Thank you for your interest in participating in our HOL13 "unconferences"!
At the core—literally the middle—of HOL13 is our experimental and participant-driven unconference. We see the unconference as a fluid event of casual five-minute "lightning" presentations and informal dialogue generated through the emergent process of group interactions. One of the goals of HOL13 is to feature the wonderful work of all our panelists and our current graduate and undergraduate students and to foster long-term conversations between all of us. To facilitate this, the multiple unconference sessions will focus around topics generated in advance by all the participants. The unconferences are meant to take a more improvisational form. Therefore, the themes and locations will remain flexible up until Friday March 22, with the first session at 1:00 to 2:20pm, and the second session on Saturday March 23 at 1:00-2:20pm.
If you have not already, please add to these topics and sign up for a session, or ideally two, here. In this document, you can simply follow three easy steps to participate in the unconferences.
Once we have a critical mass of topics and presenters, we will confirm the times and locations of the unconference sessions in the above Google doc and make these available at our Friday registration table to those who wish to attend them. We encourage you to check back here the morning of the unconferences.
Unconference Protocol and Presentation Format
Rather than formal papers, we are asking everyone to prepare a five-minute "lightning" presentation focusing on your work in relation to the topic. A lightning presentation is simply a short, informal talk designed to generate dialogue in a group setting. Remember, this should not be an overly prepared talk, an academic paper, or a business pitch. Unconference talks are meant to be informal, casual, and most of all, fun and informative.
Due to the fluid format of the unconferences, A/V is discouraged. Given that only a limited number of designated unconference spaces will have access to A/V equipment, we ask that you prepare presentations that do not require tech equipment and support. Should you find that having A/V is absolutely vital to your presentation, please email our unconferences graduate coordinator to request a session in a space with equipment. In these cases, we can work with you to make available a DVD player, digital projector, and/or a laptop for your use (should you request to use your own, you should plan to bring your own adapter). We will not be able to guarantee tech support for those who choose to use A/V.
Of course, we want to invite those who prefer to attend and just listen to do so. However, if you would like to attend without giving a presentation, we still ask that you let us know. RSVP to attend by emailing the topic, session, your name, email, and that you prefer not to present to [email protected] so that we can keep track of how big a room we will need. Again, all times and locations will be confirmed on Friday morning. You do not have to be an MCM alum or current student to participate.
What You Can Expect
Each topic will have a moderator whose role it will be to keep the presentations moving. There will also a be a designated scribe for each topic to take notes for the group. Depending on the popularity of the topic, you could find yourself speaking to a large group or as few as 3 or 4 people.
Additional Queries or Concerns
Should you not find what you need here, you may direct any questions you have about the unconferences to our graduate coordinator, Rijuta Mehta, at [email protected].