If you could change the way conferences are organized, what would you do? If we can flip classes, we can flip conferences.

1. Flipped Conferences
Rosário Cação

2. Traditional Model
• Lecture style
• Boring presentations followed by
short comments
• Requires no preparation from the
participants
• Ends as soon as the last presentation
ends

3. Traditional Models
are Ineffective
• Based on passive learning approaches
• Attention declines after the first 10 minutes
• People remember only 20% of the material presented
• A bit of motivation is murdered each minute
• Critical thinking, problem solving, and application are not
fostered
• The best interaction happens at coffee breaks and social
dinners

4. If you could change the way
conferences are organized,
what would you do?

5. “I’d like to go to a conference where we get to do
something, make something, instead of talking about doing
things, or showing pictures of people making something.“
Alan Levine, 2012, “we can flip more than classrooms”, retrieved from
http://cogdogblog.com/2012/03/08/flip-more-than-classrooms/

6. If we can flip classes,
we can flip conferences

7. Designing a Flipped Conference
There is no unique way to flip a conference
Philosophy: Discuss, Build, and Share
Forget the idea of a speaker, keynote or
presenter
Create simple rules that everyone
understands and follows

8. Pre
Conference
Conference
Post
Conference
Stages of a Flipped Conference
Traditional conferences
Flipped conferences begin earlier and end later

9. Pre
Conference
Stages of a Flipped Conference
Sub-stage Focus
Generating ideas Co-creation of the agenda
Preparing the
moderators
Promoting the emocional bonding
with the conference design and their
preparation for the conference
Preparing the
participants
Teasing the participants and helping
them preparing to the conference

10. Conference
Stages of a Flipped Conference
Sub-stage Focus
Cycles of
discussion
Promoting small cycles of discussion
that involve the participants
Generating ideas Structuring creative ideas and the
general knowledge developed

11. Post
Conference
Stages of a Flipped Conference
Sub-stage Focus
Diffusion Reflecting on the knowledge that
was created
Disseminating the ideas among
other persons that were not at the
conference
Promoting change Helping people making changes in
their behaviors and attitudes,
implementing their projects,
supporting their work

12. Design of a Flipped Conference
Each stage can be described and designed in terms of:
Focus
Key questions
to address
Activities to
be promoted
Key
performance
indicators
…

13. Pre Conference
Generating ideas Preparing the
moderators
Preparing the
participants
Focus Co-creation of the
agenda
Promoting the emocional
bonding with the
conference design and the
preparation for the
conference
Teasing the participants
and helping them
preparing to the
conference

14. Pre Conference
Generating ideas Preparing the
moderators
Preparing the
participants
Key
questions
Were the topics
discussed and selected
by the participants?
Did the participants
provide good ideas for
the conference?
Are the moderators
emotionally and
technically prepared for
this kind of conference?
Did they prepare materials
to provide to the
participants prior to the
conference?
Were we able to mobilize
the participants to
prepare themselves to
the conference?
Did the materials they
received prior to the
conference mobilize and
motivate them to the
conference?

15. Pre Conference
Generating ideas Preparing the
moderators
Preparing the
participants
Possible
Activities
Promoting the
conference design and
asking for ideas to
design the conference
agenda
Discussing the conference
design, defining
milestones and defining
strategies to deal with
problems that may arise
Prepare themselves to
discuss the selected topics
Providing materials (lists
for questions, vídeos,
presentations, texts, etc.)
Promoting discussion
groups prior the
conference

16. Pre Conference
Generating ideas Preparing the
moderators
Preparing the
participants
KPIs Number of topics that
were generated among
the moderators or
came from the
participants
Creative ideas presented
by the moderators during
the conference related to
the selected topics
Emotional bonding with
the conference design
Pre conference discussion
Emotional bonding with
the conference design
and motivation to
participate
Quality of the pre
conference materials
provided to the
participants

17. Pre
Conference
Conference
Post
Conference
Stages of a Flipped Conference

18. Conference
Cycles of discussion Generating ideas
Focus Promoting small cycles of discussion that
involve the participants
Structuring creative ideas and the
general knowledge developed

19. Conference
Cycles of discussion Generating ideas
Key
questions
Were the moderators able to promote
several discussion cycles that addressed
most of the proposed discussion topics?
Was there a smooth transition from one
topic or discussion cycle to the following
one?
Did most participants make active
interventions in the discussions?
Did the moderators allow the
discussion to diverge before
attempting to converge?
Was it possible to build a common
and global vision about the topics?

