The report of an UnAttendee at the UnConference

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The report of an UnAttendee at the UnConference


Wow the UnConference is over and it looks like everyone had a great time, and learned a bunch. I did not attend, so my reporting on the conference may seem a bit presumptuous. I can imagine that some attendees are saying, wait, why is that guy talking about the UnConference he did not even attend? Given my obvious lack of knowledge I hope you will stick with me for a few paragraphs.

Here is the thing the conference seemed to resonate with one major outcome. It is perhaps one of the more true statements every written about diabetes. Here it is:

‘The expert is you’

Truer words were never spoken when it comes to diabetes. I have been managing this disease for over 40 years and if I have ever learned anything, it is that I must first rely on myself. I can get advice from other diabetics, I see about 16 doctors and nurse practitioners give or take a few, and the truth is it all comes down to one person to make the right decision; me. I have known this for years but the UnConference voiced the truth for the first time in print. I am the expert. Wow, I am blown away for that statement. I was an UnAttendee at the UnConference and it still made a difference to me you.


This brings me to the second point and the real reason I chose to write this blog. A few days ago a twitter exchange happened involving Melissa Lee and an unnamed other party about who got to attend and why this person did not. Melissa held her own very well (never fear) but the theme of the complaint is that only a few always blessed bloggers got to attend the UnConference. The issue being that a few bloggers always attend such events and they (‘they’ was really unspecified) are given financial incentive to attend.

I know this is not true and if the person involved dropped their jealousy for a few minutes and looked into it they would also know it is not true. Here is the thing, most people attend these events using their own money and taking their own time. Yes a small group of bloggers seem to attend every one of these and they are sometimes sponsored by companies, but those bloggers work for those companies. But by and large most people attend because they pay for it themselves. There is only a limited amount of jobs in this field and those who have them are not going away anytime soon.

The discussion Melissa had reflects two points. First those who do blog and are employees of companies (even if they contend their blog is separate from their work) must in my view state the connection. Some of the best blogs are by people who are employed by diabetic related companies. I don’t have any issue with it so long as they clearly disclose the connection. To my knowledge all of them do.

The second thing is the discussion reflects a deeper issue. Jealousy is a very real part of the Diabetic Online Community (DOC). And those who do regularly attend these events (what the twitter user referred to as the chosen ones) must do more to be inclusive of those who don’t.

Now let me say a lot is already done. There are a variety of scholarships and any person who wishes to attend may apply for a scholarship. The thing is this person was aware of the scholarships and per usual they did not apply. So as far as I am concerned the twitter user did not have a legitimate complaint. Here is a link to some scholarship opportunities:

http://diabetesadvocates.org/scholarships2015/

http://diabetesscholars.org/conference-scholarship/

and just so it is clear the UnConference also offered scholarships. Here was the link:

http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/blog/diabetes-unconference-scholarships-now-available/

This person had no legitimate complaint. But the DOC can be a jealous place. We need to do more to make sure these complaints have no apparent legitimacy and most important we need to encourage people to apply for scholarships if they want to go. There is a responsibility to be as inclusive as possible, we all benefit when many voices are included, just like we are all harmed when voices like the one on Twitter are left unanswered. Let’s thank Melissa for stepping up and answering this one, she did a great job, we have a wonderful interim leader. I think we are fortunate to have her clear voice in sometimes cloudy DOC.

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rick

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I was there and I'm definitely not one of the chosen few. I can tell you that I did not detect any exclusive behavior on the part of any attendee, including the longer participating bloggers and members of the DOC. I came away with the sense that we're all struggling with a common foe, diabetes.

I recommend to anyone interested to participate in any face to face interactions with a diabetes support group. This particular meeting was well conceived and executed. I will likely attend next year, if possible. I paid for all my expenses but feel that I received more value than I paid.

