What is an ‘Unconference’ anyway?

Answer: Social media in action … and in person!

It was 12:15 in the afternoon on Mar. 10 of this year, at the luxurious Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas … and I was pissed.

I was at the Ragan/PRSA Social Media for Communicators Conference, which was about to start in full force the next day. Mar. 10 was the pre-conference sessions, and I had just finished teaching, with my wife Cindy, a three-hour class titled “Podcasting 101.”

But for me, the conference was just starting. The next day was jam-packed: I was doing three sessions, plus the luncheon keynote. I was tired just thinking about it.

I wanted to go up to my room. I wanted to work on my presentations. I wanted to lay down. I wanted to work out. I wanted to play craps. I wanted a martini. I wanted to do just about anything except for what I had to do, which was go help moderate the “unconference.”

An “unconference,” if you’re not familiar with the term, is like a conference, but it’s not. It tries to do in real life what social media do in the virtual world: Tap into the wisdom of the crowds, with no gatekeepers or censors or hierarchy.