Interesting. I've always wondered about "unconferences" with preannounced keynote speakers and fairly hefty fees. Sidenote: How can anybody go to 70 conferences or unconferences a year and still get any work done? Unless, of course, this guy's work is entirely conferencing...
- Walt Crawford
I think "death" is overstating things, as it often is. I do also think one thing that's going on (and the link hints at this without actually saying it) is that some unconferences are discovering that a wide variation in attendee ability/existing-knowledge levels is not entirely tenable. I hear through the grapevine that THATCamp is having some trouble with this; they're getting DH...
more...
- RepoRat
Joel is a marketing guy, so he says stupidish things all the time just to attract attention to himself. I think this is an interesting example to contrast with Science Online, which has managed to balance the unconference spirit with growth to 450 attendees. Not always perfectly, of course, but not too bad. And they've had keynotes for a few years. There's no reason why an unconference...
more...
- John Dupuis
Now there's a great sentence: "Joel is a marketing guy, so he says stupidish things all the time just to attract attention to himself. " For "Joel," substitute SO MANY marketing folks, consultants, self-proclaimed futurists...
- Walt Crawford
Wait...you cover people when they are out for a year? :-p
- Hedgehog
In the smaller units, mostly yes. Of course, this is a case where someone will be out for three years in a row, just not always the same person.
- John Dupuis
Ooh - moment of excitement, before I realised there is more than one 'York' (and lets face it even David despairs of my science [un]knowledge)
- Helensleydale
A colleague here tells the story of a bunch of York University people at a conference in the UK who's conference badges were incorrectly set as University of York.
- John Dupuis