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Nice post, Rick. Although this was the 1st Diabetes UnConference, I don’t think that it will be the last. What was fantastic about the group of attendees is that there was a mixture of DOC rock stars, regular-folk bloggers, people who have never even read a blog, people with diabetes for over 60 years and newly diagnosed PWD’s, T1’s, T2’s, etc. I was thrilled to finally meet Terry (and DAD Norman)and many other "friends from TuDiabetes. I hope to meet you some day also, Rick:-)

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Thank you for this post, Rick. We all paid our own way with very few exceptions (like Kerri disclosing rightly (as she always does) that she was representing a sponsor of the event). I paid out of my own pocket to attend and didn't even expense DHF, which I rightly could have. I felt that Christel's vision was to call us to bring our poor, weary, and huddled masses of diabetes burdens to shape our own conference. And we did that. And it was cathartic.

I don't begrudge anyone their grudges. I remember when I was a hard-working admin on TuDiabetes and didn't feel people in the wider community knew me. I felt left out of big social gatherings and summits as I watched them happen. There are many types of people in this great big world though. And my type is the type that figures out what my priorities are and finds a way to attend the events that matter to me. I invited myself to meetups, I applied for scholarships, I wrote words that spoke to people, and - most importantly - I cared what other people in our community had to say and believed we all had a right to say it.

To that end, I feel for the people who feel left out. I know they hurt. But they also are the only ones with the power to change that. I've never seen our community not embrace opportunities to connect and I believe that we are not as exclusive as some voices claim. We - the collective we - meet everyone at least halfway, I think. Some people have trouble coming to the table and believing there will be anything left to eat. At the UnConference, I think we proved that we will share all that we have and more.

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I was there ... and as a Canadian who pays high prices for airfare (and our dollar is crap compared against the American dollar) - it was something I had to budget to be able to go. I am not sure if I'll be able to afford to go the next time it's held, but it was great that for the 1st event ... I have come away with great feelings (and like Terry - hey Norm - scratch behind the ears to you) - it was well worth it!

So Rick, hopefully if it's held next year, and perhaps in a central location to make it easier for those of us who find it difficult to afford the flight, etc. a more affordable option. Am working on the #dblog right now ... it's tough ... since so many others have written some great ones so far!!!

Oh - and I maybe more on Tudiabetes now - since Facebook has closed my account down due to my having an illegal name ... e.g. Anna FatCat Kiff is not a real name ... they want far too much personal documentation for me to send to them via online ... that it scares the heck out of me (I'm a paranoid Canadian aren't I?)![|499x480](upload://ilD4Q8qLpH5reYCJBc4la43CSQ.jpeg)

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I haven't blogged in a long, long time. Heck, I haven't even posted about diabetes at all. I knew I had to go. Come hell or high water, I HAD TO GO! I am on disability, a fixed income, but I saved from the minute that it was announced. First I paid for my UnConference ticket. Then the Flamingo room. Then the flight. Every spare change went towards this. I knew I needed it, and I WAS RIGHT.

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Like others that have posted here I attended the UnConference and it was a really special event where I got to really know and talk frankly and intimately with nearly 100 other people who share diabetes with me. I also paid my own way to this event and it was my impression that the event organizers went out of their way to support a few attendees who were in true need and would not have been able to attend otherwise. I am fortunate that I am able to support many of my own activities out of my own pocket, but some of that also reflects the priorities I have made in my life. I have in the past accepted support but I have always tried to be transparent about that such as when I attended MasterLab last summer.

My biggest worry is the the UnConference won't scale, that it won't be the same intimate experience with 500 people and despite Christel's wonderful it really won't scale.

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Brian, I see your point about scaling this 90-person event to 200-300. I felt this meeting size allowed me a reasonable opportunity to speak at least a few words with everyone there. With 300 people that would probably not be the case.

Unless, in some alternate universe we could do this for a week! We certainly had enough content to spread out for a week. But the reality is that working people can’t spare that much time for one event. Perhaps retired people like me might be able to do that, but I’m uncertain the demand would be there for a longer event.

The smaller, 8-10 people table, discussions presented ample opportunity to speak and be heard. It may be scalable to a larger group, but how much larger is the question.

I went to a TCOYD conference the Saturday before the Unconference. I’m estimating there were about a 1000 or more participants. It was the standard power-point and expert panel format with a few audience questions thrown in. I know I had several questions that I couldn’t ask due to the crowd size. I still felt it was worth it, but different from the Unconference. The depth of emotion and cathartic expression made this Unconference special.