20. Conference
Cycles of discussion Generating ideas
Possible
activities
Get short but assertive contributions
from the participants
Moderate the discussion without being
affraid of losing control, ending a
discussion in order to open the next
discussion cycle, etc.
Asking questions instead of trying to
answer them
Balacing the conference topics with
the participants’ skills
Extracting the common built
knowledge

21. Conference
Cycles of discussion Generating ideas
KPIs Cycles of discussion that were successfull
Participants that were actively involved
in the discussion
Ability to balance the duration of each
cycle and each individual contribution
Relevant ideas that came out from the
discussion
Global vision that was created
Level of motivation and inspiration of
the participants at the end of the
discussion as well as their perception
of utility of that discussion

22. Pre
Conference
Conference
Post
Conference
Stages of a Flipped Conference

23. Diffusion Promoting Change
Focus Reflecting on the knowledge that was
created
Disseminating the ideas among other
persons that were not at the conference
Helping people make changes in their
behaviors and attitudes, implement
their projects, support their work
Post Conference

24. Post Conference
Diffusion Promoting Change
Key
questions
Were we able to difuse the key ideas
created at the conference among other
persons that might be interested on
them?
Did the conference inspire people to
make changes?
What kind of impact did the
conference have?

25. Diffusion Promoting Change
Possible
activities
Disseminating the key ideas and
materials that were created at the
conference among other persons that
might be interested on those topics (e.g.
social networks, writing about that,
sharing materials, etc.)
Promoting further reflection (new
discussions, related topics, preparing the
topics for the next conference)
Helping people with their projects and
general changes based on the
common built vision created at the
conference (e.g. keeping private
discussions, providing further
material, supporting the network
among participants, etc.)
Post Conference

26. Diffusion Promoting Change
KPIs Reach and quality of the post conference
discussion
New projects inspired on the
conference, comments, network of
contacts, etc.
Post Conference

27. There are several ways to flip a
conference. The important
thing is to flip it in ways that
engage participants.

28. Example: EMOOCS 2015
The organization created a MOOC for
a conference on MOOCs. The MOOC
had no instructors but a scientific
committee who invited multiple
contributors from different
institutions. It was not a course but a
series of collaborative discussions on
a new field under construction.
Before the conference, the
participants had access to video
presentations and quizzes and
started preliminary discussions
online.
During the conference, they
discussed further with the authors
and shared their experience.
The course is still available online,
allowing further discussion and
reflection.
Pre Conference Conference Post Conference

29. EMOOCS 201518-20 May 2015 @ Université Catholique de Louvain
https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:LouvainX+ConfX+2T2015/infohttp://www.emoocs2015.eu/

30. Example: Getting Engaged 2012
Keynotes and lectures were made
available online before the
conference
Rich collaborative sessions Videos of questions posed to
experts were made available after
the conference.
A network of educators was crated.
Pre Conference Conference Post Conference
http://innovationunit.org/sites/default/files/Engaging%20Schools-conference%20flier_0.pdf
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/getting-your-school-engaged-london-tickets-3000148525

31. Example: Unconferences
Brainstorming on topics of interest.
The moderator condenses the topics
and assigns rooms for people to meet
and discuss them.
Each person chooses what group to
join.
There are no presenters, only open
discussions.
(Not planned)
Pre Conference Conference Post Conference
Unconferences are also known as open space meetings, and self-organizing meetings

32. Examples of Unconferences
BIL Conferences
(http://bilconference.com/) are open, self-
organizing, conferences on arts, science, society,
and technology.
Attendees are responsible for shaping the
conference itself through their participation.
http://2015.bilconference.com/

33. Examples of Unconferences
EdCamp Conferences
(http://edcamp.org/) are user-generated
conferences dedicated to k-12 educators and
educational technology usually free or low-cost.
Sessions are not planned until the day of the
conference and participants can volunteer to
facilitate a conversation or topic.
They are based on Barcamps.
http://edcamp.org/?page_id=605

34. Examples of Unconferences
Fishbowls
Conversations
Four to five chairs are arranged in an inner circle
and the rest of the chairs are arranged in circles
outside this fishbowl. The moderator introduces the
topic and participants start to discuss it.
In an open fishbowl, one chair is left empty and any
member of the audience an occupy it, forcing
another to leave and fee a chair.
Fishbowls can have only two chairs and when
someone wants to join this conversation, they tap
the shoulder of the person they want to replace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishbowl_(conversation)

35. Examples of Unconferences
Knowledge or World
Cafe
All participants are seated in a circle and the
facilitator poses one or two key open-ended
questions. After this introduction, small groups
(about 5 persons) discuss the questions without any
facilitator. They then return to the circle and they all
reflect on the small group discussions.
http://www.theworldcafe.com/

36. Rosário Cação
rosario@evolui.com