Planning the Unconference

The structure of most educational meetings is almost exactly the same: lectures and panel discussions, theater- and classroom-style seating, and almost zero audience participation. Connections happen by chance, and unless attendees are extroverted and learn by sitting and listening, they come away with very little.

However, as a growing number of forward-thinking meeting professionals are proving, conferences can be better. "Unconferences" are formats that make meetings interactive, engaging and a whole lot more fun. Although unconferences have been around for years, the formats are being implemented more frequently than ever.

"The reality is, most people are not happy with the traditional conference experience anymore," says Adrian Segar, a particle physicist, tech guru and the author of Conferences That Work: Creating Events That People Love. "When it was the only option, they grinned and bore it. Now they don't have to do that anymore."

There are many types of unconferences; what follows are two of the best.

Peer Conferences Picture a group of 50 meeting planners sitting in a circle, each sharing what they hope to learn from the very event they're attending. That's what happened at EventCamp East Coast, a two-day peer conference held last November in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. It felt more like a retreat than a meeting.

When attendees walked in the door, the schedule was a blank slate. Each participant explained what she could teach, and then everyone voted on what they wanted to learn. A schedule was hammered out, and the resulting peer-taught sessions got rave reviews.

When Jenise Fryatt signed up for the conference, she didn't realize she would lead two sessions, one on social media and another on improvisational techniques for team building. "It was such a wonderful conference, and to think that it was created on the spot by the attendees," raves Fryatt, co-owner and director of marketing at Icon Presentations, based in Thousand Palms, Calif., and community manager for Engage365, an online group of event professionals. "And I learned a lot about myself."

Peer conferences were devised by Adrian Segar, one of the event's organizers, as a way for meeting attendees to learn from each other, rather than from official presenters. The full format is described in his book, but the basic parameters are as follows:

1. The roundtable. All the attendees sit in a circle and, one by one, answer three questions: How did I get here? What would I like to have happen? What experience or expertise do I have that others might find useful?

2. The peer-session sign up. At a reception, everyone writes down, on separate sheets of paper spread around a large table, what they want to learn or what they're willing to teach. After that's done, everyone then rates their interest for each of the session ideas and offers to help teach or facilitate sessions that reflect their expertise. After the reception, a small group digs out the most popular ideas and makes a schedule, for as little as one day of sessions or as many as three.

3. The peer sessions. This is the meat of the event. At EventCamp East Coast, four blocks of hourlong peer sessions were scheduled. They went so well that a number of the attendees voiced the wish that there had been an additional day of sessions.

4. The personal introspective. In the first closing session, everyone again gathers in a circle and writes the answers to these questions: What do I want to have happen after the event? What is the current situation? What am I willing to do? How will I know when it happens? Where and how will I get support?

Attendees are welcome to share their answers if they like. "It's really important to honor everyone's learning experience, and to give people at the event the chance to process what's happened," Segar notes.

5. The "group-spective." This takes place immediately after the personal introspective and can take a number of different forms. At EventCamp East Coast, organizers arranged a handful of chairs in a circle within the larger circle of attendees, and anyone who wanted to discuss the future of the related EventProfs online community of planners could take a seat in the "fishbowl" and speak. (For more information, see "What Is EventCamp?," left.)

As an alternative, Segar recommends breaking up into small affinity groups to hash out different action plans for the group moving forward.

A few notes to consider:

• Limit the size. Peer conferences work for up to 100 attendees. Segar is designing a model for larger conferences.

• Pick a large space. When site-inspecting for a peer conference, make sure the venue has a large room that can seat up to 50 in a circle. The circle is one of the least space-effective formations, so plan for that when budgeting.

• Keep it offline. Segar recommends that peer conferences be confidential, except for what is written on feedback forms. That way, everyone will feel comfortable sharing and teaching in an event environment that might push their boundaries.

• Aim for full attendance. Because of the interactive format, attendees need to be present for the entire conference. Get the word out in advance that the beginning is not optional. "If you have to miss part of the event," says Segar, "miss the end, not the beginning."

