Roland Tanglao's Weblog

See you at BarCamp!

FROM BarCamp / BarCampVancouver2007Attendees:

QUOTE

Important Update Thursday, August 16th 2007

At the last BarCamp Vancouver organizers meeting, we counted our budget, checked Workspace's fire regulations, mixed our metaphors, crossed our ayes and dotted our teas.

The good news is that we can fit everyone for Saturday - including people who were on the waiting list as of 17:00 PDT on Thursday, August 16th.

If Workspace gets too full, then we can borrow some space from Bryght (who has their office right next to Workspace)

Note that we still only have 120 T-shirts and might run out of food (in which case, we will run out to get more.)

END QUOTE

BarCampers: see you at The Alibi Room 6:30p.m. and then the PhotoWalk at 11p.m. on Friday August 17th and PhotoCamp at BarCamp Vancouver on Saturday August 18th

FROM PhotoWalk and PhotoCamp @ BarCamp Vancouver | Bryght:

QUOTE

This weekend is BarCamp Vancouver and I'll be heading up a PhotoWalk on Friday night and a PhotoCamp on Saturday.

Here's some shots from last years late night photowalk at BarCamp.

If you're interested in photography, cameras, or just want to take a walk around east Van with us... it would be great to see lots of you out there. Here's the details. Get in touch with me if you have any questions. :)

PhotoWalk
- signup on FaceBook
- meet at WorkSpace
- 11pm, Friday August 17th

PhotoCamp
- signup on the Wiki
- @ Workspace during BarCamp Vancouver
- TBD, Saturday August 18th

END QUOTE

I didn't attend the first BarCamp in Palo Alto in 2005. But being a friend of Chris Messina, Andy Smith and a lover of participatory things, BarCamp seemed like a great idea. Thus in October 2005 when Boris suggested that I help with BarCamp Amsterdam, one of the first BarCamps after the original and the first in Europe, I didn't hesitate to help out.

The rest is history. We had a great BarCamp in Amsterdam. Mies (and a friend whose name escapes me) and I had lots of fun buying a whole taxi full of groceries with sponsorship money from Chris Pirillo (thanks Chris!!!) and the other sponsors and doing the customs dance to get the tshirts designed by Eris Stassi and Chris Messina , Mies found us space at Mediamatic; Wilhelm of Mediamatic kicked in killer espresso and beer, Boris cooked breakfast and supper and we all enjoyed a fun Indian late night meal and met many European Open Source and other hackers. Not to mention learning lots at both the sessions and in the hallway and next to the espresso machine.

BarCamp Vancouver 2006 took place in August 2006 thanks to the incredible Crystal Williams (come back to Vancouver!) who went above and beyond the call of volunteer-dom and of course the rest of the great organizers (Darren, Kris, Robert et al and thanks to WorkSpace for donating the venue!). And it was magic too. Nothing like great people and great learning in a conference organized together in our own city!

BarCamp Vancouver 2007 (thanks to the other 2007 organizers: Zak, Kris, Robert, Megan, Jordan, Ianiv, Aaron) will happen in 2007 on Friday August 17 and Saturday August 18 (just like BarCamp Block back where it all began in Palo Alto at Socialtext) like the hundreds of other BarCamps (shout out to BarCamp Shanghai and Beijing which will be held soon afterwards with Kris and Robert being two of the organizers). It's gonna be a blast and I look forward to attending and organizing many more BarCamps (and maybe someday I'll make it to one of those BarCamps in China!).

Shamelessly quoting the entire post from fellow BarCamp Vancouver 2007 organizer, Jordan Behan. Go BarCampers go! Present! Lead a session (no experience required, just knowledge and passsion, great way to gel some ideas for sessions at "real" conferences, my argument would be that BarCamp is a lot "realer" than most conferences)! Get your active participation hat on! See you Friday at The Alibi Room and Saturday at 8:30a.m. ish at WorkSpace!

QUOTE

Barcamp Vancouver, the 2007 edition is fast approaching, so get ready to get your Barcamp on. Unless of course you’re not already signed up, because the pattern is full, Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.

This year’s Vancouver event is already well over-booked, with a waiting list of over 70 people! So this post is more for the folks who are already signed up to attend.

Those of you not in Vancouver are encouraged to search Barcamp.org for your local event, or find details at that same site about how you can organize and host your own. Take a cue from the likes of Kris Krug and Robert Scales, Vancouver’s own adopted sons, who are teaming up to plan Barcamp Shanghai and Barcamp Beijing. Leave it to them to return to the land of the Great Wall with their free-spirited, open-sourcedness to host an unconference in a place where free speech doesn’t even exist.

Kris also wants to remind folks that he’ll once again be hosting Photocamp at the Vancouver event, so bring yer cameras.

What is Barcamp, You Ask?

For a comprehensive “What is BarCamp” lesson, visit the BarCamp.org rules page, or the BarCamp wikipedia entry. In short:

BarCamp is an ad-hoc unconference born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from attendees. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join.

When you come, be prepared to share with Barcampers.
When you leave, be prepared to share it with the world.

After last year’s event, I was so amazed at the things I learned and the people I met that I wanted to help out anywhere I could this year. So I joined (invited myself onto) the organizing committee, and thus I feel it is my duty to share a bit of Barcamp How-to.

