Last Friday, dozens of women gathered at the San Francisco offices of Seyfarth Shaw for the first Shape the Law unconference. No, no. You didn’t misread, and that isn’t a typo. Popular in the technology world, an unconference transfers control of the proceedings from conference organizer to attendees. There is no set agenda when you arrive; you contribute to its creation. It may sound strange, perhaps chaotic, as it’s easy to picture a lecture hall with everyone shouting ideas as one or two people squiggle unintelligibly on blackboards. The Shape the Law organizers — Laura Maechtlen, Mary Redzic, Alexandra Devendra and Jeena Cho — did their homework to avoid such calamity, and the result was an afternoon of discussion, connection and community.
Originally published May 4, 2016Sign up for our free newsletter.