It doesn’t look like much. It’s a small white board with some slap dash writing on it. Heck, it’s almost like chicken scratch in places, and the lines aren’t straight.
The board contains the presentations held during BarCampStL, BarCamp St. Louis. Notice the list isn’t formal, neat, and LUNCH is the biggest entry, but that’s how things work at a BarCamp.
BarCamps are about an unconference style versus the traditional way folks get together for conferences. Instead of elaborate planning and plotting up front, it’s about the dynamics of real people interacting spontaneously.
St. Louis’s first BarCamp went extremely well in part because of this informal style. It was cooked up by Ryan Keeter, Michael Austin, and yours truly had a hand. The planning consisted of finding a spot, getting a sponsor (thank you Network Solutions), and posting the date, time and place. Okay, someone had to work the deal with the City Museum, but that’s part of finding the place.
Real magic happened between the people who showed up and the venue. There were over a dozen of us that attended, not including the drop ins from the City Museum IT guy and our bartender, Tatyana. Each person brought their unique point of view and their backgrounds, but they also brought their hopes and visions about the future.
These individuals showed up and presented, listened, took notes. They learned, instructed, and discussed their plans. Bonding occurred not just over that, but over the food as well. (pizza, wings, salad, sodas, waters and a round of beers)
Enough about all of that though. I’d like to just mention one person I bonded with, Karen Goodman, aka @karenstl. Karen had some great questions about social networking in general, and specifically on Twitter. Luckily I was able to share some insight in those areas. In exchange, Karen gave me the grand tour of the City Museum. Here’s her collection of City Museum photos.
Everyone that attended was a rock star in their own right. I’ll be covering more of my experiences with those folks in upcoming posts, as well as some pictures of them and the City Museum. Look for more link love as well.
If you posted about BarCampStL, please link here and I’ll link back to you as well.
Please show our sponsor some love, Network Solutions.
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Tags: Barcamp, Barcampstl, City Museum, Missouri, Social Media, Social Networking, St. Louis, tech, unconference
