Two very common questions asked by people who have never heard of Barcamps. Fortunately, both are fairly easy to answer.
The barcamp.org website says a Barcamp is
an ad-hoc gathering 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 participants who are the main actors of the event.
while the Wikipedia entry describes one as
an international network of user generated conferences – open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants.
What does all that mean?
Simple.
Invite a whole bunch of people (which includes you) to meet, and tell each of them that everybody else is there to learn what he/she knows.
Who is it for?
Well, that’s an even easier question to answer.
It’s for you.
Ok, so what kind of topics will there be?
Excellent question. There will be topics on whatever people (you) want to talk about.
Barcamps, because of its origins, are often tech related but by no means are restricted to that. Considering the wide variety of talents and interests in the Charleston area (particularly in the arts), there’s a good probability that BarcampCHS will have a broad range of topics. We’re looking for talks, presentations, workshops, demonstrations on pretty much anything you want to do.
So, if you want to give a workshop on belly dancing, great! Sign up and propose a Belly Dancing 101 workshop, or even a series of workshops! Want to learn how to knit? Suggest it as a topic you’d like to see and see if someone picks it up. Or even better, find a friend who knits and have them sign up to lead a session! Just got a fancy new DSLR camera and have no idea what to do with it? Suggest a Photography 101 session. Want to try out that new fangled Linux operating system? Want to give a session on blogging or offer a social media board certification course? Pottery? Advanced systems administration?
Ruby/Python/PHP/Perl/Haskell/Lisp/(Obj)C(++|#)? How to run a small business? Glass blowing? Blacksmithing? Sign it up!
Hopefully you’re starting to get the picture now.
If you want to give a talk or demonstration on something, you’ll be able to post it on the BarcampCHS website (coming soon). You can also just show up the day of BarcamCHS and write down your presentation topic on the scheduling grid.
If there’s a particular topic or item you want to know more about, you’ll be able to suggest it and maybe someone will step up and give a talk or demo on it.
BarcampCHS will be completely free to attend. Just bring yourself and whatever you might need to put on your talk/demo. Come prepared to have a good time, learn something knew and show other people something new (to them). Register now!
We’re also looking for sponsors. If you’re interested in sponsoring BarcampCHS or know someone who might be interested in a sponsorship opportunity, contact us!
