Overview: Fostering Opportunities for Conversations

Deborah Keller invited Marie Kaddell and Karen Huffman to lead a two-hour unconference session during the 2010 Military Library Workshop (MLW) in Destin, Florida (URL: http://slamilitarylibraries.org/wpcms/). There were many ideas brewing from topics discussed by guest speakers. During the conference, some of the attendees were Tweeting about the sessions. One of my favorite #MLW2010 Tweet was the following: "Change is inevitable (except in a vending machine). ~Robert Gallegher" Since unconferences typically should be an all-day event, below is the strategy we used for accomplishing an unconference in just two hours.

Unconference Topic: Creating Our Strategies for Communication

We focused our unconference around the Communication theme of the 2010 MLW conference and used a combination of facilitation techniques pulled from KM-style unconference and open space technology (OST) models. Unconference and OST are primarily participant driven sessions that encourage discussion around a theme or purpose determined primarily by those who attend. The models are used to foster communication and engagement.

Survey to Gather Ideas Prior to the Session

Since we only had two hours, we sent out a survey to gather ideas to foster the unconference discussion. We suggested some possible topics (#1-#4) and gave attendees an opportunity to make additional suggestions (#5):

1. Our up-road challenge (but not our defeat!): Communicating and connecting with audiences over distance and time. Potential pitfalls and/or resistance in information delivery methods used to communicate ideas and concepts. How can KM work in an environment with multiple languages, professional jargon from multiple disciplines, competing organizational cultures? What makes it work?
2. Success stories: Increased effectiveness in solutions due to greater participation and/or a wider diversity of opinions. How are you driving engagement, success and value within your organizing to improve outcomes.
3. User adoption strategies: Adaptive improvements in your communication and collaboration models as a result of tools and/or applications employed within your organization. Do you see yourself as part of the solution? How do you show support by assisting users in developing proactive solutions?
4. Value of KM: Articulating and demonstrating the value of KM in the short-term when long-term funding and efforts are required for the "real" payoff. What is the "real cost" to an organization - tools and technology, people, or risks in the "what if's"?
5. Additional suggestions were welcomed in the survey.

Summarized Focus and Ideas Shared

The photo gallery below summarizes the way Marie and Karen facilitated the unconference and recorded the ideas shared.

2010 MLW Unconference Session (view as slideshow)
	Marie and Karen tweaked the guidelines based on our experience with unconferences.		Participant-driven ideas as a result of the survey.		Unconference in full swing.
	Mindmap from the unconference session.		Marie (left) and Karen (right).		Tweets #mlw2010 from unconference and a handful of other sessions.

Why an Unconference?

I think what I liked best about the 2010 unconference sessions is that there is no right answer! The people that come are the right people, the topics discussed are the right topics. It's a WIN-WIN situation and all have an opportunity to share their ideas. The selected pictures and resources below were shared during the three unconferences I co-facilitated with Dianna Wiggins on the Culture of Social Media, Mary Talley on Embedded Librarianship, and Marie Kaddell on Value 2.0+. Many of the ideas and resources shared and mind maps created are a starting point to help you delve deeper into the areas that interest you most. Please take a few moments to share your ideas and takeaways from the sessions you attended, so we know how best to modify the content and/or format for future unconference sessions.

Resources & Links

Culture of Social Media

• Engage by Brian Solis URL: http://www.briansolis.com/2010/01/engage/.

Embedded Librarianship

• 2010 June Resources for Embedded Librarianship by Mary Talley. URL:http://wiki.sla.org/download/attachments/60817513/2010 06 Embedded Librarianship Resources.pdf.

Value 2.0+

• The New Face of Value: 2010 Best Practices for Government Libraries, edited by Marie Kaddell. URL: http://www.lexisnexis.com/tsg/gov/Best_Practices_2010.pdf.
• Marie Kaddell's Government Info Pro blog. URL: http://www.governmentinfopro.com/.

Other

• SLA Twitter Directory (must be signed into SLA's wiki to view): http://wiki.sla.org/display/SLAINNO/Twitter+Directory.
  

  2010 Unconference Sessions (view as slideshow)
  	Culture of Social Media facilitated by Dianna Wiggins & Karen Huffman		Culture of Social Media: Dianna Wiggins (center) with Illinois Chapter Members		Embedded Librarianship facilitated by Mary Talley & Karen Huffman
  	Value 2.0+ facilitated by Marie Kaddell & Karen Huffman		Value 2.0+: Marie Kaddell (left) and Karen Huffman (right)		Post Unconference Sessions (left to right): Mary Talley, Sam Kaddell, Karen Huffman, and Marie Kaddell

Did You Attend?

If you attended any of the conference sessions, please share your learnings from your time with fellow colleagues. 

Doesn't the term "unconference" during the 2010 SLA annual conference strike you as a contradiction of ideas? It's like when people ask me why do I sail during thunder and lightening storms? I sail because I've made a commitment to crew (and hopefully win!) for my friend every Wednesday night (unless, of course, I'm attending SLA's annual conference).

Like my commitment to sailing, SLA and its members are committed to us through all the ups and downs in our profession. SLA and its member-led leadership are constantly looking for new ways to grow each others competencies, creatively motivate us within our profession, and engage each other in conversations. During this year's conference in New Orleans, we have an exciting line-up of facilitators and some great ideas brewing for our unconference sessions. The format lends itself well to sharing ideas that may be peculating from some of the sessions you've attended.

Mark your SLA planner to attend one or more of the Unconference sessions during the 2010 SLA Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA. Below is a quick list of dates and times. Facilitators will help lead/guide topic discussions and capture your ideas and/or a gallery of images for each session within our placeholder pages set up below. Not sure what an Unconference is, see our glossary: Unconference, BarCamp.

