How many of us have attended business conferences where we sat bored out of our skulls because the key speakers were trotting out age old platitudes and concepts that have been explored ad infinitum? How many of us have wished that at a conference or business event we could voice our oppinions and be able to participate more actively?

I have just recently come across a concept called "unconferencing" presented at the Biz Camp series of conferences. This series consists of 6 conferences presented in the Gauteng region and which covers topics like entrepreneurial experience, marketing, technology, financial management, operational skills, getting the best out of your workforce etc. The beauty of these conferences is that there are no speakers, delegates set the agenda and actively participate in group discussions on the specific topic of the event. I personally found this refreshing and learnt so much from fellow attendees. Something that was also interesting is the activity called "speed geeking" this is like speed dating, however a group of 5 delegates have a session of 5 minutes each with each of the 12 sponsors of the event. The sponsor may only present a case study of how its product or service benefitted clients.
The scope for networking and gaining valuable knowledge from ones peers is incredible. It is also a wonderful opportunity for sponsors as they have a chance to present their case study to between 50 - 80 focussed business decision makers.