Unconferences, called Librarycamps in libraryland, are springing up all over the world. They are popular because the attendees get to decide what will be presented or discussed. No more sitting in the back of the room for a quick exit strategy, because at unconferences participants are encouraged to walk out if a discussion is boring. If this sounds appealing to you, sign up for the very first unconference called LibraryCamp of the West.
I heard they are limiting the attendance to 150 – so quick – get your name on the list!
Hey, thanks for the link. I guess I’d say that people would be first encouraged to speak up and make the session less boring before walking out. One of the main slogans of unconferences or X-Camps is “No spectators, only participants.” So we are hoping that sessions won’t have a presenter and an audience, but will have many people sharing ideas, asking questions, and creating the conference on the fly.
But, yeah, it’s your conference, so if walking out seems like the thing to do, we’ll refund your registration (LibraryCamp is free).
Reading the thinking behind the original open spaces concept of meetings, which has been around for a few decades and has provided the underpinning of the unconference idea, you can see that the “law of two feet” was originally meant to suggest. Rather than encourage people to leave because a session is boring, the original idea seems to be that you should leave if you feel like you have nothing to contribute to a session. If, for example, I’m sitting in a discussion about coding that is pitched way above my head, I probably won’t be able to participate meaningfully and should consider finding another discussion group where I will have something to add.