NetSquared Camp

NetSquaredCamp was on this weekend. Hosted by Nettuesday, the one-day “unconference” brought together “nonprofits, activists and social entrepreneurs with their friends and allies in the world of technology and communications (social media folk, developers, designers, writers, marketers).”

An unconference is a gathering whose agenda is assembled on the fly by attendees. This particular bunch chose to explore measuring and management tools for social media campaigns, questioning the true cost of social media, which platforms to use, how to tap into tribes of followers rather than building your own and how to use these new forums to further social change. The sessions were each 50 minutes long and consisted of, in some cases, loose exchanges between audience and speaker, in others, more structured talks.

The day was about sharing knowledge, in all possible directions. Meeting like-minded people and discussing tips, tricks and tools of our trades. The SFU venue was perfect, offering a central meeting area in the atrium and several smaller rooms to convene in for break out sessions. There were 20 available slots for topics and 17 were filled in the 10 minutes it took for attendees to pitch and jot down their proposed sessions in the schedule. Talks were lead by the likes of Cecilia Lu of Kiwano Marketing, Caroline MacGillivray of Beauty Night Society, Heather O’Hara from Potluck Café Society, Darren Barefoot from Capulet Communications, to name a few.

The format of the “unconference” is akin to attending school: you get from it as much as you put in. Anyone could propose to lead a discussion or a theme to include. No nonsense leadership at the outset and committed participants made for a trouble-free, enjoyable day, peppered with valuable insights and new connections.

Who knew staying indoors on a sunny summer day with a room full of socially-minded geeks could be so much fun?
How was your NetSquared Camp Day?