Should we have a BarCamp Cleveland?

[Heidi Cool]

All, While Cleveland does have several tech style events, my friend Jeremy (a programmer) recently mentioned that we've not had a Cleveland Bar Camp and was wondering if it would be worth organizing one. To that end he asked me if I'd take the pulse of Cleveland SMC, to see if there was one, would it be something that many of you might participate in.

Basically a bar camp is like an unconference in which attendees are also presenters. The program is made up on the fly over the day and people present on topics they know or lead discussions. They're rather flexible so the participants really drive what the event should be. It could be built around a theme like WebDev, social media or whatever.

It could be a short event of just a few hours, or it could be something slightly more formal such as PodCamp Pittsburgh which was a weekend event. From what I gather podcamps are barcamps with a focus on new media, i.e. the stuff we're always talking about. Perhaps it could be as simple as using that format for one of our monthly meetings.

Here are some links about barcamps:
http://barcamp.org/TheRulesOfBarCamp

http://barcamp.org/WhatToExpect

http://barcamp.org/HowToGetStarted

http://barcamp.org/OrganizeALocalBarCamp

p.s. I'm not an event planner, so wouldn't be adept at leading the charge, but for now just want to see if there would be interest in such an event.

[Jeremy Smith]

This discussion just happens to (now) be the first Google result for "BarCampCleveland." So I thought I should come over and say something.

We're trying to get the ball rolling -- http://barcamp.org/BarCampCleveland. We're going to piggy-back (as a separate track) with Case Western's CollabTech 09 (some of you might have attended last year's CollabTech event). So space, provided lunch and refreshments, some logistics, etc. have fallen into place.

For anyone not aware, Barcamps are a type of ad-hoc "unconference." Everyone shows up; there's no upfront agenda; there's no powerpoint. At the beginning, everyone writes on a big whiteboard a topic they would be willing to give a brief (10-15 minute) presentation on with a followup group discussion. A democratic process occurs where the list is whittled down to which topics the groups want to hear (and the allotted time will allow). And then the presentations begin.

At the very least, it should be an interesting experience.

If you want more info, check the wiki page -- http://barcamp.org/BarCampCleveland. We're definitely hoping to get a good turnout. Drop me a line ([e-mail]) if you have any questions.

--
Jeremy

[iAndyMorris]

did anything ever come of this. would love to see a barcamp in cleveland.