Working with Kaliya has fundamentally changed how we think about events: once she introduced us to unconferences, we never looked back. Kaliya brings insight, skill, rigor and decades of experience into every aspect of event design, while also staying flexible and accommodating for our limitations in the process. Every time we’ve worked with her, the outcome has far exceeded what we thought was possible.
TL:DR
RadicalxChange was looking to host a first event after the lifting of lockdowns. It was important that this event be outstanding, not just a regular conference. We collaborated to create a series of events that used open space technology and brought forward the wisdom of the global community.
The client:
RadicalxChange is an organization dedicated to democratic innovation and institutional design through operational partnerships and experimental projects between academia, government, art, technology, and beyond. It was founded in 2019 by Glen Weyl around the publication of his book Radical Markets.
The challenge:
- They hosted their first conference in 2019 with a conventional format. When the pandemic subsided in 2021 enough to resume in-person events they were uncertain how to proceed with a conference.
- To serve their global community, they wanted to create opportunities for peer learning and connection among active members worldwide and move their mission forward.
The solution:
We designed a three-part series of events: two in-person convenings in Taipei, Taiwan and Denver, Colorado, plus a virtual gathering for the European community. Scheduled one week apart, all three events would use Open Space Technology—a methodology that empowers participants to co-create a multi-track conference agenda on the morning of each event.
Our team facilitated in Denver and the Online event and an experienced Open Space Facilitator in Taiwan was hired to facilitate in Taiwan. In parallel to the open space events the RxC Staff curated an online series of talks called RxC TV.
Why they chose us:
- Kaliya was an active participant in the RxC community and suggested that an unconference might be a good way to proceed with the 2021 conference
- We had years of experience designing and facilitating events with technology communities
- We knew how to work with our client to shape a compelling invitation that got their community excited to participate in a new format.
The outcomes:
Source: RadicalxChange Annual Conferences 2021
Taipei, Taiwan:
The event focused on new technological affordances for democracy and strengthening civil society, as well as current social issues in Taiwan (which were all the more vivid in light of a nation-wide referendum that was soon to take place). Audrey Tang, and legislator & rockstar Freddy Lin kickstarted the event with opening remarks, and the brilliant open space facilitators ShufangTsai & Tara Hsueh helped lead the flow of discussions, so participants were able to dig deeper into each topic, build up meaningful connections and generate ideas for future collective action! Here are a few of the topics that were discussed:
- How to achieve a genuine Open Government along with the public sector?
- Democracy Infrastructure and Ecology
- Whose culture? What are collective memories? Who has the power to control?
- Can NGOs release NFTs to solve the donation conundrum?
- Should domain names be deleted by force?
Online:
The online event welcomed over 250 participants from around the world to QiqoChat, a delightfully simple integration of Zoom breakout rooms, Google Docs, and chat. We found the online space to be great for structuring interactions, organizing the agenda, and seeing which participants were in every session. 4 sessions were held, including:
- Self-Sovereign Identity
- Polis and Taiwan fan-club
- Decentralization of Value: How individuals and groups can live outside the maze of incentives
- California Cannabis Reform Initiative & RadicalxChange Voice
Feedback from some of the online participants:
- I can’t imagine participating in a typical conference again.
- I was encouraged to call a topic and so I did. This is the first time sharing my ideas in a public forum and I am so fortunate to have found this community
- This is sooo much better than trad[itional]-confs
Denver, Colorado:
The event was in Colorado, because it is quickly becoming America’s most forward-thinking laboratory for democratic innovations. With deep roots among both conservatives and liberals, the state is a model in building consensus, from using quadratic voting in the state senate to pioneering the legalized cannabis industry to being a leader in Web 3.
A large majority of participants proposed sessions–a good problem–so we needed to combine many of them, including three different ones on memes! All in all, 39 sessions were held, including:
- Building on the Transformative Potential of Citizens Assemblies
- Blockchains for Social Good
- DAOs as Digital Cooperatives
- Regenerative Crypto Economics
- Language & Evidentials
- Governance Archeology
- Democratizing Science
- Mental Infrastructure – Building population understanding of digital democracy tools
Feedback Denver participants:
- RadicalxChange Denver was one of the most significant collaborative events I’ve ever attended. What transpired today was special.
- I was reminded how much creative energy is out there and how many amazing, impactful public goods projects are just a connection away.
What happened after the unconference:
The RxC community has continued to grow and thrive and leverage open space technology to convene their community.
In 2022 we again worked with RadicalxChange to convene an event that came together to support conversation around a series of papers that came out considering proof of personhood options. Exploring Digital Identity For Decentralized Societies
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In 2023 RadicalxChange collaborated with Serpentine Arts Technologies and Dark Matter Labs to produce Beyond Cultures of Ownership: Emerging Strategies for Interdependence they hired a London based event design and facilitation firm to facilitate Open Space Technology portions of the event.
We worked with RadicalxChange again in 2024 to do an invitation only event covered in our next case study.
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