Sunday 21 October 2012

"Adventure and shenanigans, the two go hand in hand" (aka the One with all the Cake)


I wanted to write about the whole Library Camp experience once I'd had a bit of time to reflect properly. This was my first time at an unconference and I was interested to see how it'd work. I had to get up very early in the morning in order to get there even remotely on time (in the event all my journeying worked perfectly and I arrived slightly early!) and this was an adventure in itself. One of the important things I learned from reading about last year's event was the need for cake, cake and more cake to sustain campers throughout the day. Cake, I'm good with, so I armed myself with some vegan chocolate brownies, which all got eaten so presumably went down OK. The whole day was long and exhausting, so it has taken me a while to do some personal reflection about the day and what I got out of it.


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My brownies look quite unimportant next to all the exciting cakes!
Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/c_l_b/
The experience you have of Library Camp seems to depend on the sessions you attend. Reading other reports of sessions after the event has been really interesting and made me wish I'd gone to other things or glad I went to some of the things I did. Choosing sessions to go to so quickly probably means your selection will always be a bit hit and miss, but therein also lies the appeal. Perhaps I should have gone to more sessions outside my comfort zone. (I missed the controversial session by Red Quadrant that's talked about here, for example) Notes from the sessions I attended are here and here. A pinboard linking to pictures, blogposts and tweets is here.

One thing that reflection affirmed to me on a personal level is that I'm such an improver. I spend lots of time at work saying 'What if we...?', 'Why don't we...?', 'How about...?' and this day was no different. My notes are littered with 'how could we make this better/do this differently?' suggestions. 

I'm naturally quiet and not given to speaking out unless I'm certain I have something interesting and unique to say1. One of my best friends described me years ago as 'quiet but not shy', and it's an accurate description that has followed me ever since; I'm happy to talk when there's an opportunity, but I don't force that opportunity. During the morning I tweeted:

Some of the responses I got on twitter carried the implication that this was a fault in me, and maybe it was; attendees drive the agenda and content of an unconference so should be prepared to have their say. However, the number of people in each session and the way each session I attended (can't speak for the other sessions) was structured as a whole group discussion meant that quite a lot of us settled into non-speaking roles very quickly and didn't move from them. While I appreciate not everyone has ideas all of the time and silent listening is fine, I suspect more people could have shared more and done it more successfully. This is not in any way a criticism of the organisers or anyone who led or participated in a session. It's just an expression of the way my brain works!2

Some ideas, not a perfect or exhaustive list, and each with its own inherent problems:
  • Smaller groups
    Having less people in a group would mean that more people could put their ideas forward. I think more, smaller sessions would lead to difficulties with rooms and clashing timetables, but perhaps large sessions could incorporate some small group chatting and then feed back to the whole room. 
  • Splitting into different sectors in sessions
    Sometimes the sheer variety of experiences provided by the library world meant people were starting from very different points of view. Grouping together people of similar experience may help to move a discussion forward more quickly. However, sharing with people of different sectors and hearing a variety of experiences is part of what Library Camp is all about, so this probably wouldn't work for the whole of a  session.
  • Think about different learning styles
    Invite contributions in different ways in sessions. E.g. writing, drawing, role play, collage making... I appreciate the spur of the moment proposal of sessions means that leaders are less likely to resource them in advance, but perhaps a range of useful things (flip chart paper, pens, glue, playdough, whatever!) could be available on the day for anyone to use.
  • Non-pressured ways to share
    Talking in front of a large group requires confidence (and a loud voice!). What about a large piece of paper stuck on a wall somewhere so that those who went to a session could write down ideas and thoughts after the session? (These then photographed and shared online afterwards.) Or take a poll with a show of hands on one or two questions that are important in the session?
These are not answers, I know. Most of them rely on some form of planning from the session leader and one of the positive things about the unconference format is that anyone, with any degree of experience, can propose and lead a session. I have a teaching background and I'm used to leading activities for children and young people, so thinking of a variety of ways to approach something comes naturally to me. It is in no way a fault of other people that they don't have the same viewpoint as me and these are not criticisms, only ideas.

Being able to express myself on twitter during the day certainly helped me to feel more involved, to ask questions (I was confused about the session proposing business and got several answers straight away) and to share concerns and discuss them with others (e.g. the need for a session on how to speak loudly in your big voice so everyone can hear you!).

People have emphasised the social nature of the experience, meeting friends and twitter acquaintances and chatting throughout the day. While it was good to meet people, for me, attending alone meant almost every conversation was with someone new and there was no-one to 'default to' (stand with, chat to, be at ease with) as there is if you've travelled with a friend, so I got tireder and more taciturn as the day went on. Added to the 5am get-up, this meant I effectively hid during each afternoon break. However, I got more chatty again on the walk to the pub and did meet some very nice people! Altogether, the day was very well organised and ran smoothly, the venue and food were great, having the wiki beforehand helped to create an expectation of the day and set the mood beforehand. Good work from all who helped to organise it and all who proposed and ran sessions!

Would I go to Library Camp again? Maybe. Probably. I think I'd do better at a smaller regional Library Camp though. Did I enjoy myself? Meh. Not desperately, if I'm honest. But the day made me think, which is probably more important and ultimately more useful.


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1. As described by Elizabeth Bennett: "We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room..." Or by me: I'm not going to say something unless I'm absolutely certain you'll find it interesting.

2. I suspect this is something to do with my inbuilt desire to make things fair for other people. For example, I'm not vegan but make vegan brownies because I have a vegan colleague and think people should have equal access to my cake. These were my CakeCamp contribution too. Cake for one, cake for all!


Andrew Dost - Adventure and Shenanigans

4 comments:

  1. I loved your vegan brownies - they were amazing! :)

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  2. The Vegan brownies were very tasty :-). I know what you mean about how tiring socializing with new people can be. I luckily knew a few people quite well so had people to 'default' to but I have been to other things where you just get to the point where you can't bring yourself to go and break into someone else's conversation!

    You might enjoy a regional one better - I went to LibCamp Brunel and the groups were smaller so everyone was able to communicate. I like your suggestions for next time - I think small group chats would have been a good idea within each session and then we could have fed back.

    I'm glad you managed to make it to the pub despite the tiredness - I enjoyed meeting you there :-)

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    1. I did know a few people there (a couple to say hello to and one really well (which is how I ended up in the pub with you all...)) but they were there with other groups of friends. I did fine with socialising in the morning when I was less sleepy, but the cumulative effect is so tiring. Thinking about it, the same probably happens to everyone to some degree so we're all that bit less social as an event wears on.

      It was really nice to meet you too and chat in the pub!

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