The ‘other’ federation

Post our FAM09 event, feeling a little bit like a child post the Xmas excitement, where all the stockings have been emptied, all the presents have been opened up and played with and specifically in my case the entire turkey has been devoured.

So to alleviate that feeling Nicole has asked me to write a blog (my first one) about the organisation of this event.

Basing my organisation of the FAM09 event around the fundamental principles of my ‘other’ favourite federation which are “the values of universal liberty, equality, justice, peace, and cooperation”. (cheeky quote from Wikipedia, I was never allowed to do this in my studies : ) Wikipedia not being an authorative source, albeit its usefulness for Star Trek facts)

Universal Liberty
We decided very early on in the organization of this event that we would throw off the feudal shackles of a heavily paper based event by creating a ‘green event’ as we all need to ‘go green’. I believe it sets a good example as our primary importance within our community is online resources. We received extremely positive feedback on this. I think aided by the fact our delegates received a pretty 2GB USB stick upon registration.

Equality
It was important for us to make sure that all delegates needs were met ‘techie’ and ‘librarian’ alike. We intentionally organized our main and parallel sessions so people received information that they found useful but equally didn’t exclude or pigeon hole the delegates into feeling they had to attend a particular session.

Justice
Using a combination of our website, Google site and the #FAM09 tag for the tweeting of our event gave all our delegates fora to contribute through giving opinion and feedback in an environment they felt comfortable with.

Peace
Keeping all our delegates happy and relatively ‘peaceful’ I think is crucial to a successful event and this was achieved at this event through wine, food and most importantly a good wireless connection.

Cooperation
It is our hope that sharing the delegate list and enabling all of you to network in a relaxed environment, has potentially created a more open, transparent and cooperative environment which will further your interest and participation in the Access Management Federation.

One of the highlights of this event for me was seeing the excitement on the faces of our delegates when they walked into a room full of Wii and other assorted games and started playing them all immediately, and knowing that this was without question the perfect after dinner entertainment for this group.

Important things, I learnt;
• Never underestimate the importance of wireless and wine at an access management event
• Never call someone a geek until they self proclaim it
• There is more than one kind of zombie

The enjoyment in organising this event was only surpassed by attending it and meeting the community who work so hard in contributing to my other favourite federation.
Live long and shibbolise!