The most important task of the organizers is to curate a phenomenal group of people. 80% of success is doing this. 20% is hitting the remaining cultural notes. Curating a phenomenal group: - [Rely entirely on chains of warm introductions](https://jasonbenn.notion.site/9-The-Neighborhood-s-First-Unconference-a2ebb052e5564aa58df2161a2b1389fd?pvs=4#3d6116b3d60a4e72870e841ab3c8e25f). We use the rule of thumb, "Do you want to be more like this person in some way?" It's very helpful to have an event that's compelling enough to be self-recommending, where it feels like you're doing invitees a favor by asking them to invite friends, rather than asking them for a favor. - Before asking them to recommend someone, make attendees aware of [any diversity goals where you're falling short](https://coda.io/d/Califlorence-curation-process_dO1l5UMPCzf/How-we-curate-the-group_suAsa#_luoGm). In this way, the group's demographic diversity, balance of job functions, and mix of skillsets becomes self-correcting. Because of these practices, we consistently hit most or all of our diversity goals, and folks speak highly of the quality of participants. As for cultural notes that I try to hit with each weekend: 1. **Know the basic facts about each other**. Not knowing basic facts about someone (name, what they do, what they like) is obviously distancing. I maintain a CRM with short bios and find lots of opportunities to share this information: in meal matchmaking emails, in the meal matchmaking manual request page, on the nametags we distribute, etc. I also ask people for a few conversation topics or keywords to add to their nametags. 2. **A setting that encourages authenticity**. Authenticity means you don't feel the need to signal your impressiveness because you feel confident that you deserve to be there. I emphasize that everyone was recommended by someone else, and at the opening dinner I'll either ask everyone to turn to a few people next to them and take turns telling 4 Minute Life Stories or I'll bring a few especially impressive folks up for a panel during which they tell stories about a time they made a mistake. The goal is for everyoen to realize that everyone else is just a regular human too. For young people, who are especially likely to feel the imposter syndrome, the realization that folks they might have pedestalized are just regular humans is mind-blowing and agency-expanding. 3. **Strong mutual respect**. This is actually one of the most important predictors of success in romantic relationships, too. Unconferences are fantastic at generating this. It's because everyone gets a chance to shine by showcasing something they're passionate about. By the end of a long weekend, you feel like you're part of a special group and everyone is just buzzing with conversations they want to have. A great event will involve a majority of the attendees stepping up to host a talk. 4. **Have fun**. Duh. Throw a party or a happy hour, invite a magician, do a silly icebreaker, have a pool party, organize a Sunday Funday and go on a hike or a float down the Russian River or something. Smart conversations can be fun, but if you can get people enjoying *dumb* conversations together too, then that's a recipe for friendship. 6. **A reason to believe that you'll meet again**. If you believe that your lives are intertwined, then you have an incentive to actually develop a relationship. In our case, we create a coliving house that we hope will be a Schelling point for the unconference community for many years. We'll also host reunions conferences, smaller events, dinner parties, etc. Takeaways from past unconferences: - [March 2023: Califlorence Climate](https://jasonbenn.notion.site/Califlorence-Climate-reflections-and-takeaways-96549f1e1c45424cac2b6ec1ac4026ab?pvs=4). - [June 2023: Califlorence: Aligned AGI](https://jasonbenn.com/community/10-the-unconference-to-community-pipeline). - [July 2023: the Unconference Toolbox](https://devonzuegel.com/post/the-unconference-toolbox), coauthored with Devon Zuegel. - [September 2023: the Village Retreat](https://jasonbenn.com/community/11-village-treehouse-cohousing). - [March 2024: HammingBio](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ij5mlUzRTo6kis2k2NQRU-KTkadYsjhHJFKyZSM8r2w/edit).