UnConference Starts In:

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Why Attend?

Learn: Gain new skills, knowledge, and insights. The collective wisdom of the group is expected to be broad and deep. A carefully crafted unconference brings this expertise to the surface for mutual benefit.

Build Community: Build and strengthen relationships with other LeSS practitioners with synergistic areas of focus.

Have Fun: Build lasting friendships, experience Milwaukee in summertime, and possibly attend SummerFest too!

What Is An Unconference?

An unconference is run by the participants for the participants, with effective facilitation to ensure the best learning experience possible. Every attendee brings a tremendous depth of experience. The Open Space technique combined with others ensures we leverage this depth for mutual benefit.

A few anticipated topics are listed below. Far more are expected.

Attendees collectively determine topic priority. The actual topic list will be determined on the fly. Whichever spontaneous or planned topics are dot-voted the highest are the ones we will focus on.

Anticipated Topics (Plus Many More)

Please contact me by email or via LinkedIn with any suggestions for additional anticipated topics.

Add-On Session

  • Certified LeSS Practitioner

    Certified LeSS Practitioner [Sold Out]

    James Carpenter is delivering a 3-day system modeling-based Certified LeSS Practitioner course from Monday to Wednesday just prior to the conference. 


    The CLP course runs from 8:30 am - 6:00 pm. For certification, full attendance is required. I recommend taking this into consideration when making travel plans.


    A $200 per person discount is available if registering 5 or more people for the course. To access this discount please click here to access the bulk discount registration page.


    If you are viewing the bulk discount page, the Certified LeSS Practitioner Add-On Session will no longer be optional. Once you have added 5 or more registrants, the Certified LeSS Practitioner add-on session price will be reduced from $2699 to $2499.


    With a bulk order it is a good idea to email me at [email protected] so I can promptly double check the order and manually release it to the payment processor. Normal orders are configured for fully-automated processing, bulk orders have a quick manual check on the backend.


    If you missed the opportunity to sign-up for the course and would like to attend one, please reach out. It is likely I can accommodate you in a future course.

    Price $2,699.00

Sneak Preview of Certified LeSS Practitioner Course

The Global Certified LeSS Practitioner course page on the Agile Carpentry website provides more details about the course.

Walk To SummerFest In The Evenings

SummerFest is the largest annual music festival in the nation. Any of the Downtown Milwaukee hotels are within a short walk of the SummerFest grounds on the shore of Lake Michigan. The Westin is particularly well placed.

Although performances are scheduled all day from Thursday until Saturday, the better known acts are typically in the evening. A general admission ticket will let you see most of the acts, but you must pay extra to see the headliners.

SummerFest also sells package tickets which include hotels.

More About Open Space/UnConferences

Typical Agenda

The basic agenda of a classic open space conference is as follows:

  • Participants propose and champion topics for inclusion in the marketplace schedule.
  • The facilitor schedules the most popular topics within the available timeslots and breakout rooms.
  • Participants vote with their feet to attend the breakouts they are most interested in.

The Law of Two Feet says that only you know when you are learning and contributing as much as you can. So if you are not learning when attending a particular session, you can hop to another anytime you choose. Alternatively, you can spend time socializing when none of the sessions is of interest at the moment.

Adapting In the Moment

There are endless variations on running semi-structured conferences. Skillful facilitation requires careful preparation, along with the ability to adapt in the moment based on circumstances. The least predictable topics can often be the most interesting and engaging.

If there is a particular topic you know you want to champion ahead of time, please let me know. This is particularly important if you have pre-reading content that other attendees should be aware of. I can also pre-load the projectors with any slides or videos you need.

My preference is to have panels of subject matter experts champion any given topic, rather than a single subject matter expert. Improvements over basic lecture and Q&A style approaches will be encouraged when appropriate.

I also expect to include some structured speed networking activities.

Electronic Repository

I will provide everyone who is attending access to an electronic repository which we can use for sharing pre-read content, providing slides and video files for pre-loading onto portable projectors, and for sharing any photos and videos taken during the conference.

