Thank you for stepping up to be a Host at this year’s virtual ABCD Unconference. We are so grateful for your willingness to share your stories and gifts with us! 

In this document you will find information about what to expect as a session host, including what you need to know and do before the Unconference, during the Unconference, and after the Unconference has ended.  

Key Information

The 2022 Unconference will be taking place over 48 hours starting on Wednesday, October 5th at 3pm US CDT Time; Thursday, October 6th at 9am NZ Time. Check your timezone here: https://www.timeanddate.com/

We have over 40 sessions from over a dozen countries taking place during that time! Our program team is hard at work building the schedule. You will be notified of your session time by August 19th, 2022

What is a Host? 

Hosts are a huge part of the Unconference vision and consist of a group/team of people who are delivering a virtual session at the Unconference based upon the approved submission.

Hosts are strongly encouraged to have a hosting team. For the purposes of the Unconference, the appointed Host of the session is the primary contact person listed on the submission form. The Host should also identify other team/community members to support their session. 

What is a Hosting Team? 

We have found that hosting an Unconference session goes smoothly and is the most satisfactory experience when there are a team of people working in the virtual space with specific tasks/areas of focus. 

We strongly encourage that each session has a Hosting Team of at least three people.

  • A facilitator (preferably co-facilitators) to lead the session, especially when there are participatory activities.
  • A tech host to record the session, take the screenshot of the participants (with consent), monitor the chat, organize breakout rooms, keep time for the session, and help the hosting team and participants with troubleshooting.
    • If you are unable to secure a tech host from your own community team, let us know as soon as possible and we will try to match you with another host who has offered this skillset.
  • A harvester to capture the essence of the session through words, graphics, poetry, or other mediums.
  • Zoom Admin to start the Zoom for the session. Note that if you are using an Unconference Zoom account for your session, you will have a Zoom Admin assigned to you by the Unconference Planning Team.  

How is a Host supported?

As a Host you will receive the following supports and resources:

  • Access to a Zoom account for your session, unless you have arranged to use your own account with the Planning Team
  • A tech teach and participatory mentor session will be held on
    • September 20th at 8am AEST
    • September 20th at 8pm AEST
    • September 27th at 8am AEST
    • September 27th at 8pm AEST
  • A set of introduction slides for starting your session
  • A Harvest Template to support the Harvester
  • A shared folder in Google Suite/Drive with resources and to share key files (your link to access this folder was provided in your acceptance email)
  • A recording of your session 
  • An invitation to a post-Unconference Debrief session

Host Responsibilities: 

Pre-Unconference 

  1. Attend one of the tech teach and participatory mentor sessions (dates above)
  2. Promote the Unconference website throughout your networks. You can access promotional materials for easy sharing on social media here  
  3. Build a Hosting Team with a minimum of three people
  4. Design an engaging session drawing on the core values of ABCD based on the submission that was approved by the Planning Team
  5. Be sure to have your Zoom updated to the latest version 

During-Unconference 

  1. Join 15 mins before your session to get set up
  2. Let participants know this session will be recorded (a slide with this information has been included in the slide deck provided)
  3. Encourage deep engagement through participatory processes
  4. Share live, key insights on social media during your session or other sessions you join
  5. Take a screenshot of your session’s participants with their permission

Post-Unconference 

  1. Create a Harvest using the template 
  2. Upload your harvest document as well as your screen shots, recordings, live tweets, artwork, poetry etc. to your shared folder (your link to your folder is in your acceptance email)  
  3. Follow up with attendees that you commit to during the session (e.g. sharing notes)
  4. If possible, assist in the updating of the transcript of your session recording
  5. Attend the post-Unconference debrief session and share lessons from the Unconference 

Additional Resources

The Unconference Planning Team is working on pulling together resources that may help you as you design your session. You can access those resources here.

We look forward to a passion-filled Unconference & look forward to being in teaching and learning with you and your team.

Please let us know if there is anything else we can help you with or any other resources you might need! 

Follow and share ABCD Global on Facebook and retweet on Twitter 

Unconferencely Yours,

The ABCD Unconference Planning Team