If you are new to TeachMeet, I recommend that you check out their wiki: http://teachmeet.pbworks.com. TeachMeet is like a conference, although the community calls is the unconference because of the important ways that it differs. TeachMeet conferences are setup by teachers for teachers (and librarians, admins, and tech integrators, etc…). They are always free to attend. This is vital. So many teachers never get to attend a conference because of the high cost involved. Hopefully, this will attract many to be a part of the community and, possibly, to give back to the community by sharing. Anyone can present at the conferences. Presentations would be 15 minutes (full), 7 minutes (micro), or 2 minutes (nano) long and teachers attending would be able to have a say in what is discussed. These unconferences are paid for by sponsors (Hint: if you want to be a sponsor, please contact me.)

Here are the rules for the conference – I paraphrase them from

http://teachmeet.pbworks.com/Rules

• Presentations
  • Full presentations are a max of 15 minutes
  • Micro-presentations are a max of 7 minutes
  • Nano-presentations are a max of 2 minutes
• No Powerpoints unless you can talk about each slide in less than 20 seconds
• Only talk about things you have actually used in your classroom.
• No selling/sales pitches during presentations (Vendor sponsors can have booths where teachers can approach them, not the other way around).

I also had some ideas of things that we could do

• Have teachers sign up to present or request presentation topics on a wiki page.
• Use Twitter for a projected backchannel with a dedicated hashtag, like #TMN10 (TeachMeet Nashville 2010).
• Project a WallWisher page in the refreshment room where teachers put their favorite idea.
• Have several sessions running concurrently.
• Have a varied selection of choices so that the teachers attending can all learn about something related to their interest level.

I have never undertaken conference planning the past. It both frightens and exhilarates me. I just spoke with the Nashville Public Library and I should be able to book their conference room and auditorium (together can handle close to 400 people) for April 1 and 2. Between that and refreshments, I believe that I am looking at a bill of clse to $1000, so I will definitely need sponsors. If you have any ideas or can be of any help at all (organizing, planning, presenting, and web design are even more important than sponsorships for me), please contact me or leave a comment.