A big FullConTech theme is “experimentation.” In organizing the event, we try new things every year in an effort to make it more collaborative, provocative, productive, and fun.

For the first time at our upcoming FullConTech on May 8, we’ll host an Open Space discussion during our Invent Session. Open Space is an approach to holding meetings in which participants create and manage their own agenda. There’s a lot of storytelling and plenty of unexpected discoveries. Here’s the really crazy part: Open Space works best when you’re trying to solve a big, complex problem with a diverse — but passionate — group of people.

That might sound like complete chaos, but there’s actually a lot of structure. It’s designed to run in the background, so you’re not constantly aware of it while you’re working. It also keeps things moving forward while still allowing space for creativity, connection, and surprise.

The most amazing and delightful thing about Open Space is that it quickly produces creative, workable designs that everyone in the group feels good about.

The foundation for Open Space is The Law of Two Feet: each participant is responsible for choosing the issues they care about. If you pick a topic with which to get involved, join a group, and then feel you have nothing else to contribute, it’s up to you to move to a new topic where you can better participate and learn.

Here’s what that looks like at FullConTech: We have five Invent Session topics on our schedule that we’re excited about. But if you’re not, that’s okay. Come to FullConTech, join the Open Space session, and raise topics you’d like work on with a group. You could propose a topic as broad as “How to promote followership” or something more provocative, like “White privilege in the workplace” — whatever you feel could produce great ideas for “Building a better workplace.”

Once you get a problem-solving discussion going, if you feel you have more to contribute on another topic, you can move to another group.

Also important to Open Space are its Four Principles, which promote a sense of immediacy balanced by acceptance:

1. Whoever comes are the right people
2. Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened
3. Whenever it starts is the right time
4. When it’s over, it’s over

In our Open Space session, we’ll allot time for brainstorming, reflection, discussion, feedback, and synthesis. And, yes, there will be flip charts and sticky notes, as well as our facilitator, Kirk Mead, a FullConTech veteran with a reputation for pushing people to think differently.                    

Open Space isn’t for everyone, and it might not be for you. Or maybe it’s not for you right now, because you’re more interested in one of our other five topics related to “Building a Better Workplace”:

• Cultivating connections to community, with Brook Buchanan, Director of Digital Transformation at Avanade: How do companies grow a workforce that from the beginning encourages employees to become a meaningful part of the local civic culture?
• Barriers to inclusive growth, with Lionel Lee, Head of diversity engagement at Zillow Group: What are the real Glass Ceilings that prohibit the advancement of diverse employees within the industry and how can we share strategies related to removing these barriers?
• Helping women thrive in the tech industry with Christy Johnson. CEO of Artemis Connection: Pay gaps, harassment, and biases persist, and many companies struggle with low retention rates. What can we learn from bright spots in creating safe and inclusive culture for women in tech?
• Recruiting with a diversity mandate with Chris Carlson, Associate Director at FSG: What is it about our current recruitment strategies that keeps us from reaching the communities we seek to include? How can we think outside of our silos and biases to make the tech industry more diverse and welcoming for underrepresented communities?
• Alternative pathways to a high tech career with Dr. Suzanne Ames, Associate Vice President of Instruction at Lake Washington Institute of Technology: Community and technical colleges offer a non-traditional pathway to in-demand careers with applied baccalaureate degrees in software and application development. How can industry, higher education and K-12 work together to help fill the talent pipeline?

Whether you choose one of these problem-solving groups or opt for Open Space, where you can develop new topics with a group, there’s something for you at FullConTech. To register, go to our website, where you can also find out more about our Invent Session experts listed above.