So here are some details and a bit of “what’s-what” for the local gang, as stolen from James’ info email that went out this morning:

A Barcamp Vancouver Hotlist

• If you can’t make it, and you’re on the list, please give up your spot. Spread the word about this too, there’s still tons of cool folks waiting to be among the lucky few. If you can’t come, let somebody know and have yourself replaced on the wiki.
• T-shirts are always the hottest topic, and this year will be no exception. They are fuschia in color (I’m not making this up), and as last year will going for a suggested donation of $20 at the door.
• If you’re ready, go to the wiki and look for the “Topics” headline, and share a few words about your presentation. The more you share now, the better chance of being selected on the day, and likely a better turnout as well.
• Bring your tools: cameras, laptops, mobile devices and any other cool gadgetry as you deem fit. And while you’re at it, bring an open mind, and your best ideas. There is always something to be learned, and plenty to be blogged as well.

And Lastly, A Schedule of Events:

Friday, August 17: food and drink at the Alibi Room

• Appetizers all evening
• Drinks starting at 6:30 pm
• We’re in the private area downstairs
• The Alibi Room, 157 Alexander Street @ Main (map)
• Sleepover at Workspace, 21 Water Street, Suite 400

Saturday, August 18: conference day all day

• Start at 8:30 AM with day organization
• Pastries and coffees available
• Pizza lunch to be delivered at noonish (special diet grub is also available. Yes, your special diet. Zak thinks he has them all covered)
• Workspace, Suite 400 - 21 Water Street (map)
• End at 5:30 PM

If you have any questions that aren’t answered here, feel free to leave it in a comment below, or ask an organizer:

* KrisKrug - www.kriskrug.com
* RolandTanglao - www.rolandtanglao.com
* RobertScales - www.robertscales.com
* ZakGreant - www.zak.greant.com
* JamesSherrett - www.adhack.com
* IanivSchweber - www.blogaholics.ca
* MeganCole - www.megancole.org
* JordanBehan - www.telltenfriends.com
* AaronGladders - www.2paths.com

I for one am eagerly looking forward to it. If you happen to bump into me this weekend, please say hello. Whether we’ve already been acquainted or if we’ve never had the pleasure of meeting, I’m always in the mood to say hi and have a conversation. See you then!

END QUOTE

I'd love to do a 6-8 hour PhotoCamp (thinking out loud program: eat, photowalk, a few sessions, photowalk, a session or 2 and then go home?)! In the 1 hour PhotoCamp session at BarCamp, I learned a lot! Kris you in? Anybody else in ? Love to have VanDigiCam (and other Vancouver digital photography groups) co-organize this!

Thanks to Crystal (again!)

Thanks to Ianiv for settng up the WiFi and troubleshooting it and attending to lots of other details.

Thanks to Kris for taking care of the BBQ and Bryght space at 1 Alexander!

Thanks to Zak for the incredible dips and pizza!

Thanks to Kerry Anne for the Jones Soda connection. It was great and endless!

Thanks to James for the beer.

Thanks to Darren for being my schedule partner in crime!

Thanks to the other BarCamp Organizers (the details of the many cool things they did escape me now)! Let's do this again!

On behalf of the rest of the organizers of BarCamp Vancouver, I'd like to extend our eternal gratitude to Crystal! Without her Barcamp Vancouver would not have happened! Not only did she design and get the T shirts, she personally attended to the very many details that were required before during and after the event! Crystal rocks!

Some notes while still fresh (apologies to those who I forget to blog about)

• What Boris said (especially about Workspace, Identity, and the great Vancouver tech community!)
• Where were the local Vancouver videobloggers? I'll try to do more outreach next time to get 'em in?
• I want more mobile sessions! Ah well, ok, I'll do one myself next time.
• AdHack looks cool (user generated positive and negative ads that are also rated by the community!). Random ad related sidenote: Can somebody create localized RSS feeds of ads for things I want to buy and/or track like Canon Digital SLRs, lenses, point and shoot cameras with high ISOs like the Fuji F30 and great controls like the Casio ones?
• Scott Laird is cool and so is his Nokia E61. If it had a camera and its software bugs were fixed, it would be the ideal mobile all in one gadget for me!
• My videos' (e.g. the Sutori session) sound quality from the Canon Elura still sucks! I guess I need to bite the bullet and buy a real microphone.
• Bryan Zug is cool and so are Bryan's BarCamp Vancouver videos. It's only a matter of time before somebody gets Drupal running on EC2 and storing videos on S3. Your own personal Drupal YouTube on S3 and EC2 will be available real soon now. Go LazyWeb!

BarCamp Vancouver opening Video shot by Bryan Zug using JVC and iMovie stored on S3

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BarCamp Vancouver is 2 days away and it's gonna be a blast! And, thanks to our sponsors it's dead cheap! For a suggested donation of $20, you get 24 hours of fun including meals and a Tshirt (while supplies last)!

Check out our Sponsors (without them the suggested donation would be much much higher and probably unaffordable for many!):

• Uniserve
• Business Objects
• Belkin
• Nitobi
• Elastic Path Software
• Bryght
• Raincity Studios
• EQO Communications
• WorkSpace
• Capulet Communications
• Midnight Kitchen
• AdHack
• Sxip
• Jones Sodas
• T-shirt.ca
• Social Signal