Jeff asked us all to comment on the blog about our thoughts regarding the unconference. In fact, he specifically asked us to write up at least one critical comment. This kind of introspective is what drives success. His open requested on behalf of everyone who helped put the Unconference together exhibits the spirit of why we came together.
Unconferences have no rules and this appealed to my anarchistic tendencies. The ensuing chaos may have been uncomfortable for some who prefer structure and rules. To be fair the folks at EA did an incredible job organizing that which could be organized, droving groups and keeping us on track. Speaking of tracks, I think the size of the groups was great. In my experience facilitating groups, I am of the opinion that teams under 10 are best.
First Impressions
- I had no expectations so when I was greeted with a gift and a pre-printed name badge, I was already impressed.
- The locaiton was amazing - but then I'm a total geek and video game fan so they had me at hello :)
- It took me a minute to fill out my "dossier" and quite a bit longer to tape it to the wall and draw some lines. I got there early so I had plenty fo time, but I bet the those who arrived "on time" barely had time. Perhaps there's a digital solution?
- Nice spread. Fruit, bagles, coffee. I wanted for nothing. Well, except to break away and go play all the free video games :)
- WAY more people thank I though would show up, showed up. Cool.
- Some people who promised to be there, weren't. Dissapointing.
- Quite a few consultants and vendors, not enough production recruiters.
Lasting Impressions
- We should do this again. And again. We should do it until everyone notices, and then we should keep doing it some more. This kind of event can make a difference in ways no single voice can.
- Jeff, Krisit, Cindy, the whole EA team is awesome.
- There are far more people with passion for our industry than I thought possible.
- I started out being a big fan of many people who came through the doors, but my respect for them grew because I saw a side of them I had not ever seen "out in public." As a result I'm going to go out of my way to get to know these leaders "off stage" so we can discuss their many incubation ideas.
- I met some legendary people I had never had the honor to meet. I won't be surprised if a few new ventures or even entire companies result from these meetings.
- It was incredibly difficult to bite my tounge and not stand up to present. Kristi and I decided that as facilitators we would encourage track participants to present and not monopolize the stage. Other track leaders did this as well and I think the result was very positive.
- There are too many big issues affecting our industry, and each should probably have their very on full day unconference.
- We asked more questions than we answered so I hope that others will pick up where we left off and start formulating some answers we can propose at the next Unconference.
I caught a bad cold at the uncoference, and I got bronchitis on top of that. Apparently I am not alone. I think a few superconnectors showed up with superbugs the night before and when we all went out to dinner we passed the bugs around to each other. I think mine came from Argentina though, but I didn't get sick until the day of the conference, so I can't be sure.
In any case, I want to be very clear-headed when I put together my notes from the Sustainable Sourcing track so its going to take me a few days but I promise they will be up this week. I took picture of all the flipboard pages. If any track participants have notes typed up please send them over, or put them up on the blog. I'll also post a couple of photos. If you can't wait, and must see the pictures I took, check out: http://picasaweb.google.com/shally/Taluncon.
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