paid" in dues and event registration and exhibition revenues. A lot of discussion had to do with educational components of meetings and the methods of covering the costs of video streaming and virtual access tools for those who do not pay to attend but may be dues paying members.

Associations together with conference planners are curators of information generated by a community of participants and delivered through an information conduit otherwise known as a meeting whether real, virtual or both. The question is how to get a better process in the conception, curation and delivery of content for meetings? It seems apparent that unconferences and their methodologies can be used to plan and execute larger f2f meetings. The same process by which unconferences are announced, planned and executed can be modeled by meeting planners to collect input on themes, agendas, dates, venues, vendors (speaker candidates among others). The interaction can be used to identify relatively organic sub-communities focused on specific elements of the meeting agenda. Those communities, having had input have a stronger sense of ownership that should lead to higher attendance and more lively interaction leading up to, during and after the event. What could be better?

Tools: 1) Websites -Wiki: barcamp.org; Listing: productcamp.org - see examples of planning/coordination approaches; Brainshark. 2) Marketing -Twitter; Facebook; LinkedIn; MailChimp (plans start ~$10/mo). 3) Registration -EventBrite. 4) Planning Coordination - Google Groups; Google Docs. 5) Video Streaming -Ustream.