[clug] Re: reviving BarCampCanberra [inc. proposal]

Fri Feb 8 02:20:12 GMT 2008

On Wed, 2008-02-06 at 16:06 +1100, Nathanael Boehm wrote:
> Thanks Bob, we'll certainly look into amending the BarCamp information on 
> wikipedia to maximise the marketability of this thing!
> 
> Here's a pic of a BarCamp I attended in Sydney last year:
> 
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/purecaffeine/1226101959/
> 
> Not rowdy or anarchic at all! The schedule for presentations is where the 
> chaos happens - not like chairs are being thrown around the room!

*Nod*. I was up there for that and it was brilliant. Steven, Bob, could
you still look into this and give us a definite yes or no? I don't want
to seem pushy, but the venue is really the only thing that is preventing
this from going ahead. :)

I've added an edited version of the proposal we sent out last year
below:

---
BarCampCanberra Proposal

BarCampCanberra is a BarCamp venue, part of an international network
of 'un-conferences'[1] -- open, participatory events where conference
content is generated and decided by those who attend. BarCamps focus
on the provision and use of web technologies, such as web
applications, semantics and standards -- all commonly having an open
source touch (as many of these existing technologies are open source).
All participants are invited to present.

BarCamp presentations work on an open time-slot system - a set of
15-minute slots are available on a piece of butcher's paper, and
participants nominate a time and topic - generally whatever they're
interested in around web technologies. Audience members select
presentations they want to attend. This system worked extremely well
for BarCampSydney least year at UTC, Sydney.

Presentation delivery method is also decided by attendee presenters.
Formal presentations, open discussion sessions, panel discussions,
workshops, interactive demonstrations and more are all perfect methods
of sharing knowledge and gathering new ideas.

We, the organisers (sometimes referred to as 'dis-organisers') help
provide the means to these discussions and sharing of ideas. We aim to
hold a BarCamp event in Canberra to bring together the large semantics
and web-standards community we have here in Canberra, open source and
general web-technology enthusiasts and of course all students
interested in any of these topics from around Canberra, particularly
those from the ANU.

To hold this event we request the following:
- two rooms for two session streams to allow all participants a chance
to present
- Seating, access to power sockets and toilets

Optionally:
- a data projector in each room
- Internet access would also be greatly appreciated

All other needs will be organised and provided by us (stationary,
power boards, event t-shirts etc).

We are planning on holding BarCampCanberra within the first quarter of
this year, preferably on a weekend from 10:00 until 17:30 in the
afternoon. While numbers are somewhat fluid, we're looking at a maximum
audience of 80 people (ideally around 40, to allow all attendees to
present as individuals or as part of a panel).

If you require any further details, please do not hesitate to contact
the (dis)organisers:
- Pascal Klein, email klepas at klepas.org, phone 0404 223 699
- Steve Collins, email trib at acidlabs.org
- Andrew Boyd, email facibus at gmail.com, phone 0413 048 542

Best regards,
Pascal Klein, Steve Collins and Andrew Boyd

[1]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconference and http://barcamp.org

> That was held at the UTS campus in Ultimato - it's where I believe all 
> BarCamps up there are held, as well as the last couple of Web Essentials and 
> Web Directions conferences.
> 
> It's great that Melbourne has managed to secure an office venue for their 
> BarCamp events - and we certainly haven't discounted the option of leasing 
> an office space for this, but considering the sort of audience we'd like to 
> attract to this event and taking into consideration costs, access, venue 
> size etc the ANU is at the moment our preferred and leading option.
> 
> If there's anything we can do to ease your mind about the manageability of a 
> BarCamp, please let us know.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Nathanael Boehm
> web ui/ux designer & developer
> nat at purecaffeine.com
> canberra, australia
> 0409 288 464
> 
> Free Canberra Wireless:
> http://freecanberrawireless.net
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Robert Edwards" <bob at cs.anu.edu.au>
> To: "Stephen Collins" <trib at acidlabs.org>
> Cc: "Andrew Boyd" <facibus at gmail.com>; "Andrew Boyd" <ABoyd at smsmt.com>; 
> "Steven Hanley" <sjh at svana.org>; <linux at lists.samba.org>; "Nathanael Boehm" 
> <snoop at purecaffeine.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 3:48 PM
> Subject: Re: [clug] Re: reviving BarCampCanberra
> 
> 
> >
> > I guess I should comment on this thread. If we were to have the BarCamp
> > here at the CSIT Building at ANU, I would be largely responsible for it.
> > I have never been to a BarCamp, but looking it up on Wikipedia (source
> > of all truth...) I see words like anarchic etc. and I am not sure that
> > I really want to be responsible for something like that (some here are
> > sure to think that I am now getting hysterical or whatever).
> >
> > I notice that the Melbourne BarCamp (in a couple of weeks) is not being
> > held on a Uni. campus (I think), but in an office building in the CBD.
> >
> > I have also had some discussion with some academics here. None of them
> > have ever heard of BarCamp, but one of them has helped establish a local
> > dorkbot chapter here in Canberra recently (www.dorkbot.org - "people
> > doing strange things with electricity"). Probably not the same as
> > BarCamp, but meets monthly (apparently) and is all about technology
> > and art and stuff like that. Sounds kinda interesting to me!
> >
> > Anyway, that's my $0.02 worth. If a BarCamp is organised in Canberra,
> > at a time/date that I can make, I will endeavour to get along and get
> > a better feel for what it is all about.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Bob Edwards.
> >
> > Stephen Collins wrote:
> >> All
> >>
> >> On Feb 3, 2008 3:13 PM, Andrew Boyd <facibus at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> My feeling is that it will fail again this year because of the
> >>> diversity of opinion and the multiple reasons why some location won't
> >>> work for everybody - I think that we can probably guess that no
> >>> location will work for everybody, and my suggestion last year that we
> >>> run with a location that at least worked for some people was not
> >>> popular. I still maintain that half a BarCamp would be better than
> >>> none, and that we can build on even a small success.
> >>
> >> I'm siding with Andrew here - 100%. We need to choose a good enough
> >> venue with access to public transport for those who need it. UTS in
> >> Sydney can't be perfect for everyone, but they still get there. The
> >> "not suitable for me" attitude seems to be a Canberra thing.
> >>
> >> It will be far better that we have a BarCamp of some description
> >> rather than none. I'm more than a little disappointed by the lack of
> >> interest on the part of the ANU - I would have thought that BarCamp
> >> would be the ideal point of exposure for some of the clever stuff
> >> their students are working on, would expose commercialisation
> >> opportunities (we'd more than likely have some angel and VC types
> >> along), as well as earning them significant kudos in the local tech
> >> community.
> >>
> >> Steve
> > 
> 
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