Whitespace: Ready to throw away the conference rulebook?

Issue 46: February 2009

No formal structure, no PowerPoint slides, no lecturing: this is the future of conferences according to a growing chorus of innovation-focused professionals.

They claim the best thing about attending a conference isn't the keynote, but the networking. So why not loosen up the proceedings and focus on what really matters, they argue. Why not 'unconference'?

Welcome to open-source conferencing

The term unconference has evolved over the last few years to describe a more participatory or open source approach to professional gatherings.

Advocates say unconferences are becoming increasingly popular because they respond to the idea that the best business contacts and deals are made outside the formal sessions of traditional conferences.

According to futurist Ross Dawson, unconferences offer a forum for impromptu ideas or imperatives to play out on centre stage with participants setting the agenda – usually around a central theme – as the event progresses.

The idea is that everyone who turns up is a potential speaker and those who don't participate in the main dialogue have the option of forming breakout groups or partaking in integrated online activities.

Edging towards the mainstream

Unconferences aren't a particular new concept. They have been around for quite some time in the creative industries and technology sectors, but signs are emerging they could soon go mainstream.

And one of the main reasons why is the global economic crisis. Unconference advocates say the concept offers a thrifty alternative to budget stretching traditional conferences.

Unconferences have a do-it-yourself heritage with many being free or inexpensive to attend. Their generally low-key infrastructure can also equate to lower running costs.

But beyond the benefits of greater attendee participation and possible cost savings, the emergence of innovative presentation styles is further driving the popularity of these events.

Short, sharp and informal

While there are many forms of unconferencing, one thing that emerging presentation styles like 'the fishbowl' and 'lighting talks' have in common is a dearth of one-way dialogue.

According to unconference blogger Kaliya Hamlin, the fishbowl approach is like theatre in the round with speakers emerging from the audience when they have something to say about a particular topic.

Fishbowls can either be open, with speakers joining and leaving the presenting cluster as the discussion progresses, or closed, a format that sees a set group of speakers addressing the audience for a predetermined period of time.

Lighting talks offer another approach to unconferencing. Promising 'death to PowerPoint', the recent Ignite Sydney lightning talk event gave speakers the opportunity to present in just five minutes using 20 visuals that could only be viewed for 15 seconds each.

This enthusiastic response to this sold out event – which featured speakers on topics including innovation, design, hip-hop, photography and digital marketing – suggests we could be hearing a lot more about lightning talks in the near future.

Coming to a venue near you?

While companies including Walt Disney Co, Adobe and Microsoft have all embraced the unconference trend, it is highly unlikely this new breed of presentation will completely kill off the traditional conference. The granddaddy of professional gatherings still has a lot of good things going for it.

But clearly there is room for new conference formats to emerge that can accommodate greater dialogue and ultimately help participants to quickly and easily take away what they really want: new ideas and new contacts.

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