The Global Coworking Unconference Conference is quite a mouthful, right?
Hence the more manageable GCUC, which is pronounced “juicy.”
But why is “unconference” in the name?
What does it even mean?
Here’s a quick intro to the unconference concept, in advance of GCUC UK.
What is an Unconference?
An unconference is an event where participants determine the topics to be discussed. People propose topics, everyone votes on which ones they’d like to talk about, and the ones that receive the most votes become the agenda.
As Iris Kavanagh, cofounder of Women Who Cowork, says in the following video, an unconference is a “user generated conference.”
GCUC Unconference
For GCUC unconferences, participants choose which sessions they’d like to attend and join breakout groups around specific coworking-related topics.
GCUC breakouts can cover community building, working with landlords, attracting members, marketing, creating regional alliances, working with city officials, partnering with schools, inclusion and diversity, working with brokers, differentiating in crowded markets, tech and workspace software, small town coworking, and much more.
Topics discussed depend on the people gathered.
Why an Unconference?
Unconferences empower participants to design the agenda. This means topics are immediately relevant to those gathered.
Topics are also timely. Something that happened on the morning of the conference could potentially be a topic for group discussion.
Collective Expertise
The GCUC community is full of workspace experts, coworking pioneers and visionaries. The unconference format taps into the collective expertise of the community, allowing participants to share ideas, questions, challenges, best practices and insights.
Everyone is an expert during an unconference. Everyone is a leader and everyone is a participant.
What to Expect
Unconference formation is a quick process that depends on all gathered to participate.
For the GCUC UK unconference, you’ll be invited to propose topics on colorful sticky notes. Topics could be something you’re struggling with, something you need guidance on, something you’re passionate about or think is important, something you’re curious about, or something you have expertise in and what to share.
Participants will then vote on their favorite topics by putting a checkmark on the note. The most popular topics will be organized into the unconference agenda and you’ll choose which sessions you want to attend.
If you proposed a topic chosen, you will facilitate the conversation. But all you need to do is get the conversation started. Unconference breakouts are led by the group. There is no single expert in an unconference session—everyone is an expert.
Unconference Magic
Once the conversation has been started, it will take off on its own. As GCUC producer Liz Elam wrote, “Just keep an open mind and participate. The magic of the unconference will happen all on its own.”
If you’d like to unconference about coworking and the workspace sector with us at GCUC UK, book your ticket now.
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