Online Community Unconference 2025

The Online Community Unconference (OCU) is returning to San Francisco on January 8th.

Join me, Carrie Melissa Jones, and Susan Tenby for a full day of in-person collaboration with 100 experienced and engaged community leaders.

At the Online Community Unconference you will:

• Explore exactly the topics, questions and ideas that you want to explore, because you set the agenda
• Interact with an engaged and experienced network of 100 community leaders
• Learn from a wide range of experiences, practices and sectors
• Find inspiration from other’s outcomes and success stories
• Collaboratively solve challenges that you can’t solve alone
• Enjoy tasty snacks

All while having a great time experiencing the in-person community of community leaders.

Click here to register.

Pre-sale tickets are avaiable now. Tickets go up to full price on January 5th.

Want to know more about the Unconference format? Read on!

What is an Unconference?

In short, it is the opposite of a traditional conference in that:

• Participants set the agenda
• There are no “expert on stage” sessions
• Participants have a strong interest (or passion) in the topic
• Participants accept responsibility for contribution and learning

Most Unconferences adhere to the principles of Open Space Technology, a simple framework for organizing and facilitating participant-driven events.

Unconferences work because of a few simple, but important components. Participant contributions and behavior are guided by the Four Principles and One Law of Open Space. The sessions topics are developed and scheduled through the process of creating the Agenda Grid, which guides the flow of the day. I’ll explain both below.

The Four Principles and One Law of Open Space

Open Space events adhere to a simple but powerful framework to create a participant-driven and self-guided experience.

The Four Principles

• Whoever comes are the right people; the most passionate people will show up for the conversation
• Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened; let go of expectations and work with the ideas, content and people in the room
• Whenever it starts is the right time; don’t get too hung up on the schedule
• When it’s over, its over; when the conversation naturally plays out, it’s time to move on

The Law of Motion & Responsibility*If you find yourself in a session that you are neither learning from or contributing to, you are responsible for moving to another session (or conversation) that might be more productive
*Source: Lisa Heft, Open Space Facilitator and Trainer

The Agenda Grid Guides the Day

The agenda grid is a grid made up of spaces on one axis (usually the x) and time slots on the other (usually y). Agenda grids can be laid out on whiteboards, created from butcher paper or taped out on a wall. The grid cells need to accommodate whatever sized paper or post-it participants are using for their topics. Lastly, the grid needs to be in place before the Unconference starts.

Call For Topics
Once the components of Open Space have been explained, the facilitator will invite participants to spend a few minutes thinking about their topic before they write it down. Once participants have their topics, they are invited to get in line to announce their topic and then place it on the grid.

It’s not unusual for topics to overlap, or for topics to emerge as ideas begin to spark. Allow for a few minutes of participants refining and consolidating topics.

The Agenda Grid Guides the Day
Once the agenda grid is complete, participants to go to their first session. Participants come back to the agenda grid throughout the day to find their choose their next session and to look for any changes, updates or new sessions.

From just a few simple ingredients an amazing day emerges that taps into the collective experiences and knowledge of the Unconference participants.

Start the New Year of With Your Community

We chose early January so that community leaders could come together in a high-energy and high signal format to start the year off on a high note.

Interested in joining us? We’d love that! Please register here.

Prices go up January 5th. We expect the event to sell out.