Phil M0OFXJun 7, 2024

The thing I would most like to understand about #emfcamp is how the organisers and attendees have built such a good culture. I've volunteered for events half the size where the culture boils down to "nobody cares about anyone but themselves", and EMF is a breath of fresh air.

I'd love to understand it so it could hopefully be distilled into a guidebook and duplicated elsewhere.

Just more events where people feel safe to be themselves.

Edit: I don't mean just vol' culture, attendee culture too

Show threadGraham K
@philpem Something that struck me is that there seems to be a default assumption of competence - which begets a strong sense of being trusted to do (whatever).
Jun 7, 2024 at 6:56pmWeb
Show threadJonathan HoggJun 8, 2024

@gklyne @philpem think that assumption that you know what you are doing or can figure it out flows from the fact that *everyone* in orga is also a volunteer and thus also working it out as they go along!

I think that's the real secret of EMF and I heard someone at the festival describe it as "porous”: the membrane between attendee and organiser/speaker/artist is permeable and people flow backwards and forwards through it.

Show threadGraham KJun 8, 2024
@jonathanhogg @philpem Yes, very much this, I think. (I’m reminded in this of how the IETF operates.)
Show threadPhil M0OFXJun 8, 2024
@jonathanhogg @gklyne That's definitely another aspect - people move from attendee to orga and back, and that's just fine. In other spheres I've volunteered in, if someone moves from orga to attendee there's an automatic assumption they must have done something wrong. Which leads to people burning out but occupying seats because people don't want to see their friends shunned.
Porous do-ocracy is probably a pretty good description.
Show threadPhil M0OFXJun 8, 2024
@jonathanhogg @gklyne At the same time it feels weird (as a speaker) to be mentioned in the same breath as "organisers" and "artists". I'm just a guy who has a nerdy hobby and stood up on stage because *maybe* someone else has the same hobby and thinks they're the only one too.
Maybe I get to meet someone I can nerd out with, maybe we both get some connection out of it. For me that's what it's all about, being (or even just feeling) alone sucks.
Show threadJonathan HoggJun 8, 2024
@philpem @gklyne It’s all sharing though: speaking or making, you’re exposing a part of yourself and giving something to the community
Show threadPhil M0OFXJun 8, 2024
@gklyne You're definitely onto something there, there's definitely a trust thing. At least for me there's a subconscious "I know what it's like when someone breaks your trust and I don't want to be that guy for them".