On Saturday, we held the first in a series of unconferences on The Future of Careers in Scholarship at The Democracy Center in Cambrdige, MA. It was a beautiful day, we had a great turnout, and the event was a fantastic success. In the coming days, we will be assembling a summary of the various discussions that took place in order to continue that conversation and expand it to an even broader community. So, keep an eye on this space for updates about this event and future events — maybe in your area!
In the meantime, we wanted to thank the various people who contributed to making the unconference a success.
First, and most importantly, we want to thank the participants. The success of an event in an unconference format depends on the energy and good-faith efforts of the attendees, who set the agenda and generate the content. Everyone who came prepared to both talk and listen, and the results were fantastic.
Second, we want to thank the three seed speakers, who started us off by throwing some ideas out to the larger group: Sonia Hall, Jessica Ehinger, and Raquell Holmes. All three were interesting, and, just as importantly, fun.
Third, we want to thank the Democracy Center for use of a great space in a perfect location.
Finally, we want to thank the sponsors, whose support allowed us to keep the event affordable:
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (http://www.kauffman.org)is a leader in the promotion and understanding of entrepreneurship. They are currently seeking a Research and Policy Director to lead an interdisciplinary research program focused on understanding the conditions that best support entrepreneurs and the policies that can foster those conditions. For more information, visit http://www.kauffman.org/who-we-are/careers-at-the-kauffman-foundation/research-and-policy-director.
The Society of Professional Consultants (http://www.spconsultants.org) is an organization that helps individuals establish themselves as independent consultants and helps established consultants to maintain successful careers. They are also offering a free 60-day trial membership to attendees of the unconference.
Ronin Institute Research Scholars Gordon Webster and Alex Lancaster are Partners at the consulting firm Amber Biology (http://www.amberbiology.com), working at the intersection of biology and computer science. Their new book is Python for the Life Sciences.
Ronin Institute Research Scholar Anne Thessen is the principal of The Data Detektiv (http://datadetektiv.com), which specializes in custom data analysis and inference in the biological and geophysical domains.
Research Scholar and Board Member Steven Orzack is the founder of the Fresh Pond Research Institute (http://freshpond.org), which served as one of the inspirational models for the Ronin Institute.
This post is a perspective of the author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Ronin Institute.
