Unconference

Unconferences allow participants to take control of the conference. Participants get to propose, and run sessions themselves. This enables peer-to-peer learning, collaboration and diverse session types and topics.

Sessions can be proposed before and during the conference. Even if a session doesn’t happen, hosts will find people interested in their session to collaborate with following OpenCon.

Propose a session

Sessions can be proposed before or during the conference by any participants. They’ll be added to a running list with facilitators. A session is one hour long.

Things to know:

Every session will be given a Google document to take notes, and post-it notes, markers, Flipchart paper and Role Cards.
At the end of sessions, participants will be encouraged to note down one immediate next step (e.g email participants), and one outcome that could emerge from their session.
There is no right way to do a session but a bias towards interaction and discussion is healthy.
You don't need to do preparation in order to convene a session, but it helps! Most sessions are accepted.
We strongly encourage session submissions from a diverse group of participants, both in terms of background and experience (e.g women, non-native english speakers, newcomers etc), and will do our best to offer support to those of feel they need it.

Session types:

Below are some ideas for the types of sessions that could be done, but chose a format (even if it's not the list) which supports what you'd like to do.

Group discussion: someone picks a topic they’re interested in and forms an interesting discussion around it. If you loved a panel at the meeting, perhaps propose further discussion around it!
Hacking and project sprints: make something, contribute to something (e.g the Open Research Glossary). This is also a perfect time to digest a session from OpenCon, writing up a challenge or project for the Do-A-Thon.
Learn about, or how to do X (e.g Open Access, Open Data). If you’re inclined to teach, this can be simple and awesome. Just make sure you bring whatever gear you need, and that you have some plan for teaching 5, 10 or 15 people how to do something all at the same time.
Project Talk: This is tricky, as the basic format is low-interactive. But if you’re a rock star, or have a big, well-developed idea (a book in progress, a manifesto) you can pull this off. If only 10 people show, you should switch gears to something more interactive.
Story Circle: Would you like to do another story circle? You can propose one!
Design Thinking: Want to take on a problem using design thinking? An hour is the perfect time to try and complete and exercise with a small group!

Propose a session

Advice to attendees and session leads

Attendees

Go with the flow – This event is intended to help you find the time and space to talk with and learn from each other.
Follow your passion – Go to the sessions that interest you.
Take responsibility for your own learning – If there are topics you are really interested in that don’t appear on the agenda at first, you need to put them on there.
Use the rule of two feet. If as session isn't right for you, use your two feet and leave.
Support the session lead! You share a common interest in making the session good, so volunteer to take some notes, help keep time etc.

Session Leads

Don’t be upset if only two people show up to your session. Those two people are the ones who share your interest.
Don’t assume people in the room know more, or less, than you do. You never know who is going to be interested in your session.
A great way to start a session is to briefly ask people (in ~30 seconds) to say who they are, where they’re from, and why they came to your session or what they want out of it. This can help you steer the session to be helpful to them, and gives you and idea of the resources you have in the room!
At the start of a session, don’t forget to say why you wanted to host this session, and what you want out the time. Share with people if you have an agenda.
Don’t feel that you have to “fill” up an hour of time. If what you have to say only takes 15 min and the group has finished interacting–then the session can end. That gives people the chance to take a break, or attend another discussion!
Be Brave! Others are interested in making your session work!
Do think about the ideas that you want to cover in your session, and how you want to cover them. But don’t feel as though you need to prepare a great deal.
Experiment with the kind of sessions you lead.
Ask for help holding the space if you need it. You might, for example, suggest a session and know that you are so passionate about the topic that it would be better if someone else, someone more objective, facilitates the discussion.

Voting and Agenda

Sessions that are happening at the Unconference won’t be confirmed until Saturday or Sunday at OpenCon. You can find all the sessions being proposed here. If enough people are interested in attending they’ll be assigned a time and place to actually run.