Now we’ve been asked to host two, possibly three additional unconferences. Which is nothing but good news. What better home for unconferences than CoCo?

So, bring it! Do you have an idea for a unconference? Please let us know. We want to be the home base for unconferences in the Twin Cities. We’re happy to make our space available (on a DIY basis) on weekends or evenings. If your idea needs some development, we can help you think it through. And when your unconference is ready for prime time, we’ll help you get the word out.

We do have some thoughts and questions, however, about the future of the unconference format in Minnesota.

Attending a true unconference takes a bigger leap of faith than many of us are used to. The way it works is that an unconference is organized around a central question, like “What’s the future of public transportation in Minnesota?” But no agenda is determined or published before the event. Instead, the agenda is crowdsourced (often by an experienced facilitator) on the day of the event, as participants identify the discussions they’d like to have in response to the central question. And did we mention, there are no presenters? There are definitely discussions. Lots of energetic discussions. But no presenters.

So, there’s the difference: the whole model of an unconference is based on everyone answering the big questions themselves, whereas a traditional conference model is based on everyone listening, often quite passively, to a few peoples’ conclusions. It’s centralized planning versus democracy.

It’s interesting to note that fontconf, UnSummit and Real Food weren’t true unconferences. They split the difference between conference and unconference formats. They crowdsourced the agenda and then published it beforehand, so that attendees knew what they were getting into. In the case of UnSummit and Real Food Minnesota, this wasn’t the organizers’ first instinct. Both conferences tried going all-out “un.” But as time progressed, they were worried that attendance would be too light if people didn’t know ahead of time what would actually be discussed and who would be leading the discussions.

So, it would appear we haven’t quite embraced “un” yet. To be sure, we all seem to have enjoyed the loosely structured and participatory nature of the unconferences we have had. But most of us are yet to experience the full, democratic power of a true unconference.

If you’re an organizer, part of the trick is to let yourself off the hook for making the meeting what you think will constitute a success. One of the principles of an unconference is that whomever shows up is who was meant to show up. Another one is that whatever is discussed is what was meant to be discussed. This isn’t  just New-Age hippyspeak. It’s about stopping yourself from trying to engineer an outcome (lots of attendees, big-name speakers, etc.). Instead, the goal is to get out of the way so that attendees can create a successful event through their participation. This is one reason why unconferences want to be free (or close to free).

So, who wants to do a full-gonzo, no-holds-barred unconference? It’s certainly not a requirement for holding your conference at CoCo. But it would be great fun, a great learning experience – and potentially a way more powerful experience. Will you be the first one to give it a try?

Below is a summary of the meeting, kindly put together by Kristi Hamilton. We agreed to post this summary and ask for comments and suggestions from the food community, which in our mind means producers, distributors, journalists, bloggers, restauranteurs, cafeteria managers – and of course, eaters! So, if you’re in any of these categories, feel free to leave a comment!

Meeting summary – Feb 1., 2010

Despite the weather we had a good turn-out for the first  Alt.Food Unconference planning meeting!  Following is a recap of our conversation for all.  We want your feedback whether you were able to join us or not.

What are we trying to accomplish?  Following the format of the tech + biz + community UnSummit held last October we want to bring together Producers/Distributors/Retailers/Restaurants/Non-profits/Journalists in a fresh environment.   The format will be different than the traditional conference model – less formal presentation and more peer to peer discussion in style.  The ultimate goal is to get people from each of these segments of the food industry sharing stories of success and discussing solutions to untamed challenges.

Event date
Saturday March 13, 2010 was temporarily identified.  Needs to be before end of March to get farmers/producers there and all felt Saturday was better than a week day for attendance.

Location
Don Ball has offered CoCoMSP located in lowertown St. Paul as the meeting site at no charge.

Conference name
“Real Food MN” was discussed.  Some concern was expressed that this could alienate some people. Also, it might require an arrangement with the owner of the Realfood.MN domain. We want your thoughts on this name or share other ideas.

How do we promote it?
We would each promote to our individual contacts via Twitter, Facebook Blogs, etc.   With our varied group we have contacts in each of our target attendee groups Producers/Distributors/Retailers/Restaurants/Non-profits/Journalists.

Marketing
Don Ball offered resources to create a WordPress Site.  We have several people that can create content for the site and any other needed materials.  The idea of using the Rutabaga Rhubarb as the event  “mascot” was discussed.

Content/Sessions
We will curate a few up front to get the process started and crowd source the remainder.  Session hosts will be encouraged to kick-off their sessions with a few provocative comments/slides and move quickly to a peer-to-peer conversation format.

Ideas for topics/success story examples we would like to showcase:

• Success stories of institutions (schools, hospitals, nursing homes) finding ways to incorporate local and/or organic food into their menus despite challenges with distribution, insurance, contracts, etc.
• Urban Farming/Rooftop farming projects
• Shepherd’s Way Farms/Birchwood Restaurant partnership CSA cheese program – example of producer applying a model used primarily with produce to other products.
• Success stories of producers working directly with restaurants/retailers – Thousand Hills Cattle Company, Kadejan chicken, Riverbend Farms, etc.
• Common Roots Café – developed  community garden program providing a portion of their produce.
• Traceability trend – Ames Farm Beeyard Database, Peace Coffee’s Map Your Beans, Just Bare Family Farm Stories
• Know of success stories in the above categories?  Have other ideas?  Be sure to post your comments.