The unconference that 'Shined' on us all

In case you missed it, the SHINE Unconference took place over the weekend. I blogged it where I could, but just found the sessions to be too engaging to really take the time and write it up in-depth.

Instead, I'll point you towards shine.socialreporter.net where a team of bloggers covered the event properly, a Qik event page with lots of glorious video, and a Flickr set with all its photographic goodness - including this one of me pitching my social enterprise idea to a crowded room:


Meanwhile, over on UnltdWorld - the social network for social entreprenuers - those who attended were asked for feedback on the event:

"What did you think of it? Which sessions did you like? Did the style and format work for you? Did you make any lasting connections?"

Here's my response to the questions:

• Walking round a random corner into a random room and joining a random session, but finding lots of great people doing great things and talking about great ideas
• The wide range of support for those at different stages, whether that was an idea, the beginning stages of setting up, or those further along.
• THE PEOPLE! Met some really inspiring figures and everyone I met was more than willing to help everyone in whatever way they could or point them out to someone who could!
• Made loads of connections and have a whole heap of business cards to get through - will email everyone I said I would soon!

I really did meet lots of inspiring people doing some great projects. I offered communications advice where I could to social entrepreneurs like Maureen (pictured with me below). I also ran a session on how to communicate on a tight budget, which seemed to go well by the smile on people's faces as they left the room.


Loads of other people answered the question on Unltd World. Here is a selection of their responses:

• I love the informality around the sessions. Great participation, networking, the venue. Though would have liked more participation.
• It was fantastic. Great vibe. It was about people, conversations and genuine knowledge sharing. It was about the power of context over formality, and of fun and passion over structure. Brilliant.
• Best things about Shine - the spirit, the people, the collaboration.
  The style and format worked in the spirit of the event. I'd been to Good Deals afew days earlier - a "Conference" that involved pretty much 6 hours of sitting & listening to (great) speakers. Shine is to Conferences what the Fringe is to the Edinburgh Festival.
• I enjoyed a 1:1 session with What if!, I really enjoyed the session I did on Entrepreneurs & Emotional Intelligence because of the participation from a lovely group of interested people.
  
• I loved the synchronicity of the whole event and all that busy blogging, reporting and podcasting. It all felt really alive.
• The visual impression: passing room after room and seeing circles of social entrepreneurs leaning forward in intense discussions.

As you can see, everyone seemed to think the event was a great success. Sure, some things did go wrong and there are plenty of aspects that could be improved, but it was the first time the event took place, so there was always going to be teething problems.

I hope to be there again next year - perhaps the various online content around Shine has inspired you enough that I'll see you there too!