It all started when I decided to drag Michelle to one of those Providence Geeks lunches back in January. Nobody showed up except for us and a woman named Sara Streeter who was running something called NewB Camp.

She said it was an unconference. Michelle and I looked at each other and said, "What the heck is an unconference?" 

The thinking behind an unconference goes like this: like all of us, you've been at a conference of some sort having an enlightening conversation over coffee when it's suddenly time to go to a session. Five minutes into the session, you realize that hallway conversation was MUCH more interesting. And more valuable. (read more here on wikipedia:  Unconference )

Unconferences basically throw away the "boring sessions" part of the conference, leaving just the wonderful conversations. In practice, a group of participants get together around a particular topic and decide, on the spot, what the sessions should be.

There are no speakers. There are no attendees.

There are only participants. Participants teach, participants learn. 

As it turned out, I taught two different sessions at NewB Camp and became a huge fan of unconferences. I gave a great session at Enterprise 2.Open in Boston in June and, on the train home, vowed to create an unconference for my "tribe" in the Rhode Island economy.

What About Us?

The Creative Economy is a wonderful talking point, but it's very hard for the state to get a sense of how it is affecting the overall economy. The vast majority of this economic segment flies well below the radar of the state's economic development group. How can you count a company when the company is just a single person and it isn't even legally incorporated?

So the concept is to have a business conference for microbusinesses, freelancers, artists, independent workers - The Long Tail in the greater Providence area.When do we get to go to a conference that's designed around our needs?

If you're on your own or are thinking of striking out on your own, you probably have lots of questions. Sure, you've got great expertise in some areas, but no one person can know everything. That's the downside of being on your own. So this unconference could help you fill in the gaps in your knowledge:

• Are you on top of your tax situation?
• Do you know when to use a trademark, a servicemark or a registered copyright?
• Are you growing? Do you need to grow? 
• Are your prices too low? Too high?

But, more important, you can share those areas where you have expertise. Or at least experience.

Leave a comment if you're a solo worker, freelancer, artist, etc. You know who you are. What would you want to learn? What can you teach?

(Confession: my original attempt to build this as SISE Unconference "parallel" to BIF-4 did not gain traction. But the idea is a good one, so I'm going to "let it live." )

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