Open Space Video Explanation


Additional UnConference Reference Information

Conference Schedule

Wednesday Schedule


6:00pmInformal Social Event

An informal social event for those who arrive Wednesday night is likely. If there is enough interest something more formal is possible.


Thursday & Friday Schedule


8:00amEstablish Marketplace

Open conference and establish marketplace


9:00amBreakout Session

Participants attend their preferred session from the marketplace. Participants are welcome to apply the Law of Two Feet and hop between sessions if they wish. Some breakouts are likely to be two short topics, rather than one long topic.


10:15amBreak

Take a bio break, refill your beverage, and decide which session to attend next.


10:30amBreakout Session

Participants attend their preferred session from the marketplace. Participants are welcome to apply the Law of Two Feet and hop between sessions if they wish. Some breakouts are likely to be two short topics, rather than one long topic.


11:45amLunch In Groups

Cluster into groups for the various lunch spots and then head out together for lunch.


1:35pmRefresh Marketplace

Make quick updates and schedule changes to the marketplace based on feedback from the morning.


1:45pmBreakout Session

Participants attend their preferred session from the marketplace. Participants are welcome to apply the Law of Two Feet and hop between sessions if they wish. Some breakouts are likely to be two short topics, rather than one long topic.


3:00pmBreak

Take a bio break, refill your beverage, and decide which session to attend next.


3:15pmBreakout Session

Participants attend their preferred session from the marketplace. Participants are welcome to apply the Law of Two Feet and hop between sessions if they wish. Some breakouts are likely to be two short topics, rather than one long topic.


4:30pmBreak

Take a bio break, and refill your beverage.


4:45Retrospective

Briefly spend time reflecting on what went well, what didn't go well, and how we can improve the conference.


5:00pmEnd Of Day

Volunteers appreciated as we break down and pack up equipment on the last day.


6:30pmInformal Social Event

An informal social event at the end of each conference day is likely. If there is enough interest something more formal is possible.


Meals

The cost of lunch on Thursday and Friday is NOT included in the UnConference ticket.

Lunch is included on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for those attending the Certified LeSS Practitioner course.

To help keep the conference price as low as possible, we will be going out to lunch each day in organized groups. There are lots of restaurant choices within a short walk in both the Upper East Side and Downtown locations.

I recommend bringing enough cash to pay for lunch at a table service restaurant. This will make it easier for your lunch group to settle the bill without needing to ask the server to run a credit card for each person.

Beverage service including water, coffee, and tea is included in the price of the conference. It is likely this will also include sodas, and bottled water as well.

The quality and availability of the appetizers will vary based upon which event location is used. At the smaller Upper East Side event space, breakfast and appetizers will be curated and prepared by a lovely graduate of Peter Kump's New York Cooking School, now known as the Institute of Culinary Education. If we end up Downtown, the best we will get is overpriced granola bars, pretzels, and salted nuts; and then only at higher head counts once the economy of scale makes it cost effective to provide more than basic beverage service.


Event Venue

Initial Event Venue

The optional Certified LeSS Practitioner will be held from Monday to Wednesday in the Upper East Side venue at 1918 East Lafayette Place, Milwaukee, WI 53202.

Unless the UnConference attendee count requires relocating to Downtown, this location will also be used for the UnConference on Thursday and Friday,

The Milwaukee Upper East Side Event Venue Details page provides more information regarding:

  • Address Information
  • Parking
  • Neighborhood Restaurants
  • Taking the Oak Leaf Trail
  • Ride-share bicycles
  • Ride-share electric scooters

Larger Event Venue

If the UnConference grows large enough, I anticipate relocating it to one of the Downtown event hotels. 

The Westin Milwaukee is the first choice of larger venue if required. The nearby Milwaukee Marriott is the second choice if the Westin becomes unavailable.

As explained in the Milwaukee Downtown Hotels And Dining page, all of the Downtown hotels are only a short trip from the Upper East Side venue.

