Unconference
Thanks to everyone who attended this years Unconference.
A great day of conversations.
Continue those conversations on our forum.
Look at pictures on facebook or on picassa
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The 2nd Annual
Unconference on the Future(s) of Toronto Performance
Once a year we come together to meet new people and really talk with the people we nod at in passing.
We meet to make ourselves, our work and each other
smarter
better
and more fun.
We meet because we think it helps.
This year the Unconference will be on Saturday April 24 @ Dancemakers and the Centre for Creation – and the rest of the 3rd floor of the Case Goods Warehouse. Hosted by Misha Glouberman.
Registration and coffee starts at 9:15 am
The event starts at 10am (being early is great!)
Lunch will be around 12:30/1
and it will be done by 6 with social time after.
Pre-registration (highly suggested – there is a limited capacity)
is $10 and can be done by
calling 416-367-1800 or emailing bradley@dancemakers.org
“The 2009 Unconference was one of the most inclusive events I have been to in Toronto… People were ACTUALLY meeting, we were ACTUALLY talking about issues that mattered to us as individuals… The point of this, the value of it, the necessity of it, is that it is a real opportunity for us to connect. We are so busy we don’t make enough time for it. Rather than creating a conference in which we speak about community and have panels talking about it, this just does it.”— Ravi Jain (theatre artist – Why Not Theatre)
Hosted by Dancemakers and the Centre for Creation in association with Canadian Stage’s Festival of Ideas and Creation and Small Wooden Shoe
Some common questions –
What’s an Unconference?
Many things to many people. But to us it’s an event where the content of sessions is participant driven and in which you spend most of the time in conversation with others who care about similar things. There are no panels or lectures. You’ll get to propose sessions and only attend sessions that are helpful to you. You’ll be in conversations not as a representative of your organization or as an “emerging artist” – but as an individual who wants to help and to get smarter.
What kind of people come?
Last year: theatre people, dance people, music people, performance art people, people who don’t identify by genre. Actors, directors, dancers, designers, playwrights, technicians, administrators, marketing people, Artistic Directors, fundraisers, video artists, dramaturges, General Managers, students, teachers, people who don’t identify by occupation. “Emerging,” “Mid-Career,” “Established” “Award-Winning,” “New Arrivals,” “Culturally Specific,” “Ethnically Diverse,” “White,” “Not white,” people who don’t identify by those kinds of phrases. Older people and younger people and yes, people who didn’t identify by age.
This year: all those kind of people and you (we hope.)
Who’s organizing it?
Jacob Zimmer and Misha Glouberman do a lot of the planning but they have a lot of help from (in alphabetical order) all the people from last year who wrote with feedback, Amanda Lynne Ballard, Bradley Kulay, Canadian Stage, Dancemakers, Derrick Chua, Erika Hennebury, Jeanne Holmes, Kari Pederson, Le Labo, Leora Morris, The Metcalf Foundation, Michael Trent, Natasha Mytnowych, Native Earth Performing Arts, Nightswimming, Nightwood Theatre, Pleiades Theatre, Ravi Jain, Small Wooden Shoe, Tapestry New Opera and everyone else we talk to about it.
Can I come for just part of the day?
This is an all day thing with a beginning, middle and end (in that order!). If you need to miss part of the day, get in touch with us.
What does the day look like?
Registration and coffee opens at 9:15, the morning will start at 10 (being early is appreciated) lunch will be around 12:30/1 and we’ll be done by 5:55 with 5 minutes for a fun survey. There will be some social time after and then a move to Betty’s around 7.
Will there be coffee, lunch and snacks provided?
Yes.
How do I get to the Distillery / Dancemakers and the Centre for Creation?
It’s not as hard as you may have heard.
By transit, the King Streetcar to Parliament and then walking south to Mill St (one south of Front St.) is the most reliable.
There are maps and other useful tips are located here: http://www.dancemakers.org/directions.html
How do I help make a better Unconference?
Last June we had a great first Unconference on the Future(s) of Toronto Performance (read about it here and here).
But not so great that we don’t think it could be better.
We’re keeping the format basically the same, but know there can be some improvements.
We’d like to get feedback from people who came last year.
We’d like to get feedback from people who didn’t come last year about what would inspire them to come this year.
Also, thoughts about who we should make sure is there, topics you’d like to raise in the Open Space, help you’d like to get in the Helping Exercise, questions you’d like to talk about with people you’re just meeting, snacks you’d like to eat. Things like that.
Please email jacob at smallwoodenshoe.org with ideas.