Unconference

You’ve heard about unconferences – now try one for yourself!

Our Unconference is hosted by Amplified Leicester.

How an Unconference works

Unconferences are increasingly popular amongst businesses that want to generate and access more views and ideas. Ours will work like this:

• There will be a noticeboard listing the rooms available for unconference meetings - probably around a dozen.
• Delegates are invited to add a topic to a room listed on the board. It can be very specific e.g. Room 1: ‘The future of transport’ or very vague e.g. Room 10: ‘How will money work in 2020?’
• During the unconference hour, choose a topic and join other delegates in that room to discuss it If you decide that conversation is not for you after all, you can apply the famous unconference ‘Law of Two Feet’ which reads: If at any time you find yourself in any situation where you are neither learning nor contributing: use your two feet and go to a different room. Just switch conversations. It’s that simple!
• Our unconference will last one hour – at the end of this, we ask you to join us back in the main theatre for a plenary session

Tip: Google unconference and Open Space Technology for more about this technique.

A further twist

We’ve added a further twist to make the Vision2020 Leicester Unconference extra special. Each room will have an expert facilitator, a member of our Amplified Leicester team, to help the group produce a Wish List of items you would like to see in Leicester in 2020 e.g. the Future of Transport Unconference might wish for free city bikes, or perhaps helicopter landing pads!

You will also create a Todo List to help move towards it e.g. to produce a proposal for free city bikes.

The lists will be brought to the Plenary session for discussion and after the event they will go onto the website as a record and reminder.

John Thackara will wrap up the day with his feedback on your proposals before we move to the Wine Reception at 5.00pm.

We plan to run further meet-ups over the next decade, as well as continue the discussion online on our Ning thread, LinkedIn and Facebook groups, where we will re-visit these ideas.

You will benefit most from the day as an active participant, so we encourage you to come and think like a futurist, add to the debate and challenge your colleagues to do the same!