Book Your Hotel Promptly

As I write this, there are still reasonably priced sleeping rooms available in both the Westin and the Marriott during the UnConference. Yet, both of these hotels are already sold out during the first SummerFest weekend.

The Milwaukee Downtown Hotels And Dining provides comprehensive details on selecting a Downtown hotel.

Travel Logistics

The Milwaukee Airport (MKE) is a very easy mid-sized airport. There are non-stop flights to/from most major U.S. hub cities. This includes non-stop flights from Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Seattle, Washington, and many others.

The Milwaukee Airport is a 15 minute Uber ride away from Downtown Milwaukee in what is almost always easy traffic.

If there is not a good non-stop route into Milwaukee Airport, you may want to consider flying into Chicago O'Hare (ORD) instead. Sedan service never takes more than 1h15m curb-to-curb between Downtown Milwaukee and the Chicago O'Hare (ORD) ticket counter. I personally fly in/out of both MKE and ORD depending on where I am going, my risk tolerance for missed connections, flight prices, and whether I am flying internationally.

More details at: https://agilecarpentry.com/clp/mke/plane/

The Amtrak Hiawatha travels between Downtown Chicago and Downtown Milwaukee every couple of hours. For people living near Downtown Chicago there isn't an easier or less expensive option.

There are now two trains a day between Minneapolis and Milwaukee, the new new Amtrak Borealis commuter train (coach & business), and the long-distance Empire Builder (coach & first class).

Chicago Union Station is the largest Amtrak hub in the nation. If you live in the Midwest, you may find Amtrak to be less expensive and more convenient than flying. There are no long security lines, or complex boarding procedures; just show up, and get on the train. Unless you are coming from the north via the Borealis or Empire Builder routes you will have to connect with the Hiawatha, but that is a relatively low risk connection. You can find rough notes on travel from key cities in the Midwest here. More refined, higher-level details on taking the train can be found here.

I never recommend traveling Amtrak overnight without traveling first class in a roomette.

More details at: https://agilecarpentry.com/clp/mke/train/

Exploring Milwaukee

Milwaukee is an amazing city to visit in summertime. Music, great food, beer, wonderful weather, beautiful parks along Lake Michigan, river tours, extensive bicycle trails, and friendly people. The conference is situated in the heart of it all.

The Milwaukee Downtown Hotels And Dining and Milwaukee Upper East Side Event Venue Details pages provide all the basics you need for navigating your way around the neighborhood. 

When you are ready for a broader exploration of Milwaukee, including the many attractions within walking distance, please see the Visit Milwaukee website.

Ambassador Program

Earn a $5 refund on your ticket up to the price of your ticket for everyone who registers with your ambassador link.

Upon registration you will be provided with an ambassador code and  link which you can share with your friends. Everyone who registers with this code or link will save $5 off their own ticket, and you will receive a $5 refund on your own ticket up to the price of your ticket.

You are welcome to share your ambassador code and/or link broadly. Include it in a LinkedIn post, email it to your friends, include it in a YouTube video, share it with your clients, and anything else you think appropriate.

Register now while this limited time ambassador program is still available!

Registration Information

  • Early general admission to the 2-Day UnConference.

  • General admission to the 2-Day UnConference.

  • Does NOT include the 2-Day UnConference. Use this ticket option if you are only intending to sign-up for the Certified LeSS Practitioner course prior to the conference.




$999.00
$999.00



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Purchase Protection covers many common unforeseen circumances, but exclusions apply. View full List of qualifying circumstances and exclusions.

* Terms, conditions and exclusions apply. Not available for or applicable to events, attendees, or travel outside of the USA. Purchase Protection is a service offered by Purchase Protection LLC. Purchase Protection is not an insurance policy. It is a service that will refund you 100% of your event fees, taxes and dues should you be prevented by unforeseen circumstances from attending the event. Purchase Protection does not apply to, and will not reimburse, merchandise purchases and charitable donations. Purchase Protection fees will be charged as a separate transaction. Any changes made to your purchase will not change the amount covered in this agreement.

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