Two upcoming conferences indicate a refreshing trend toward the un-conference. One is Lockergnome’s Gnomedex 6.0 in Seattle on June 29 to July 1, and the other is the Council of PR Firms “Critical Issues Forum”, soon to be announced for New York on November 2nd.
Neither will have a bunch of long-winded panels. Instead, they’ll have luminary discussion leaders who’ll talk with small groups. Sadly, so far, Gnomedex has announced only one female discussion leader and NINE, count ’em, men!
I speak at a lot of conferences and other events and I am bored to tears by the sameness of the formats. Panel after panel with Power Point after Power Point. Really, all anyone wants to do is talk to the experts one on one and pick their brains. Perhaps these two events will foster the popularity of this new un-conference format.
Good to know that the unconference phemenon is catching up with the non geek world. Lest it be dismissed as a geeky thing.
Don’t worry, the wemen are just waiting to see if it is just a fad.
The success of leaders like Tara Hunt will prompt many to jump into the bandwagon!