For the third year in a row, WTS Philadelphia partnered with YPT Philadelphia and Drexel University’s Lindy Institute to organize Transportation Camp Philadelphia, an unconference conference, on Saturday, April 25. COVID-19 forced planners to rethink business as usual – and TransportationCamp PHL went virtual this round – the first in the network (similar camps are held in cities across the country) to attempt this alternative approach.

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Organizers spent tons of time devising ways to keep the experience as close to the in-person event as possible.

Much like how one would navigate the in-person conference (having coffee at a table, going to a room for each session, having lunch at a table with others, etc.), attendees of TCVirtual did the same…only the rooms and tables were actually five distinct virtual video conference forums.

The team used the FreeConferenceCall platform and sent out comprehensive instructions on how to test it with tips on how to optimize participation.

As in prior years, session topics were proposed, facilitated, and led by conference attendees. Nothing is ever decided in advance by the planning committee! Folks were encouraged to submit a brief form with a topic and session type (lecture, discussion, etc.), and then those were posted to the conference board. The board was an amazingly well-organized and well-designed grid shared in Google Sheets as a ‘live’ document…aka the Live Board of Session Topics.  

Attendees navigated between sessions by clicking on the links to the virtual sponsored rooms.  

Sessions were 45-minutes long, with ample networking during lunch, general introductions, and morning coffee.  

Instead of the famous Rule of Two Feet, by which attendees are encouraged to wander in an out of sessions – for a taste or a better fit – the virtual conference employed the Rule of Two CLICKS.  

The day ended mid-afternoon. While it was different from its predecessors, it was awesome to have so many transportation thinkers and doers come together for discourse, debate, and decision-making. 

Special thanks to WTS Philadelphia’s Cory Wyffels (WSP) for her dedication to this cause on behalf of our chapter.