You probably have been to a traditional conference. There are panels, breakout sessions, keynote speakers, and coffee breaks. In most cases, the panels and speaker sessions go in one direction. Whoever is on the stage speaks and the audience listens for most of the time. At the end of the session a few audience members --usually those who are more comfortable speaking up -- get to ask a question or two (which may or may not be relevant or interesting). While many speakers have interesting thing to say, often the most valuable connections are made during the breaks, when you bump into someone and start a conversation... but then you get the announcement that the next conference session is about to start.
Simply put[[File:conference|none]] While many speakers have interesting things to say, often the most valuable connections are made during the breaks, when you bump into someone and start a conversation... but then you have to rush to rthe next session. In contrast, an UNconference is an event that makes those organic break conversations the whole event. There are no speakers and no pre-set agenda. The attendees , who come because they are interested in the proposed topic, create their own agenda and move organically to find conversations where they can learn and add value.
The Unconference is a tradition of UIF Meetups, and in this page you'll find instructions on how to organize your own.
=== Resources ===