Why Interesting works

I'm trying to work out what else to do with Interesting. It feels like a good thing, a time and a place that people enjoy and appreciate and I was wondering if there was something we could do to make it more regular and open to more people.

I thought I'd start by thinking about what I think makes it work. Here you go:

Short talks about Interesting things

I think the format really helps.

10 minutes is a length the speakers have to think about. They can't ramble, they have to focus, it makes them think about it properly. Not just chuck some slides together and show up. And the audience realises that they're 'never more than 10 minutes from something else'. They pay attention because they know they'll get a break in a minute or two.

It's about something interesting to you, but it's not about you. So people don't really talk about themselves, but they do reveal things, and that's much more interesting.

Not your normal conference

There's a lot that takes you out of your normal expectations. The lack of selling, the fact you probably don't know who's going to be talking, the singing, the bones and atmosphere of the Conway Hall, the lots-of-different-tribes-colliding make-up of the crowd.

In service of the speakers

But, actually, I think the main thing is that we try as hard as possible to make it as easy as possible for the speakers.

They can use whatever software/format/etc they want (which means there's always some faffing with laptops, but no one minds about that)

• They don't have to send anything in advance
• They don't have to rehearse (though they can if they want to)
• They can change their mind at the last minute
• They can just come and watch and do it next year instead
• They won't be filmed
• The crowd will love them, whatever happens

I think that means we get a wider, more diverse, more interesting set of speakers. People who don't normally do this kind of thing. And that makes it a better 'show'.