Comments on: Community-Organized Events vs. Traditional Conferences

By: Simon Mackie

Simon Mackie — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:22:21 +0000

You have to remember also that commercial conferences exist to make money. You would hope that this would mean that content would be aligned with what attendees want to get from the conference but that’s not always the case.

By: Stormy

Stormy — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:30:58 +0000

I find volunteer run conferences to be much more saavy about who’s attending the conference, why they are attending and what they are looking for. That makes for a much better conference.

By: Blogging Elsewhere at Consulting, Online Communities, and Social Media: Fast Wonder Blog

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 17:40:38 +0000

[...] Community-Organized Events vs. Traditional Conferences [...]

By: Anelly

Anelly — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 07:28:30 +0000

I prefer small group discussions because I’m more focused on subjects and my interests if high.

By: Melanie Archer

Melanie Archer — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:43:06 +0000

I’ve been to only two events organized as BarCamp-style unconferences. I’ve been to many more events organized as traditional conferences–designated speaker, often on a dais, preselected topics, audience seated in near or total darkness.

I’m a total convert to the BarCamp style. For one thing, speakers seem much more accessible: there’s a lot less of that noxious “Rock Star” atmosphere. The smaller group size encourages shyer participants to speak up. The result, even if the topic seemed goofy, is a highly memorable, richer experience, because so many more people contribute to it.