Tag Archive - unconference

ReThinking How We Do Conferences

March 12, 2009 in Ministry-Theology, Technology-Social Media with 7 Comments

meetingsA couple of months ago I started a series called ChurchTechCamp-8 Things To Know If You Want to Help Organize One. You can see my last post, with the previous posts at the bottom. I actually did have 8 posts within me, but got distracted which is easy for me to do. I could continue those posts, but I think I’ve made my point….(and to be honest, it’s part of my letting go process of perfection…I don’t need to finish 8 posts…haaa).

Conferences are changing, and the traditional way of doing them will disappear for many, but the few elite ones.

Church Crunch had a recent post, Hey Where’s My Conference?!?!

Eric Jones writes:

Has anyone else out there become aware of all the church conferences going on around the US? We’ve got leadership conferences, worship leader conferences, youth ministry conferences and more. It seems like every time I turn around I see a new conference popping up for my pastor, associate pastors, church staffers, worship leaders etc to attend.

I like to check out these sites to see what, if anything am I’m missing. The speakers are all people I typically am aware of and have much respect for. The topics are as expected, slanted towards church leadership and church staff.

But then I started to wonder, what about me? What about the church attender? Where is our conference circuit?

Cynthia Ware at The Digital Sanctuary says this in The Idea Camp Lives On (Idea Camp):

The entire event (free, of course)is still openly challenging all of us who are used to paying for conferences to see speakers we can listen to rather than those we can collaborate with.

And yet, Generation “We” seems to clearly resonate with a new set of values. Open source cross-pollenation, dynamic conversational collaboration, elevating innovation, celebrating creativity, participating, dreaming, designing, doing.

A taste of things to come.

So I’m wondering where you stand on all of this conference stuff. I know some people are frustrated with the sheer number of “conferences” or “unconferences” popping up, while others are thrilled.

Continue Reading…

ChurchTechCamp-8 Things To Know If You Want To Help Organize One-Part 2: Unconference

January 17, 2009 in Ministry-Theology, Technology-Social Media with 6 Comments

This is part 2 of an 8 part series on ChurchTechCamp (ChurchTechCamp:.Los Angeles, ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas) from the perspective of organizing one, in hopes that others will find some useful information to help organize one near them.

What is an unconference?

It made me realize that what I really want to attend is an “unconference“, where people pay to come and listen to one (or maybe two) keynotes by prominent community members, but then the rest of the time is spent in unstructured hacking sessions, where people cluster and work together on any number of different projects. If people want to stand up at a mic and talk about something that interests them, that‘s fine, but the focus would not be on presentation, but on working on interesting projects.
Unconferences by Jamis of 37 Signals

You can find this quote on the front page of the ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas website.

And that is the intention of ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas. A place where people can gather together, free of charge, no product placement, no one pushing products…and talk about “best practices” in their areas of interest as it relates to church and technology.

Tony Steward from the outset has successfully pushed for an event that is different from all the other events, and one that is free of sponsors and agendas. I think this is what makes ChurchTechCamp unique, and I think it’s a desire for many who have been burned out and overwhelmed by the number of conference, sponsors and fees to attend them.

An “unconference” is grassroots gathering of locals that has implications for a larger mobilization of the church through the use of technology. Not only do you have the opportunity to listen to others share their perspective, but you as an attender have the opportunity to contribute to the conference in the morning sessions, as well as participating in projects along with everyone else in the afternoon. You are more than a face in the crowd, but a participant of the event.

Questions:
What do you think about the philosophy and idea of an “unconference?”

How many conferences will you attend this year? What will be the grand total cost of them?

Are you burned out going to lots of conferences?

If you had to choose 3 conferences to go to this year (in an area of practice), what would they be?

Series:
ChurchTechCamp-8 Things To Know If You Want To Help Organize One-Part 1: It’s Organic

Disclaimer: Tony Steward is the main organizer, facilitator and influence behind ChurchTechCamp:.LA and ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas, I’m simply writing this series from the perspective of helping organize the details (location specifics) for the Dallas event, and hopefully this will be a useful series if you find yourself wanting to or in the position of helping organize one for your city.

#churchtechcamp:.Dallas is Here!

December 19, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 3 Comments

#churchtechcamp, which was pretty much hinted at, discussed and organized within about 5 minutes on Twitter a few weeks ago, is finally coming to fruition.

And instead of Los Angeles, this time it’s going to be in Dallas.

When:
Thursday, January 8

Where:
Irving Bible Church

Time:
9am-5pm

Cost:
$0…yes, I said $0.

Lunch:
Will be provided free by our great friends at Unifyer. (thx Matt and Lance)

What’s Happening:
Tony Steward sums it up succinctly this way–

First half of the day will be 4 conversations about ministry, technology and the internet.

Then Lunch.

During the first half of the day people can suggest and sign up for projects that we will work on together during the second half of the day.

Then we will leave.

That’s the gist, but watch as the specifics unfold over the next couple of weeks.

How Can You Be Involved:
We need one of you to design the stripped down, simple webpage for us. If we get multiple versions, we will put them all up on the site.

And we need a logo.

What If You Can’t Be There:
Well, like Los Angeles, it will be offered virtually.

What Do You Need to Bring:
Your computer of course. And we need everyone to bring an extension cord and power strip if you have one. We want to make sure that we are able to meet the power demands for the number of people who show up. We may not end up using yours….but we ask that you bring one.

Oh, and don’t forget to join our #churchtechcamp:.Dallas (Facebook Group)

Also, check out John Saddington’s Church Crunch post, ChurchTechCamp: Dallas – Let’s Start Now.

And also check out Tony Steward’s post, ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas.

If you have any organizational questions, please feel free to contact me by email or Twitter.

If you have any tech/conversation questions, please feel free to contact Tony Steward by email or Twitter and John Saddington by email or Twitter.