What to expect at the Online Community Unconference East

The Online Community Unconference East will be held February 10th in New York City. To learn more about the event, or to register, go here: http://ocue2010.eventbrite.com/ .

So, how does this Unconference thing work? The premise of our Unconference series is that the best source of information on online communities and social media is the community of practitioners actually doing the hands on work. The Unconference format provides a venue for participants to lead discussions about topics they are most passionate and knowledgeable about. At the end of the day, attendees walk away with new ideas, perspectives, and a long list of new professional connections. One of the most amazing parts of the day at our Unconferences is the topic selection process. Our Unconference uses the organizing principals of Open Space Technology to create the event agenda. Said another way, the topics discussed during the day are suggested and lead by Unconference attendees. At the start of the morning, any attendee who wishes can come forward, announce a topic, and claim one of the 50+ open slots on the grid.

Attendees announce session topics

The agenda begins to form

Within about 35-40 minutes the grid fills up with topics

Once all the topics are announced, we begin the Unconference sessions. The agenda grid plays the role of gathering place and ideamarketplace throughout the day, as attendees come back to the agenda to check for any updates, changes, or new sessions.

Outputs If you would like to see an example of the great content that comes out of an Unconference, please check out a few of these resrouces:

• The Online Community Unconference 2009 wiki
• The The Online Community Unconference East 2009 wiki
• The Online Community Unconference 2009 Book of Procedings (.pdf)

I would encourage you to spend some time looking through the session notes and the book of proceedings, as there is a lot of great content.

Again, to learn more about the event, or to register, go here: http://ocue2010.eventbrite.com/

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