Pre-Edcamp Nervousness: The Unconference Preperation

In the past few weeks I have attended some conferences and the talk was about Edcamps.  So, I looked around and found one near and got on the waitlist and now I will be attending my first Edcamp this weekend in Kansas City.  Being that I have never experienced an Edcamp I did a little research.  The following things I found:

First, What is an Edcamp?

• Free: Edcamps should be free to all attendees. This helps ensure that all different types of teachers and educational stakeholders can attend.
• Non-commercial and with a vendor-free presence: Edcamps should be about learning, not selling. Educators should feel free to express their ideas without being swayed or influenced by sales pitches for educational books or technology.
• Hosted by any organization or individual: Anyone should be able to host an Edcamp. School districts, educational stakeholders and teams of teachers can host Edcamps.
• Made up of sessions that are determined on the day of the event:Edcamps should not have pre-scheduled presentations. During the morning of the event, the schedule should be created in conjunction with everyone there. Sessions will be spontaneous, interactive and responsive to participants' needs.
• Events where anyone who attends can be a presenter: Anyone who attends an edcamp should be eligible to present. All teachers and educational stakeholders are professionals worthy of sharing their expertise in a collaborative setting.
• Reliant on the "law of two feet" which encourages participants to find a session that meets their needs: As anyone can host a session, it is critical that participants are encouraged to actively self-select the best content and sessions. Edcampers should leave sessions that do not meet their needs. This provides a uniquely effective way of "weeding out" sessions that are not based on appropriate research or not delivered in an engaging format.

From http://www.edutopia.org/blog/why-edcamp-kristen-swanson

Second,What do attendees say about an Edcamp?

For more information you can check out http://edcamp.org/.  I have found more information that I probably need, but feel at least I will know what is going on when I show up.

Now I prepare myself to go and learn with a community.  I'm truly excited and will be posting more about what I have learned after my experience.  I realize that I might even present during the day, but I am excited to see what comes from my experience.  If you would like to follow along the learning check out #edcampkc on twitter.