After four years the Nordocs Unconference is returning to the North Coast.This year the Unconference will be held on 13 May at Southern Cross University.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, Unconferences allow communities of interest to come together and discuss matters that are of important to them. The focus is on community and participation and floor is open to any who wishes to speak. The presentations may be on short lived matters or minor issues of interest to the community. In the medical context such topics may not normally attract the attention of larger organisations like Primary Health Networks or Local Hospital Districts.
The format for the day is two concurrent streams with each stream comprised of 9 individual slots each lasting 30 minutes. Presentations can vary from a TED Talk style presentation lasting 15 to 20 minutes followed by a discussion for 10 to 5 minutes, to the opposite where a brief outline of a problem can be followed by a 20 minute group discussion. However, all talks finish after 25 minutes to allow time for the next presenter to set up and for participants to change rooms.
If you have an itch to scratch the Unconference format is your venue. NorDocs aims to encourage communication and collaboration and while no topic is off limits, the event is the ideal platform for discussion of local medical issues.
As Kaliya Young notes in her Unconferencing - how to prepare to attend an unconference, "it's OK if only two people turn up to your talk since you have found the two people who are interested in your topic".
The final session of the day is reserved for lightning talks. Presenters have just four minutes to get their message across and session facilitators are traditionally ruthless. It can be a fun one to finish a conference.
The event is open to all specialists, residents and GPs on the North Coast. Presentations are also welcome from others who are interested in engaging with the North Coast medical community.
Registration is now open through Eventbrite. You can also register your talk through the Eventbrite portal or email
The program will be in evolution until just before the conference starts but the current version can be found on line.
See you there!
