Dear friend,
Here’s a collection of ideas that could help to design coherent and exciting experiences for our unconference.
Sense of the game
Our unconference can be associated with a game or a metaverse. We use the game metaphor to open up creativity of the people, make it more fun and engaging, relief the pressure and stress associated with work and calls we have enough already. This approach also opens up avenues for learning and experimentation with new behaviors. As we see the problem is not in the lack of information itself but in how effectively it is internalized and applied.
Within this gamified framework, participants embark on quests, or sequenced actions that drive the experience. A crucial design element is the incorporation of intentions or promises associated with each quest. These intentions could involve engaging in the experience, trying something new, or contributing to a collaborative project.
Our practical goal is in creation and support of regenerative alliances, but these outcomes manifest over an extended period (e.g., a year). Therefore, tracking commitments serves as a proxy for our desired results. They can be expressed in various ways, but one of the ideas is that exchange in the circle could help make more sense out of it. E.g. in the circle of trust this experience lead to such promises/change plans and the other experience to other results. Than we can think why and improve our understanding of how different experiences worked out.
In summary, when designing an experience, we must carefully consider mechanisms to capture participants' intentions or promises, which serve as seeds for transformative change. Game mechanics such as scores, points, or badges, as well as voting, matchmaking, and other interactive elements, can be incorporated to reinforce these intentions.
Attributes of an experience
You can describe the experience the way you like, with that in mind it can be helpful to make some outlines on:
- Roles in the experience – e.g. we play Monopoly, I’m the bank, you’re the players. Or this is a workshop – we have 3 tutors, everybody else form teams etc.
- Scenes – where do we play, e.g. zoom? discord? gameboard in Miro? a local hub? or maybe even planet Earth?
- Moves – what are the actions that can happen (async, at the time of reading, during 2 weeks of demo days of unconference, after and in 1 year from now)
So now a meta example
- Roles
- Experience designers (you)
- Your coach (Pekko)
- Scenes
- This Notion – we can help you publish it, by giving access or doing it for you
- TS Discord – the preferred place for collaboration, but can be any chat or calls platform as well
- Moves
- Describe your experience
- Share & discuss it with your circle
- Experience sessions together! ~Dec 6 you come & present your experience
- Experience retrospective ~Dec 20 come to discuss the results
Value Proposition Ideas
Stewards:
Angels:
Open Space Principles
Principle 1: Whoever comes is the right people
It reminds people that “getting something done is not a matter of having 100,000 people and the chairman of the board”. A meeting is successful when people there care to do something.
Principle 2: Whatever happens is the only thing that could have
Participants should be “focused on the here and now, and eliminates all of the could-have-beens, should-have-beens or might-have-beens”.
Principle 3: Whenever it starts is the right time
Participants should remember that “inspired performance and genuine creativity rarely, if ever, pay attention to the clock”. A meeting is not about following a clock.
Principle 4: When it’s over it’s over
Life is short. Avoid wasting time. Do what you have to do, and when it’s done, move on to something else.
❗ Some tips if you are a session host:
- Do not take it personally if no one attends your session. We’ll record sessions for documentation purposes.
- Don’t assume people know more or less than you.
- As the person who proposed the session, share some more context at the start to get the discussion going.
- It’s best that each session topic has an angle – one that encourages debate and discussion. Make this clear and also share some tips on running a session prior to the event.
- You don’t have to use all the time in the session. If you reach a conclusion in 20 minutes, great! People can then have a break or join another session if possible.
- Don’t feel you have to prepare but do try and have some idea what you’d like to get out of it.
- Ask for help if you need to.
Database of Experiences
Any questions? Need support?
Contact your circle steward or Max (maxsemenchuk in discord, twitter and telegram)