Seems that the dust from suggest a session has settled and the winners are frantically preparing their sessions.
Maybe your session didn’t make the cut, but don’t be sad or disheartened.
There is another way to present your session topic at OpenWorld.
Sign up for the Unconference.
Justin announced today that signups for this year’s Unconference have officially opened. So, if you nearly made the cut, or you’re all prepared and ready to go, this is your chance to present at OpenWorld.
If you’re not familiar with the unconference format, it’s pretty simple and straightforward. There’s usually a big sheet of paper with time slots on one axis and venues/locations on the other. If you want to present, just write your topic and some basic information on a piece of paper and tape it in an empty slot.
In this case, you can sign up in advance, but there are still slots preserved for spur of the moment signup, i.e. after the actual conference begins. If you don’t know by now, OpenWorld is September 21-25, in San Francisco at the Moscone Center.
Based on the laundry list of great sessions that were suggested over on Mix, ideally, the OpenWorld Unconference will have some very interesting sessions. Plus, if you voted for a session that didn’t make the cut, this may be your chance to see it. If so, head over to Mix and add a comment for the session creator, and maybe you’ll get your wish after all.
Not to be a hater or anything, but isn't using little pieces of paper and tape a little low-tech for a tech company?
At BEA Participate 2008, people suggested topics for the crowdsourced/unconference using their iPod touch devices. Other people could vote the ideas up or down using a Digg-like voting interface.
Don't get me wrong, I'll probably spend a good deal of time at the unconference during OOW. But this “system” seems like a step backwards to me. I'm sure if the appslab were in charge of this, you guys could probably do better, no?
This is the format used at Barcamps around the world. I think it works fine, since everyone can navigate tape, paper and pen. There is a bit of deviation from the traditional format though, since the wiki is taking signups now.
Typically, unconferences don't feature voting, at least in my experience, and there won't be a 40,000 person iPod giveaway to ensure everyone has a mobile device.
The Unconference is sponsored by the OOW organizing team. Had I been in charge, I would have followed the same format b/c it's easy to manage and tried and true.