I am back home in Wellington now, after the TelecomOne un-conference. On the second day (
day 0,
day 1) I attended half of a session moderated by Nat Torkington about children education and technology, and then Peter Gutman's session about cybercrime - variants, free market of information, why security forces are not doing enough, etc.
About 12pm we did a wrap-up session where we all had the opportunity to review what went right, what went wrong, how it worked for everyone and what is next.
TelecomOne was an interesting un-conference. First because it was mainly an internal event, with a few "externals" being invited. This caused a bit of friction in the wiki pages where invited atendees discussed the upcoming meetup during the weeks leading up to the actual event.
Some Telecom people were worried about an open discussion about their vision, directions, services, network in the presence of "externals". We actually even had a person from the legal department on site - but I can guarantee that everyone understood very well the implications and the rules of separation. All discussions were open and clear, with a very good deal of understanding, criticism, suggestions and discovery.
Add to this the rounds of
werewolf games (on Friday and Saturday evenings), plus the late night talks and it was a very enjoyable weekend - you can see my
Flickr TelecomOne set here, or search for
Flickr TNZ1 tag. Also available is a series of
#TNZ1 Twitters. The special touch was the "
Innovation Red" wine served there...
During the wrap-up we had comments from some "externals" that were a surprise. For example one of them even said something like "... amazed to find out so many bright Telecom and Gen-i people together and certainly changed my view of the company".
Also worth noting is the presence of some high up people there - if not the whole weekend, at least attending a couple of important sessions - like Alan Gourdie (Chief Executive, Telecom Retail) who attended the session about communicating to customers and public in general where we discussed public blogging, social media, regulations and other topics.
On the way back home, all out-of-town people managed to band together again at the Air New Zealand Koru Lounge and we almost had another session there, in the corner.
Also is worth noting that Telecom provided meals and a bus from Auckland CBD to Warkworth, but "externals" (such as myself) did not receive any contribution towards the expense to attend this camp. I paid my own travel, accommodation, and car to drive to Warkworth. Actually very interesting to see a group of "externals" such as the one the organisers put together coming on their own to participate on a private camp.
Also interesting is to see the Foo Camp concept can be applied really well to private organisations.
Well done the organisers and facilitators. Well done to Telecom for being brave and accepting that people from outside your organisation can help too, by providing real criticism and constructive feedback.
Special thanks to the
Mahurangi College and staff, location of Foo Camps, and now TelecomOne. On to the next one.
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At work: Norton AntiVirus 2008, at home: AVG Free - Haggis (Sean)