SteemCampUK - Saturday 7 April 2018 | Birmingham | 10.30-5.30pm

Yes, SteemCampUK is next Saturday. Organised by @lloyddavis, it takes place at the Impact Hub, and you can book your tickets through Eventbrite, the suggested cost is £10, although donations are welcome.

Source: Central ITV News I hope this won't be my experience next Saturday!

There's been a flurry of posts over the last week or two about SteemCampUK. Lloyd has been explaining the principles of an unconference (the way the event is organised) across several posts including Whoever comes is the right people and Wherever it happens is the right place. My favourites are Whenever it starts is the right time and when it's over, it's over because these allow for the natural flow of energy and ideas.

There's some other principles as well and the whole process is explained here. These simple principles (although they can be hard to get your head around if you are used to a more formal set-up) allow for a very free flowing experience with space for creativity, reflection and some quiet time, if and when you want some. I've heard some refreshments are involved, too.

Various Steemians have been posting about the event: @pennsif has a handy list of people who are coming, which was nice as some have already come by to say hello; @teamhumble keeps the commentary bubbling through his posts after his promo post and super .gif here, I love the way he keeps the energy going. I've just found this post from @redrica, a dedicated attender of events, in the UK and further afield, who will be travelling from London. She went to see @hodgetwins, I'm interested to see what she made of them!

Last night, I was catching up on posts and came across two by @cstrimel about higher education - one questioning the value of higher education and linking back to an earlier post about how higher education might be transformed by block chain technology - both the processes of learning and the economic model, where students earn while learning rather than incurring huge debts.

These ideas echo some of my own, which I wrote about in one of my earlier posts about why I was excited about SteemCampUK. It's about finding new ways of addressing old, seemingly intractable, problems like poverty and underemployment, or more recent and growing problems like social care, especially with increases in conditions like diabetes and dementia.

Diabetes Diagnoses Have More Than Doubled in 20 Years

Source: The Guardian, 27 February 2018

These conditions create a need for more complex, specialist care and more low level ongoing day to day care. Could the block chain help to transform the social care economy and tackle underemployment and poverty together with increased needs for social care in some of our communities?

Look forward to discussing these and many other ideas at SteemCampUK next week. It would be great to see you, but if you are unable to come this time, please think making a small donation to support the event - transfers to @steemcampuk.