Why should you participate in Change Camp Edmonton?

I’d like to thank my colleagues on the Change Camp Edmonton steering committee for another really great meeting tonight.  Now that we have a date – Saturday October 17th and facility – Lister Conference Centre, University of Alberta identified, everyone is excited to move onto other tasks within the planning process.  We’re discussing things such as logistics, information flow to our fellow citizens on what the event is all about, event budget, roles and responsibilities of volunteers and what communication channels can and should we use etc.

Our communications goal is to educate folks about what Change Camp Edmonton is without putting so much information out there that it pre-determines outcomes on the day itself.  Regarding process, we have been continually looking to learn from other Change Camp events, using them as a reference point in this regard and modifying things given our priorities.

Learning from those who have gone before us is key to ensuring our event is a great one.  Here is a link to survey results and cool word clouds from a previous Change Camp.  There are very interesting findings including “why” others attended their Change Camp.

With that in mind, a key question posed tonight was focused on motivation.

What would motivate you to come out and participate in Change Camp Edmonton?

I personally answered this question tonight in the following way.  My inner belief is that this event model requires “participants” rather than “observers or audience members.”  Change Camp as a concept (again as I interpret it,) is about citizens from all walks of life “presenting ideas and taking action in the form of debate, brain-storming like discussion and it’s through this active participation in a unique process that solutions will be generated.  Despite the fact that the steering committee is still discussing the final details on the general process and structure of the day itself, you can be guaranteed that as a Change Camp Edmonton participant, expressing yourself on one or more issues close to your heart will not only be acceptable but embraced.  Assuming of course that you decide to offer up an opinion or two throughout the day-long event, it’s my belief and many on the steering committee that active participation is required to enrich the overall experience and results for everyone involved.

So in answer to the question and title of this blog post, Why should you participate in Change Camp Edmonton? Ultimately those who do will have their own reasons, regardless, it should be unique, a lot of fun and a rich experience for all.

Here are some sources for more information should you be interested:

Home to all Change Camp events including Edmonton.

Here is our work in progress, volunteers should sign-up on the Change Camp Edmonton Google Group.

Twitter users should monitor the #ChangeCamp #yeg hashtags for updates.

And finally, the committee has launched a central event site, look for more information coming soon.  We also intend on distributing an informational PDF document to help everyone understand Change Camp Edmonton and how one can participate.