increasingly i am involved in organising events where no one in charge.
Having done it several times now, I can hand on heart say that this organisational approach is very stressful and leads to bad events.
however, I don’t think I’ll stop doing it any time soon. and it’s fun to watch others do it too with the upcoming pastagang’s return to Linz, which I unfortunately can’t get to.
I do think it’s quite amazing that it’s possible at all, if I’m completely honest. and questions might be put forward about… whether it’s responsible at all to use this kind of approach? well… i know this because many people ask me this question. well … actually they tell me quite directly that they think it’s not.
I suppose we do micro versions of this approach at events like AlgoRhythms where no one is charge of various things like the benches.
One of the things I like about the approach is that I can pick and choose what i want to help with. I can help with the things I like helping with. I don’t need to help with the things I don’t like helping with.
But I know what you’re thinking! If everyone only does the things they want… then how can you be sure that everything will get done and not lumbered with one person? Well… the answer is that you can’t be sure and this unfortunately happens.
what I’ve learned is this: you can get rid of this problem by improving the diversity of your group. by increasing the differences of the attendees, you’re more likely to get people who want to do more things / cover more bases.
i kind of love how simple it is, yet how hard it is. get enough of the right people in one place. then let the spirit spread to everyone else. as Janeishly says: “expand the jam”.
back to the wikiblogardenite