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May 28, 2004
Vertebrate v Invertebrate Conferences
Posted by Stowe Boyd
Marc 'implores' the organizers of the upcoming London Sumposium on Social Tools in the Enterprise to not let the conference be the same old-same old:
Marc Canter
from [
Marc's Voice]
I know there's not much time - but I deplore the conference advisors and sponsors to NOT make this just like every other day-long symposium you've ever attended. Make it something special, something different, for the children - if for no other reason - to leave them a legacy of innovation.
I'm all for it.
I am a real fan of what I call 'vertebrate' formats for conferences, where the theme or topics are a backbone for the event, and the activities surround and actualize it. This allows a lot of flex, and provide an opportunity for very different experiences for different attendees. 'Invertebrate' conferences have the hard exoskeleton of the theme pushed out into the forground -- like a get-together on forest fires where you have to go fight a forest fire.
In our situation, I am all for people trying to augment the on-day session with various social tools -- blogging, wikis, IM, whatever. But I don't want to spend 1/3 of the day outfitting the attendees with the tools of the trade, or relying on the tools to make the case.
My original pitch was for a late-night TV show format, where the speakers are limited to like 10 minutes of schtick and then there is a bantering interview with various folks plunking down on the couch. David Weinberger and I did that once at a conference, and it was great. (I got to be the fat guy at the end of the couch.)
Comments (4)
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1. Gregory Narain on May 28, 2004 11:31 AM writes...
Stowe, I agree with what you are pitching here. I know when I do corporate training for some clients, the process I always put forward is guided. In this scenario, the "students" work through a real project,be it planned or already underway.
The end result is incredible. Although they are not afforded the accute knowledge that comes from learning "syntax", they do instead leave not only understanding how to make something work, but also with something workable to boot.
I wonder if part of the symposium couldn't possibly utilize this format to get people not just informed but involved. Participation in the process is the key more so than the tactile interaction with the systems or services per se.
Permalink to Comment2. Marc Canter on May 28, 2004 01:42 PM writes...
Here's some pointers you can organize more or less in real-time.
Bring a stop watch. No more than :01 intros, backgrounders, instructions. No more than :05 speechs. If something deep is being said, have Phil Wolff whiteboard and document it - in real-time. He's good at that.
Bernie DeKoven used to use MORE for that. Outliners are great.
Have folks in the back who will quietly help out those lost or confused. "Send in the hand holders!"
Meanwhile make sure every attendee either brings a laptop, knows what gonna happen and is prepared for "something different" (i.e. get their heads straight - and set their expectations.) Lots of Wifi and power strips.
Lastly - make SURE there are shills in the audience just blurting things out. That will relax teh atmosphere and make way for aflowing discourse.
I'd do it if I were there.
BTW Help Matt find some more EU Kloggers.
Permalink to Comment3. Nancy White on June 1, 2004 09:50 AM writes...
I don't recommend this as a sole practice, but one to consider in the right context: 99 Seconds. It is a 'get the juices flowing' technique. However, depth is another quality for some settings. ;-)
See http://www.thiagi.com/pfp/IE4H/april2002.html#ToolKit
http://www1.astd.org/astdInterim0304/pdf/handouts/S316.pdf
And an electronic countdown timer http://www.thiagi.com/freeware.html
Permalink to Comment4. Stowe Boyd on June 1, 2004 11:55 AM writes...
Nancy - I read the piece on '99 seconds' sounds great. A lot like the '10 mins of schtick' we did, although 1.5 mins is even more compressed.
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