BeeBCamp FAQ

What’s an unconference?

It’s not like a regular conference – the kind with invited speakers and a podium and all that. An unconference is a gathering where the agenda is set by the people who come along. The schedule is decided on the day of the conference, by the people who are there. There are discussions, not presentations. The idea is that in any conference, the combined wisdom of the audience usually outweighs that of any one speaker. The unconference format allows that to come out. Everyone has a chance to contribute, to talk – or just to listen, if that’s what they want.

I still don’t get the unconference thing.

If you’re like me, you often go to conferences where the best thing to happen was the conversation you had in the lunch queue, or between presentations, with people you’d never have met otherwise. BeeBCamp is a whole day made of those kinds of serendipitous, inspiring conversations. You should try it.

Can anyone come?

If you’re from the BBC, you can come to the conference. BeeBCamp is also open to outside guests – this is something we’d like to continue. We’ll be announcing details on that soon. Mail philip AT beebcamp.org if you’d like to find out more.

Whether you’re there or not, the whole conference is bloggable and on the record, and there’s usually a great deal of material published about the conference in the days following it.

Why do you have rules?

The funny thing about creativity and innovation is that it often functions best within constraints. The rules provide a loose structure, like a trellis that conversations can grow on. They’re there as a guide – no one’s actually going to defenestrate you. But we will keep you to the time limit.

Are you the BBC?

No, we aren’t the BBC. We’re a bunch of people who work for the BBC, but we don’t speak for the company. We just like to get together once in a while and talk about what we do, because it’s really cool.

If you have other questions, ask them in the comments – we’ll post ‘em up.