Hello From Bill Warner & More About the MassTLC Innovation 2009 unConference

[Bill Warner]

Hello All,

I am new to this list, and I am grateful to Harrison Owen for  
introducing me.

I am not a conference organizer by background, and everything I know  
about Open Space Technology, I learned from Kaliya Hamlin.

I'm  high-tech entrepreneur. I started Avid Technology, Inc. and also  
Wildfire Communications

Now I'm very involved in working to charge the entrepreneurial scene  
here in the Boston area, working through an organization called the  
Mass Technology Leadership Council, MassTLC.

When we were trying to come up with a new approach to our annual (but  
rather moribund) investor conference, it was then that I got  
introduced to Kaliya, and that we changed to an unconference format.

The result is the MassTLC Innovation 2009 unConference.  This blog  
post gives some background, and this one shows photos (Including the  
flying car) from the event.

This is our second year, and the response has been amazing. Check out  
the Twitter traffic from our recent event.

I only first spoke with Harrison today, but we got into it rather  
quickly. He challenged me on one design element of the conference, and  
I'd like to put it to the list for your thoughts.

Here goes:

Our event is actually a mini-unconference inside of a larger  
unconference. The smaller one is aimed at making real, personal  
connections between volunteer experts and entrepreneurs that need  
their help. This is where we veer somewhat from the self-organizing  
principal.

First, I recruit experts to volunteer two hours of their time at the  
conference to meet with entrepreneurs one on one. Everyone says yes.  
So the great thing is, I start with a wonderful list of experts who  
are ready to help the entrepreneurs. Here is this year's list: http://web.me.com/masstlcwebmaster/MassTLC_2009/Experts.html 
   Now, it takes a lot of work to do the recruiting and prepare the  
list. But this work pays off in making connections with experts, and  
in getting them into the mindset of being there to help.

With this list in place, we recruit entrepreneurs. They apply to be  
sponsored, and to get a lower registration price, along with two one- 
on-ones and a small table meeting. Here is the invite: http://web.me.com/masstlcwebmaster/MassTLC_2009/Entrepreneurs.html

Then we go through the list of entrepreneurs. We end up picking about  
half. We had 70 this year. Okay, I know, that's not open-space like.  
But it does mean that we have a strong crop of entrepreneurs, and the  
experts really feel like they were able to help. Without the selection  
process, we'd have, for example, marketing consultants rather than  
entrepreneurs taking valuable slots with the experts.

On the morning of the event, the experts post their one-on-one slots.  
This makes them committed to helping, and committed to time slot.  
Everyone took it seriously, and the small meetings between expert and  
entrepreneurs was the "roots" of our unconference "tree."

 From those roots, an amazing event sprung up. But boy, the prep work  
is big. It took me, and others, all of August and September, working  
full time.

I'm totally gratified by the results, and I'm ready to do the same  
next year. However, Harrison's challenge to me got me thinking. Can we  
get the same results or better next year with much less up-front work?  
If so, our families would be thrilled. I look forward to your comments.





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