Editor: What is SHINE?
Shine: SHINE is the ‘un’conference for social entrepreneurs. It’s an event dedicated to connecting, informing and inspiring social entrepreneurs and it’s heading to London’s Southbank for three day – this Friday 9th to Sunday 11th May at The Bargehouse, by OXO Tower.

Editor: Will it be different to dozens of other boring conferences?
Shine: Yes it will, we guarantee! First, there’s the price the price. No need to fork out loads of your hard-earned cash. SHINE costs only £20 per day and £45 for three days.

Secondly, it’s an ‘un’conference, which is basically the opposite of a traditional conference. No long speeches, no roving microphones, no falling asleep at the back. Instead, you get to contribute the content and attend sessions attended by your peers. We’ve gone for an open-source festival environment with a number of types of sessions, a staggering 76 so far. There are discussions on the future of Social Enterprise. Practical sessions on topics from law to marketing to finance to web project management. Workshops range from themes such as human values to climate change to innovation. There are even installations dedicated to connecting you to the people that can most help you grow.

If you do happened to get bored, or find a session less relevant than you thought, there’s a ‘rule of two feet’ – just leave the session at any time and check out something else.

Editor: Who do you hope will be there?
Shine: As many social entrepreneurs and social enterprises as possible at different stages in their business – from initial idea to established success story. We aim to enable you to learn from your peers. You’ve got an issue with how to grow to capacity, on fundraising or on branding? Well there should be someone at SHINE who’s two years down the line and can tell you how they did it. We’ll have a connections wall at the event to help you find that person.

Add to the mix government and big business – in an open source environment where you can talk to them rather than be talked at – and we think the possibilities would be very exciting. For example David Rossington, who is responsibly for the DCLG social Enterprise Unit, wants to hear your views about how the Government should be supporting the social enterprise sector. Plus participants will be able to pitch live for the chance to win £5000 from UnLtd. Not bad!

And we want to welcome anyone working in, thinking about or simply interested in social change!

Editor: Who do you not want to be there?
Shine: Anyone who wants to sit at the back all day! Well, you can if you want, but to get the most out of SHINE, get stuck in and participate at whatever level you feel comfortable. Desperate to talk about an issue that’s not in the schedule? There will be some open spaces available throughout the event, so start a session and see who’d like to join you!

Editor: What has been the hardest part in organising the event?
Shine: You’d think that an UnConference would be a doddle to organise because you’re handing contributions over to the audience. But it’s been a huge job gathering all the contributions and developing the schedule. You don’t just decide what you’re doing and set it in stone – new ideas keep on coming in right up to the day itself! Not to mention running several events at any one time throughout the venue. Despite the sweat, it’s been fantastic to produce an event this way, and we’ve been bowled over by all the contributions that have come in.

Editor: What will you do when it’s all over?
Shine: Sleep! Most importantly, we collectively need to translate the ideas, connections and information that comes out of SHINE into action, and so into success for the businesses and projects of all those who’ve come to the event. And SHINE is not a one-off event. It’s a long term proposition that aims to grow year on year.

All we must say now is to check out www.shineunconference.com to buy your tickets online for just £20 a day!

24 hours after you’ve bought your tickets you’ll get a login, and will be able to sign up to sessions on the schedule and see who else is going.

Look forward to seeing the i-genius community there!