OuiShare Fest 2016
How we ended up joining the most inspiring movement you’ve never heard of
A couple of years ago, we joined Food Assembly. Our local branch, in Hackney Downs, was just five minutes from home. The combination of fresh local produce, meeting producers, bonding with our neighbours and having an excuse to stop by one of our favourite coffee shops was irresistible. It soon became part of our weekly routine.
When OuiShare co-organised a screening of A Quest for Meaning at our assembly, we went along out of curiosity. We got chatting to Elena Giroli, one of OuiShare’s London connectors: before we knew it, we had joined the collective and bought tickets to OuiShare Fest without really knowing what we were signing up for!
We had no idea what to expect when we arrived at Cabaret Sauvage. Our Parisian Airbnb hosts went last year, and loved it. As a general rule, we find the more you pay for a conference, the worse it is — full of sales pitches and awkward, frantic networking. The events we’ve always enjoyed most are community run and self-organised: Wikimania, BarCamp, and other participatory meetups. Perhaps the format is as important as the subject matter?
Right from the start, we were impressed by how well organized the event was: excellent food, minimal queueing, and an admirable commitment to zero waste. The atmosphere was vibrant, and attendees were open and thoughtful. We did encounter some gentle shamanic chanting on the fringes, but nothing too Wicker Man! Above all, the calibre of speakers and quality of debate really impressed.
We’re going to look back over three days of learning, and recap three provocative topics:
As an introduction to the emerging collaborative movement, OuiShare Fest is absolutely unmissable: primer, community and platform in one welcoming package. Already looking forward to next year!
Startuple is François Hoehl and Sinead Doyle. Find out more at startuple.works
