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A clip from this longer presentation – CareerCamp: New Unconference Methods for Helping People Build the Career They Deserve with Douglas E. Welch
CareerCamp Founder, Douglas E. Welch, shares CareerCamp with the attendees of the California Placement Association at their annual 2015 conference in San Luis Obispo.
He discusses What is CareerCamp?, how it might be used in your organization and takes you through an example of a Day at CareerCamp.
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Transcript:
That’s what the board looks like before the first session ever starts. People are given Post-It Notes and Sharpies and say “Ok, go put your topics on the board that we are going to discuss today,” and they select a room and a time. They write their topic on a Post-It Note and they stick it on the board. Now, this is on a white board. We’ve actually — the first CareerCampLA it was just a white wall – we just put up tape marks and stick the Post-Its and that’s how it works. It doesn’t require a lot of technology at all. But we have our lunch break in their, so people know when that is and then our raffle again at the end, but literally before the day even starts most of the board is already full. Yes? (Audience) So if I follow correctly, the attendees at their tables will determine what the topics for what these breakout sessions are? (Welch) People can do it as a group. People can do it as individuals (Audience) And is there a facilitator at a table to help? (Welch) You don’t see me there. I’m standing next to the board and Anthony is standing next to the board going “What do want to talk about?” I’ve actually convinced people to give presentations. They start talking to me about, “I don’t have anything to present” and then we get talking and its like, “What do you mean? That’s a topic. You gave me the topic you should present on right there. About tax changes that effect freelancers or something in the word world.” Guess what, (ding ding ding) write it down and put it on the board. so, we do have people who help people. If we see — usually that takes the form of if we see complimentary talks on the same topic or something we’l say, “You need to talk to him and see if you can come together and maybe do one together.” That just frees upa slot on the board then. (Audience) So you’re saying that once the board fills up that’s it? Everybody is just first come? (Welch) Pretty much. In the first time we did it, people were a little tentative. Every year since then — because people — we have some returning people and some new people — we actually have to monitor a little bit and say “Oh, people want to do two talks, we’ll say put up one first and then if there’s a an open slot after the first session you can put up the second talk.” and stuff like that.
What is CareerCamp and Career Camp International?
CareerCamp is a community organized, career-focused, unconference which calls upon local communities and people to share their knowledge, expertise and other important information on developing yourself and your career.
What is an unconference?
Unconferences are self-organizing conferences, similar to many professional conferences, but instead of hiring well-known, professional speakers, they call on the attendees themselves to provide the content and focus for the event. Every person who attends is highly encouraged to present on some topic deeply important to them or, barring that, to facilitate an open breakout session or round table discussion or even just to engage and converse with their fellow attendees between presentations. A few organizers band together to find a venue for the event, recruit sponsors and invite attendees, but the focus of the unconference is driven solely by the attendees.
Some might question the usefulness of presentations by their peers, but we have found that there is an enormous amount of real-world expertise available in each and every local community. CareerCamp utilizes a format that draws out that expertise and benefits everyone. CareerCamp (and other unconferences) provide a structure and an opportunity to share this expertise in ways that traditional conferences do not. Additionally, CareerCamps also attract career development professionals who can use CareerCamp as a way of introducing themselves to a new audience of potential clients.
How was CareerCamp developed?
The genesis of CareerCamp was found by attending BarCamp unconferences held around the world. CareerCamp founder, Douglas E. Welch, was a long time attendee of BarCamp, which is an event that embraces any topic, although it often leans toward technology. After seeing the success of BarCamp as a way to illuminate and educate within a community, Welch applied the unconference concept to the specific world of Career Development.
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