L&D Unconference - Rotterdam

Introducing a unique event for Learning & Development professionals in the Netherlands.

I love a bit of synchronicity.

"Be curious" was on the blackboard at the office of fellow unconference organiser, Ger Driesen, when we met to continue our planning. And the same day there was this tweet about self-directed learning. Curiosity showing up again.

You need a curious mind to go to an unconference. If it's your first there's an element of "what on earth is going to happen?" If you've been to a few there's always the question of what subjects are going to be raised, which of them will be important to you, and who you'll meet.

There's a strong link with self-directed learning. There's nothing passive about an unconference. There are no speakers and no selling or promotional activity. The participants are responsible for deciding the agenda. There's a loose structure which is there to enable the conversations to happen. At the unconference in October we'll start the day with an Open Space process, helping the group to self-organise pretty quickly.

The assumption is that the intelligence, the experience and the answers you need are in the room. The people who choose to attend will be open to sharing these with you and, just as important, to listen and learn themselves. It doesn't matter how long you've working in L&D or where you are in the pecking order, there's something valuable which we can learn from everybody. We just need to find it.

It can feel a bit uncomfortable at first - particularly if you like things to be predictable - but that's one reason why unconferences are so relevant to learning today. It helps to be open to the unpredictable and thrive in it.

Tickets to the L&D Unconference on 5th October 2017 in Rotterdam are available now via Eventbrite. Book early to get a reduced price Early Bird ticket.