I moderated an unconference this year at the Wine Bloggers Conference. I rapidly followed that up with speaking at DevLearn, so I couldn't make it to Elliot Masie's Learning 2008 for the first time since the event started. Truly, the Wine Bloggers Conference was probably more fun, as far as that goes, but I still missed a lot of things about the Masie event.
I think I've compared and contrasted these conferences before, but with a new ASTD technology for the upcoming TechKnowledge, I wanted to do it again.
I enjoy ASTD TechKnowledge, and every year it gets just a tiny bit more technical, which makes me happy. In the past, there was no real way to communicate with the speakers, beyond recording their email address at a session. Well, ASTD has now implemented their Speaker Feedback System. You enter the speaker's first name, last name, and session number. You can then fill out the form and it sends an email to the speaker.
Now, more often than not, I'm a speaker at these events. I already have an inbox of 431 work related emails, not to mention my other email accounts. I am not overly thrilled that this is the tact that ASTD has taken. Sure, it opens up a dialogue with the speaker, which is more than we had before, but email does not open up that big of a dialogue. It's one on one and does not include group discussion.
This brings me to Masie's conferences. For every conference, Masie offers a Wiki. Each session has a wiki page, complete with speaker bio and session information. You don't need to have knowledge of the speaker's name or session number. You can search on what you're interested in.
At Learning 2007, I spoke on Blogs. Had you searched the conference wiki for blogs, I would have popped up. It was topic-based search, which is amazingly useful. Not only that, but conversations about the topic could start on the wiki (anyone could participate) before the conference started and continue after the conference ended. As opposed to using handouts, I put all of my resources - most of which were hyperlinks - on the wiki. Folks thought this was brilliant. It's so much easier to click than to type out a long, nonsensical hyperlink. And because it was a wiki, anyone and everyone could contribute to group discussion beforehand.
Alternatively (and just as easily), ASTD could build a community group on Ning where each session has its own discussion group. Again, this site could be chock full of information and build itself on group input and collaboration. Not only would this help the speakers with their presentations and audience, it would help the attendees by generating useful discussion.
ASTD already requires that speakers create tree-killing handouts that include job aids and workbooks. Now we're getting direct email as well. Wouldn't a wiki or discussion forum, where everyone could join into the conversation work better? ASTD also offers fantastic Learning Labs - basically unconferences - where people discuss what they've learned so far. These sessions have individual wikis. Imagine integrating these sessions into an overall wiki, where they were searchable and easy to find for everyone.
Again, I really enjoy the ASTD conferences, and I particularly enjoy the people I meet there. I appreciate the opportunity to speak at TechKnowledge. But I would love to somehow work with them to tweak their conference tools. I love that they're trying to get attendees and speakers more connected, but I feel like they're missing out on the opportunity for great discussion.
UPDATE: Just heard from ASTD, and they don't want a group discussion. This baffles me completely. Group learning, group discussion, INFORMAL LEARNING - that's the future. Not email. They are also setting up a social network via LinkedIn, so I'm not sure how well that will work. My money is on the idea that they'll use the built-in discussion group features in LinkedIn and call that ASTD Connect.
Also, they hadn't thought of a Twitter backchannel. Of course, the great thing about that is we can set it up ourselves if need be. I can't even describe the amazing DevLearn Twitter backchannel and how much it brought to the conference for me.
I appreciate the effort, but somehow feel like they are missing out on the important points. I often feel like ASTD, and I include my local chapter in this, facilitates Learning 1.0 and sort of looks at Learning 2.0 but shies away like a scared bunny.
What do you think? As a speaker, would you rather have attendees email you or participate in a pre-session discussion? How about as an attendee? Would you rather send an email or participate in an informal, online discussion? I ask because I'm fully willing to admit that I'm wrong on this. Let me know.
Disclaimer: This is my third year leading a session of some sort at TechKnowledge. I am the frustrated webmaster (and recently the VP of Technology) for our local chapter. I've tried repeatedly to get on the Planning Committee for TechKnowledge as well - apparently I don't know the right people. I want to fix this - not complain about it on my blog - but they make it difficult.