• Consider a hybrid event. Onto this basic format, a planner can add traditional conference elements, such as a keynote speaker or panel of experts, to help draw attendance.

Open Space Technology Organizational consultant Harrison Owen created this conference format in the 1980s, as a way to let meeting attendees self-organize and create a customized event that works best for them.

Open Space Technology is best used for problem-solving when the answer is not known and does not need to be directed, recommends Lisa Heft, a consultant, facilitator and educator, as well as president of the New York City-based Open Space Institute (U.S.). Heft has organized Open Space meetings for groups of 10 to 2,500 people.

"Open Space is for data generation, idea exchange or understanding a fuller picture of the system," Heft says. "It also works if there is a sense of urgency: crisis response, a shift in funding, or something else where the organization has to think quickly in a nonlinear fashion."

Here's what it looks like: Everyone begins seated in a large circle, and a facilitator explains what problem they will be working on. Any participant who wants to talk about an aspect of that issue makes a sign on an 8.5-x-11 sheet of paper, then stands up, introduces herself, explains her topic and finds a place on the wall to stick it. The wall is divided into times and places, like a giant empty schedule. Little by little, the schedule fills up with these ideas.

When the sessions begin, attendees go to whatever interests them, and someone volunteers to take notes, which are submitted as conference proceedings.

Open Space has four rules, which break down preexisting notions of an agenda and open up possibilities for interactivity and participation.

1. Whoever shows up are the right people. Sessions don't need a presenter or even a so-called expert. And sessions don't need 50 attendees to be considered a success. Two people could get together and have the most important conversation of the meeting, or one person could sit in a corner and write down his thoughts, then submit them as part of the conference proceedings.

2. Whatever happens is what could happen. Attendees should not try to steer a conversation just because it's veering off topic. People will talk about what needs to be talked about.

3. Whenever it starts is the right time. Facilitators don't interrupt a conversation to tell everyone to begin or end a session. If people begin the conversation early -- or show up late -- nobody need be upset.

4. When it's over, it's over. In other words, if three people from a session want to keep talking about the topic, they can continue as long as they like. Or if the subject has been exhausted 15 minutes before the break, everyone can go to a different session or start a new conversation.

The corollary is "The Law of Two Feet," which Heft subtitles, "The Law of Motion and Responsibility." In other words, if someone isn't learning or participating, it behooves that person to leave and go somewhere else.

Open Space also encourages what are termed as "butterflies" and "bumblebees." The former are people who don't diligently attend all the conference sessions but who flit about and maybe don't go to any sessions at all. Even without attending a session, those people might engage in a conversation that changes the outcome of the meeting. Bumblebees are people who leave one session to attend a different session, acting as emissaries to facilitate communication between groups.

A final guideline needs no explanation: Be prepared to be surprised.

At the end of the meeting, everyone convenes again to talk about what they learned and which conversations seemed the most important, and to make room for the lasting results of the meeting to settle in.

A few tips for the best results:

• Choose your space wisely. If you try to hold an Open Space session in an exhibit hall, use microphones so that everyone can hear, and make sure there's a way to post things on the walls. On the other end of the spectrum, if a room is too small for a group, attendees should feel free to take the conversation elsewhere, even outside.

• Explain the process beforehand. Attendees should come in knowing the structure, as well as why the meeting is being organized this way. Otherwise, the meeting might seem unfocused and frustrating.

• Allow enough time. For a truly productive session, Heft recommends five hours at the very least, up to a few days. "I would never choose Open Space for a meeting that is just several hours long," she says.

• Start small. If you plan a meeting with 5,000 attendees, consider giving them a taste of Open Space without switching the format entirely. Joan Eisenstodt, chief strategist of Eisenstodt Associates, LLC, based in Washington, D.C., recommends setting aside rooms for Open Space-style topic discussions to introduce the idea.

"I think we can do things within traditional meetings that change their look and feel and address the participation needs of different styles of learners," Eisenstodt says.

For further reading, Eisenstodt recommends Harrison Owen's Open Space Technology: A User's Guide.