Stand up and be counted!

What challenge could we face that forces a decision like that? Revolution? Liberation? Mathematician?

None of the above. Last week the Europarc folks met at Europarc 2006 met in Oxford and I had a great time. No, really. I've been to all sorts of conferences for Creative Problem-Solving, Astrophysics, Youth Crime, Social Entrepreneurship and so on. And there are some striking similarities ...

One is the format of course. Key note speakers of some status, plenary sessions, workshops or side meetings, and the coffee breaks and social contact. There's not much to choose between them. I'm guessing at the moment, but my impression is that the feedback on the whole range of conferences is quite similar too.

Too many speeches. The speakers weren't very good and went on too long. Not enough time to talk to people or work together. Sound familiar?

And of course the other similarity is that we keep doing it. Similar format in the face of similar feedback, time after time.

And I had a very good conference! I thought the organisers and staffing were great. I liked the theme. My workshop and field trip choices were spot on. And so many interesting and inspiring people to meet. So what am I going on about it for then?

Well I just think we could do a lot more. I really do think we can make more of our time together than we do. More engagement time with each other, more time to share practical experiences and more time to share our visions and inspiration. And I do have some ideas about how to do that too. But it's been said before. And other models exist, like the Gordon Research Conference model I came across in America.

But I think it's worth trying to understand why we keep doing it the same way. Here are a few of my thoughts on that.

Do you reckon that there is some kind of social structure that manifests itself in conference formats?

Thinking about academic conferences, there's a pecking order, and a certain progression that starts with the acceptance of your first poster.

At Europarc 2006 there was the status of the speakers that came, Chairmen and Board members, Chief Executives and even a government minister. And that kind of reinforces the status of Europarc and our organisations.

So what's that all about and how important is it in deciding the conference format?

How far are we complicit as delegates and participants in maintaining this traditional format? Do we choose to go or not based on 'who's speaking'?

I'd really like to know before I set off on my thoughts for what we could do differently.