Some of the insights we've gained from the past two events:
Number of talks should be limitedThe second IdeaCamp was another experiment in the best format for talks and what we gained from that was it's much better to limit the number of talks to 4 or 5. This will allow for just enough conversation starters and leave time (and energy) for rounding up people with similar interests (in a room, table, or just a group of chairs) and start talking.
More emphasis should be given to conversationsClosely related to the above, the organizing team needs to focus more efforts on creating an environment for serendipitous conversations to happen. Comfortable chairs, properly airconditioned rooms, refreshments, beer and pizza, etc. This has been the shortcoming of the past two IdeaCamps so far and this is also why we're a bit embarassed to call IdeaCamp an unconference (when it's not really true to the definition of the word)
Consider finding a regular meeting placeMore and more we're inclined to find a permanent home for IdeaCamp Davao because this will cut back the biggest part of the preparations which is logistics. If we can do away with having to move equipment and materials around, we can probably have IdeaCamps more often
Consider having a true unconference formatThe true unconference doesn't really have a scheduled set of talks. People just go to the event and then decide what to do from there. We've been reluctant the past two IdeaCamps to do this because we were afraid that people might not get it. However, now that a number of individuals have seen the value of IdeaCamp (we had 40+ visitors in part 1 and 70+ in part 2...with many second timers), we're more inclined to go with this, or at least a hybrid of it where it's part scheduled talks and part free form.
Just do it.If there's only one thing we've consistently done for the past two events, it's to just avoid the Big Design Up Front (BDUF) syndrome and just do it. We just let our own excitement "infect" other people (speakers, team, sponsors) to make it happen. Truth be told, in the first IdeaCamp, the organizing team only had one "serious" meeting (the first one), the rest was more about enjoying each other's company (while checking out the venue) over beers. For the second one, we just met at Whistle Top Bar once, had some more beers, and decided that that was it. Of course, it helps to have a team that is as passionate about the event as you are, but that's a given, right? :-)
Keep it fun for the teamThe most important pre-event activity was about making sure that the team enjoyed each other's company. We avoided long meetings (unless there was beer and sinugba around). We avoided long tables (unless it was used to hold the food and the beer). We avoided meeting agenda (unless it was used to decide when the next round of beers should come in). This is not to say that we were unorganized. Conversations and discussions were actually done via email to avoid wasting everyone's time. Face to face meetings were just used to raise some issues and assign resources to handle them, and that only takes about 15 ~ 30 minutes of the entire meeting. The rest is dedicated to geeking out about whatever. :-)
We had a great time meeting everyone last September 12, 2009 and we hope we'll see you again in the next IdeaCamp! Remember, we're "open sourcing" this event. If you want to hold your own IdeaCamp at your school/baranggay/office, let us know and we'll help you in any way we can.
