In one of my conversations with Carl Ford, I was told that VON is now actively trying to create an “unconference” in their next shows. For those who know unconference, it is a pretty old concept, often used in hard-core geek gettogethers. The concept here is to set up an “ad-hoc” speaking environment, where a ‘leader’ stands up, talks about a topic and attendees interact. The interesting part about unconferencing is that there is no ‘one-leader’, like traditional speaking slots. You don’t get to talk 1-way while your viewers listen, snore or just ignore. You are all peers. If you can defend your idea, so be it, or you may just be hissed (sort of like how the IETF meetings work). The problem with un-conferences, however, is that without some moderation, it can go nuts with personal agendas, general confusion and so-forth. Furthermore, generally, for companies to fund you to travel, they want to gain some marketing mileage from it. Which is why most main-stream conferences avoid un-conferencing. This is where is looks like VON is likely bridging best of both worlds. They have set up a wiki called “VONCamp” where you can suggest your own topics. But to keep

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