Zoomedia Blog
As social media approaches adolescence, its hallmark of “spontaneous user generated content” has spread into all kinds of seemingly unconventional places, like the world of conferences. In the Web 2.0 world, a conference is now called an “UNconference”.
Our friends at Wikipedia describe this phenomenon as a “facilitated, participant-driven conference”, which basically means a group of people show up at a designated place for a specific topic and spontaneously decide what the presentation topics are going to be. And yes, most of the time this results in pandemonium as participants jockey to get their talks in the larger, better-equipped rooms. But the net of an unconference can be far more productive as almost all participants are actively engaged in the content and structure of the event.
With all the recent media attention given to the unfortunate state of our Healthcare system, many tech-savvy entrepreneurs and innovators have shifted their focus to build solutions for a wide range of healthcare-related opportunities such as online clinic scheduling and appointments, personalized genomics services, and disease state discussion forums.
Healthcare unconferences provide a venue for open collaboration and sharing of technologies and discoveries between innovators, large companies (many trying to access the healthcare market), and the progressive healthcare community. An unconference also acts as forum to talk about the future of healthcare with questions like:
• What are the consequences of the personal genomics revolution?
• How can patients relate to each other as never before using Web 2.0 technologies?
• How can science address life extension and aging?
• How can diagnostics more accurately match a patient to the right therapy?
• What does new legislation imply for the future of the biotechnology industry?
• How can we revolutionize the way we think about paying for healthcare?
• What if your iPhone could “look” at your pills and spot a possible drug interaction?
Exciting material! If you want to know more, there are two such unconferences next month: HealthCamp in San Franciso (Oct. 5) and BIL:PIL in San Diego (Oct. 30-31). I’ve been helping out with the organization of both these events (and even designed the BIL:PIL identity). To find out more about these events, please visit healthcampsfbay.com and bilpil.com - feel free to register and join the conversation!
Tags: unconference, healthcare, user generated content