Social Enterprise Unconference 2019

Build a strong network of fellow do-ers and co-create impact

PledgeMe has teamed up with Thankyou Payroll to deliver Aotearoa New Zealand’s first unconference focussed on social enterprise. The event , which will run 15–17 February 2019, was created to support growing and scaling social enterprises to help each other and build a network for them to grow their impact together. (Already know you want to join us and are just here for the registration of interest link? Click here. We’ve sent out our initial batch of invitations but there are still a few seats left so please get in touch if you’d like to attend!)

We know how tiring it is to balance social impact and financial value creation, so we think by learning from each other, we can make this journey a little less lonely and little bit easier.

What is an Unconference? It’s a weekend long residential event that’s more about having awesome people in the room rather than watching speakers on a stage. The agenda is set on the first night by the attendees, where you decide what you want to share and discuss over the weekend, and the event is all about you meeting, connecting, sharing, and learning. We are offering three ticket levels:

• Corporate ($500)
• Entrepreneur ($300)
• Scholarship ($100 — our goal is to offer 20% of our tickets at this level so if a scholarship would help you attend, please ask. We want you there!)

The Social Enterprise Unconference 2019 will be for the people behind social enterprises that have been trading for a few years that want support to take their business to the next level. Off the back of a busy year for everyone, we are excited to get a group together to discuss what’s next for the sector, learn from each other, and hopefully realise we’re not in this alone.

PledgeMe and Thankyou Payroll have combined 15 years experience trading as social enterprises and both teams are eager to see how the sector can grow collaboratively. They chose the unconference format to provide open, inclusive, and engaging dialogue around what the people in the sector need and what matters most to them. No set programme. No keynote speakers. Just 100 people brainstorming, learning, and connecting.

This will be the sixth unconference Anna from PledgeMe has helped support, and the second Catarina from Thankyou Payroll has run, so they know the format well. Both women helped run Women Who Get Sh*t Done, and Anna co-instigated Crowd Round in Australia, and attended multiple Kiwifoos in NZ. The tenants of Kiwifoo are true for this event as well, it will be for:

1. Makers not breakers
2. Doers not (just) talkers
3. Pragmatic optimists

“I’m excited to see what comes of this weekend. I’m obviously a fan of it having run an unconference before. The most powerful outcome for me is the support network of values aligned people and having people to call on when you need help,” says Anna Guenther.

So what does the sector need? What does impact look like for us? What would it take to get to the next level? This is what this weekend is all about. If you are interested in discussing these challenges, sign up and save the date: February 15–17, 2019.

The Social Enterprise Unconference 2019 will be held at the Matau Marae in Levin. We’re aiming to have a diverse group of attendees that represent the broad spectrum of social enterprise in Aotearoa New Zealand. Childcare will be available during the event free of charge, and we are aiming to provide scholarships for 20% of attendees to ensure cost is not a barrier to attending. We believe scholarship tickets will cost $100 (for food, accomodation and the ticket), stay-up tickets will be $300, and corporate tickets $500.

Accessibility information for Matau Marae can be found here. The Code of Conduct for the Social Enterprise Unconference 2019 can be found here.

// This piece was written by Catarina Gutierrez, Digital Marketing Manager at Thankyou Payroll.