One way to stand out from the crowd is to do the complete opposite. Remember 7-UP and their success as the “uncola”?
Branding yourself as “all the big guys are doing this and you hate it – so we’re doing this and you’ll love it” is a great way to build buzz and more often than not stronger brand loyalty.
So when I hear about an “unconference” on social media – I’m intrigued.
First of all, the unconference is totally free. Really? OK, what’s the catch? Turns out only the first day is free – then they “hope you stick around” for the $795 conference that follows the next two days. Guess there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Next, the audience helps prepare the agenda. Two weeks before the event registrants will receive a survey to help shape the agenda and choose topics. Does this really work?
Finally, it’s promoted as an idea exchange and brainstorming session. No boring lectures. Instead, a question will be posed and the “wisdom of the crowd” will answer it based on their collective knowledge. Sounds utopian. Wouldn’t chaos ensue if “everyone’s a speaker”?
Like open source technology or social media, unconferences are beginning as a grassroots movement, but the quality of the conferences and ideas that are generated are helping to propel their popularity.
Andy Sernovitz, founder of the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association posts on his experiences at an unconference put on by BarCamp saying, “Really interesting things happen. Ideas are shared, code is written, interesting mashups of people and concepts pop out in a spontaneous burst of creativity.”
Jake McKee, The Community Guy, raves about his experience at an Online Community Conference saying, “the vibe is much more relaxed than a traditional conference. Participation was the word of the day. The event was a fantastic mix of people eager to learn and willing to ask newbie questions with old-school experts who loved helping people learn.”
One downfall, posted by blogger Kaliya Hamlin, is the gender bias she experienced. “I ‘the woman’ doing the more feminine role of facilitation – a key part of what actually makes an unconference run was made invisible in the [BusinessWeek] article.”
**Update: As pointed out by Jake, in this particular situation, the gender bias had more to do with the editorial team at Business Week than the event. However, if media sees this role as invisible, do participants as well? **
As for me, I haven’t been to an unconference as of this posting and I’m curious to hear your thoughts. Are they really as great as people say? Or is it just hype because it’s something new?
Andrea –
I found it a really interesting experience. I’ve produced dozens of conferences and never saw anything quite like this. The question I keep asking is … can this translate to an executive audience?
Andy
Hi there, thanks for the shout out!
One nit I have with this post – biased coverage in BusinessWeek and a discussion about the gender split at the event itself are two much different things.
It’s not a downside of the unconference event(s) specifically, it’s a downside to general coverage of the tech industry.
Good point Andy. Perhaps executives could ween into the unconference model with a workshop offered in their traditional conferences that implements the unconference style.
Thanks Jake for your comment. You’re right – in this situation the gender bias was in large part to the editorial team at Business Week and not a downfall to the event itself. However, if the media perceives facilitation (‘the feminine role’) as invisible, do participants as well?
I’ve been invited to present at BlogOrlando – which probably fits the true definition of an UnConference. There are no registration fees. Just a meetup with sessions.