Crafting high-quality civic technology — projects and tools designed withsocial impact in mind — requires thought, creativity, and intentionality — the strength to ask:
“Will this project actually have social impact? Is it being designed for the social/cultural/political context in which it will be implemented? And if not, what steps do we need to take and what people do we need to substantially involve to get there?”
Our approach to community-building in the name of civic tech should be the same.
In a recent case study, we review how open format models (like hackathons and unconferences) can be remixed and reinvented to encourage an outpouring of “non-traditional” engagement with civic tech without _alienating tech veterans. Our focus: The Tech Embassy, a a pop-up, interactive science fair for local tech and art that took place on May 3, 2014 during Washington, DC’s first-ever Funk Parade. (_Yes, that’s right: A “Funk Parade” with a civic tech agenda.)
In part 3 of our 6-part study, we explore structures from unconferences and other "unstructured" events that promote inclusion and ideation. Full text available here.
Part 3: Structure Horizontally, Not Vertically
[An Intro to Unconferences]
So, how did we go from a hackathon to a collaborative science fair?
The structure was a natural outgrowth of other inclusive, participant-led organizing models, like unconferences — conferences designed and led by the people who show up to attend. At an unconference, attendees not only lead all the sessions, they literally set the agenda (called “The Wall”).
Setting The Wall (the agenda) on-site at TransparencyCamp 2014, an unconference about open government. Photo by the Sunlight Foundation.
Far less chaotic than they sound (I swear), unconferences have certain structural attributes well-suited to designing interactive spaces:
- Anyone can lead a session because everyone is an expert: Yup. Everyone. Everyone has some skill, perspective, knowledge, or value to add to conversation. People will self-select, of course, based on confidence and expertise, but a good unconference gives all attendees multiple opportunities throughout the event to formulate and set-up their own workshop or hold their own in conversation — whether or not they’re a “name.”
- Sorta bottom-up, definitely horizontal: Putting attendees on equal footing isn't about tearing down experts or ego-boosting everyone into_inflated _expertise. It’s about creating structures where people can work on an equal plane, following their comfort zones and engaging with each other with diminished worry about status. This requires combining elements from the top and bottom of vertical structures that people understand. In the case of an unconference, that means stealing the top-down element of having an agenda with bottom-up element of DIY variation (such as the power to hold your own session — or don’t and hang out in the hallway all day). Horizontal structures also relate to the role played by the event organizer, something we explore more in Part 5.
- Freedom of movement: Don’t like a session? Leave. Want to hold a meeting outside the venue in a park? Do it. Inspired to start collaboratively hacking or co-authoring on a project right then and there? The time and _space are yours. You don’t have _to do anything more than be respectful to be part of the event.
Although we drew heavily from these and other attributes of unconferences, we knew that we didn't want to actually organize an unconference, because even a horizontal structure of sessions and workshops wouldn't be a perfect fit for our first criterion (maintaining a low barrier to entry) in the context of the Funk Parade.
Unconferences have their own learning curve. Even though they encourage free movement, like hackathons the greatest community-building benefits of this event style come from continuity: You might take your session outside to a park rather than holding it in the provided classroom, but you’re still operating in the context of the unconference. Tucked inside the greater Funk Parade, with street traffic and noise galore, we couldn’t demand that kind continuity without violating our third criterion: easy to stay, easy to leave.
[For our full list of criteria, click here.]
For more from this case study, check out these excerpts:
Part 1:Set Goals You Can Hold Yourself Accountable To
Part 2:Let Your Audience Dictate Your Design
Part 4:To Increase Engagement, Play With The Familiar
Part 5:Lead, But Be Leaderful
Part 6:Final Thoughts: Build With, Not For
[Full Piece]So You Think You Want to Run A Hackathon? Think Again.