Overview

During the SLA Leadership Summit in St. Louis, Missouri, in January 2010, we held two unconference sessions - one during lunch and a second session during a full leadership meeting in the afternoon of the same day. Bill Fisher introduced each session and general ideas; Kendra Levine explained the "rules" of an unconference; Marie Kaddell and Karen Huffman facilitated the initial lunch discussion/mind-map; and Amy Buckland, Daniel Lee, and others facilitated lunchtime break-out sessions.

A collection of ideas were shared and proposed. Here are my takeaways and what I heard participants saying was...

• Inclusion is key - Every idea counts - which is why an unconference is a perfect platform. Make every effort to reach geographically dispersed individuals, expanding BEYOND the U.S. If we want more people involved, then we need to make them feel included and validate their ideas.
• Flexible communication - Need to communicate through a variety of tools and applications. Facilitate "effective controversial discussions" even if you may not agree with everyone's viewpoint.
• Inspire leaders through a cross-disciplinary approach - We see a lot of the same wonderful faces year after year taking on leadership roles but how do we/YOU include others into leadership roles, cross-train, and motivate? On Dysart & Jones blog post today, Rebecca Jones talks about what inspired her from a blog posts on "Six Things We Can Learn from Olympians" (see The Olympics!! Watch, enjoy & learn - yep, learn, February 12, 2010).
• You have to be part of the solution - your organization, association, and others will make an effort toward reaching out to you, but you also have to take steps. Remember the saying, "It takes a whole village to raise a child." You are part of the solution, so don't wait to be asked; just jump in. Any and all efforts will be welcomed!

Gallery of ideas

2010 Leadership Summit Unconference Sessions (view as slideshow)
	Marie (left) and Bill (right)		Unconference lunch session - key takeaways		Kendra (left) and Daniel (right)
	Table discussions/break-out session		Table discussions/break-out session		Tabe discussions/break-out session
	Ideas shared		Ideas shared		Ideas shared

Reminders: SLA Annual Conference Unconference sessions planned for June 2010

• Propose a topic for an unconference session during SLA annual conference.
• Mark your program calendar to attend an unconference session. Note: Dates are solid but topics and facilitators will evolve over the next few months.

Share your ideas

If you attended the SLA leadership summit and would like to share your ideas, please add your comments below.

1. Whoever comes is the right people

2. Whatever happens is the only thing that could have

3. Whenever it starts is the right time

4. When it's over, it's over

For those of you still unsure about how the unconference sessions work - here's how things will go.

1. You check the schedule and notice an unconference session is being held.
2. You do a little dance of joy because you'll be able to both network and talk about interesting issues affecting your library.
3. You arrive at the room where the unconference sessions are being held (please check the program) - ready for action.
4. Those in the room, along with the facilitators, decide the topics to be discussed and the order of discussion.
5. We discuss. Much knowledge-sharing happens. The facilitators take notes of the whole shebang. Notes will be posted to the wiki shortly after the session.
6. You leave with warm fuzzies knowing that you both taught and learned during the session.
7. You tell all your friends about the unconference session and attend more of them.

Overview

To launch our DC/SLA Unconference held at Catholic University on April 3, Stephen Abram shared the history of the 23 things model which SLA volunteers followed to develop SLA's 23 Things along with ongoing ways we can continue to harness tools that best meet our goals in 2009 and beyond. Stephen said that short burst of ideas match adult learning styles while, at the same time, the 23 Things model offers a structure for learning. As an unanticipated consequence of applying this model, many participating libraries also saw cultural barriers across the organization reduced.

Ideas Shared for 2009

The below ideas shared during our unconference tie together our 2009 goals along with associated tools we plan to explore (and perhaps exploit) during 2009:

(view as slideshow)
	Living, breathing idea map: Drawn during the live conversation and sharing by participants.		Ideas reformatted using Mindomo.com. On right: Key ideas shared by all participants. On left: Tools/applications mentioned during our time together.

Quick links

Additional presentations participants were interested in knowing more about...

• Blogs:
  • Stephen Abram's Lighthouse
  • Marie Kaddell's Government Information Pro
• Presentations/articles:
  • Twitter: Changing Our Lives in <= 140 Characters (PDF)
  • Social Networking Made Easy with Ning (MPG)
• Check out upcoming 2009 SLA Annual Unconference Sessions - make sure to mark your schedule to attend one or more sessions. Format is flexible and presenters are YOU!
• Don't understand what an Unconference session is? See our definitions and resources.

Share Your Experience

Share your comments on what you thought about what people shared or the method used (i.e., Unconference model).

Has anyone ever been to a Pecha Kucha event - this is such fun - like speed powerpoint.?  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecha_Kucha

I notice we are taking 'unconference' where I suspect we mean each session is less structured than a more common 'talking head'  session.  Usually an 'unconference' referes to the whole conference - not just a session.

It seems we are putting together a series of less structured sessions and referring to them as 'unconference'.  Am I correct in this assumption?

Nerida

This interview by Janelle at Inmagic, I talk about what I see as the future of special librarianship.  Librarians need to change or retire if they want the special library world to remain alive and vibrant.  Follow this link to hear what I have to say as the new Chair of the KM Division.

Welcome to our new "UnConference Wiki." This has just been set up for anyone within SLA who might be interested in building resources, strategies, and good practices for developing UnConference events. This site's overall structure will evolve as our group evolves. The UnConference idea started buddling up during the SLA's mid-winter leadership summit through networking and brainstorming sessions. Sign up to join our ad-hoc group by leaving a comment on this blog post.