unconference

plural unconferences

1. informalA conference that attempts to avoid the traditional drawbacks of conferences, such as high entry fees, excessive formality, and bias due to sponsors.

   Think of the Kalamazoo unconference, assuming that the official videotape tells it like it was.

   1973, Texas A&M University Dept of English, CEA Critic

   3 more examples

   As a marketer, the unconference tells me more about what's hot in the marketplace than any other tool I have.

   2008, Shel Holtz, John C Havens, Lynne D Johnson, Tactical Transparency

   But the fact that there were predetermined sessions went against the whole "unconference" idea, a few attendees said. For them, it was still too much structure.

   2008 October 20, Kim Hart, “Twittering Types Share Ideas Offline”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN

   Unconferences differ from conferences in the way they are organized and the way in which participation takes place. In a traditional conference, there are typically hundreds of attendees. Unconferences, however, have participants who also contribute to the unconference by initiating a discussion, sharing their own experiences, debating, and so on.

   2011, Marjorie J. Porter, Sigrid E. Kelsey, editors, Best Practices for Corporate Libraries, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 101