Update 10/14:

The event had to be postponed. We are looking at sometime in early 2022 and will announce a new date shortly. If you already purchased a ticket, expect a full reimbursement within the coming two weeks (usually takes 5-10 days, depending on your bank).

Thanks again to our partners and sponsors and to everyone who had expressed interest. See you (and meet you) in a few months!

The OFU21 Team

The Online Facilitation Unconference (OFU) is an annual online learning exchange on the art and practice of facilitating in virtual environments. We bring together facilitation practitioners from around the world and from a wide variety of backgrounds to share, learn, and make new professional connections among peers. Happening alongside and as part of IAF’s Facilitation Week.

Partners

Sponsors

• Gatheround
• GroupMap
• QiqoChat
• ScatterSpoke
• Stormz
• TeamRetro

Program & Schedule

OFU is an unconference, meaning the vast majority of the program will be created by the participants on the fly based on everyone’s interests and needs. This year, the unconference sessions will take place Friday through Sunday, October 22–24. Session planning will begin earlier in the week on our main event hub. All attendees are welcome to suggest topics and add sessions to the calendar.

Please reserve time in your calendars for these main session windows (all times Pacific Time):

Friday, October 22

Afternoon

• 3.30–4.15pm: Meet your amazing co-explorers (casual networking on Gatheround)
• 4–6 pm: Sessions

Saturday, October 23

Night

• 12–2am: Sessions

Morning

• 8–10am: Sessions

Afternoon

• 4–6 pm: Sessions

Sunday, October 24

Night

• 12–2am: Sessions

Morning

• 8–10am: Sessions

Event Platform & Technology

OFU is a BYOT (bring your own technology) event, meaning the session hosts are in charge of choosing the tools and platforms that best fit their needs. In the past, this has worked out very well as it allows participants to experience, over the course of the event, a variety of new, improved, or otherwise interesting technology options in context.

While OFU doesn’t prescribe how to run the sessions, we do provide a central collaboration hub for attendees to introduce themselves, discuss topic ideas for the unconference, manage the schedule, and document outcomes. Registrants will receive their personal invite to this venue before OFU21 gets under way.

Who Should Attend?

OFU events bring together facilitation practitioners from all over the world and from a rich diversity of backgrounds. Anyone tasked with leading groups to meaningful process outcomes is welcome to join and share their experiences.

Sponsor Package

Sponsors of OFU21 receive the following benefits:

• Listing on website and other event communication (logo, link, blurb)
• 5x free tickets for their team
  
• Discount code to share with their networks (for 30% off all tickets)
• Opportunity to have special offer (e.g., discount codes) distributed to attendees
• Opportunity to offer a short (10-20 minutes) overview session or demo of their tool, ideally in the week leading up to the unconference (that way, attendees who find it interesting might be able to incorporate it into their session planning)
• Opportunity to actively participate in the unconference, incl. running sessions (does not have to be about their tool)

In return, we are asking for a contribution of $300 (can be adjusted/waived, particularly for startups).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Why does OFU charge for tickets? OFU is a not-for-profit endeavor, meaning our primary goal is to simply recover our costs, including our year-round infrastructure like the event hub, mailing list etc.
• What if I can’t afford the tickets? No problem! Please take advantage of our “low or no income“ option and pay as much or as little as you feel comfortable – no questions asked. In the past, well over 10% of attendees have made use of this offer.
• How can I get involved as a community partner, sponsor, or tech exhibitor? Please see the information listed above and email hello@caceinstitute.org for any questions and to get your sponsorship set up. Thanks!
• What is the time commitment? It’s completely up to you how many hours you’d like to spend at OFU21. A typical attendee might catch a good handful of sessions, each between 30 to 60 minutes long on average. Usually, a little bit of time will be involved during session planning leading up to the event. If you decide to lead a session, that might require some effort ahead of time getting everything coordinated (particularly if you co-host with others). We recommend that you block time on your schedule for the main session windows listed above and see what happens.
• Will there be hybrid elements involved? We sure hope so, as long as it’s COVID-safe. For those wanting to get together in person we highly recommend limiting participation to fully vaccinated persons only, meet outdoors or in well-ventilated indoor spaces etc. We trust that our attendees will use their best judgement.