BarCamp Edmonton

Thanks to everyone who came out to the last DemoCamp Edmonton.  It was awesome to get the community together again and check out some of the awesome things that people are up to.  As an extra note it was great to see a number of U of A students out at the last event and we are hoping to see more students from both the U of A and some of the colleges in town (NAIT, MacEwan), out at the next one.

On that note…DemoCamp Edmonton 4 is scheduled to take place on October 29th at 6:30 at the U of A ETLC room E1-017.  It will be great to have the community together again and see some more great things that are going on.

As a part of the community building process, we’re looking for people to help spread the word. We’d like to challenge everyone to tell a few people about Democamp and physically bring at least one new person to the event.

Additionally we’re looking for volunteers to help us target different groups of people in a more organized fashion. If you want to help us spread the word to schools, media, demoers or service providers, let us know. We really want to grow a focused team of people to make democamp Edmonton the best it can be.

If you are interested in attending, demoing or helping,  you can find out more information and sign up on the wiki at www.barcamp.org/DemoCampEdmonton4

We’ll see you out on the 29th…

DemoCamp Edmonton 3 is ready to go.  After around 100 people came out exchanged ideas at our recent BarCamp we are looking forward to having the community together again at our third DemoCamp.

DemoCamp Edmonton 3 is slated to take place on September 17 at 6:30PM in the Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex (ETLC), room E1 017, at the University of Alberta.  You can find a map of where the building is located on campus here.   Parking is located nearby in the Windsor Parking Lot on 116 St and 92 Ave.

The second DemoCamp featured demos from companies such as Zigtag, Aviary, Boreal, and others.  Come out and find out what other projects and companies people are working on, and meet some of the other people in the Edmonton tech community.  You can find more information at www.barcamp.org/DemoCampEdmonton3

Thanks to everyone who came out and participate in the inaugural BarCamp Edmonton.   There were around 100 people who came out and it was great to see the interaction, discussions and connections that took place.  It was also awsome seeing both a mix of people from our first two DemoCamps there, as well as some new faces.  Overall we were really happy that the Edmonton tech community continues to grow.

If you want to check out more about the event Mack Male has a great recap posted on TechVibes (cross posted on his blog), as well as Eric Warnke posted a recap as well as video of some of the sessions.

Also a big thanks to our two sponsors, TEC Edmonton and Nexopia.  With their sponsorship we were able to keep the event free and provide lunch and drinks for those in attendance.

Watch for DemoCamp Edmonton 3 coming at the beginning of September…

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Part of running a successful BarCamp is helping people stay in touch during and after the event.  To help track down comments and content related to BarCamp we’re encouraging all attendees to add a #BarCampYEG tag to their Twitter posts, Flickr pictures, or blogs.  You can then follow these tags to see what people are saying.

We’ve also created an IRC channel for those of you who prefer your conversations in real-time.  You can use your web browser to join us online (thanks to Mibbit).  Or you can use your favorite Windows, Linux, or Mac IRC client. Join us in the #BarCampYEG channel on irc.freenode.net.

Also don’t forget to add yourself to the list of campers on the wiki so other people can track you down after BarCamp is over.

What is BarCamp?

Barcamp is an ad-hoc gathering of people in and interested in the Edmonton tech community. BarCamp is a series of loosely scheduled 20 minute presentations/discussions about whatever the community is interested in.

How it works?

Everyone shows up in the morning and people write their name on a block of time with a topic, idea, whatever, that want to present, discuss, learn, etc. Everyone should have a topic in mind they’d like to lead a discussion on. Each session is only 20 minutes so you don’t have to prepare a big speech or PPT. The sessions should be interactive allowing for the audience to be a part of the discussion.

Every 1/2 hr a new session starts and goes for 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes of hallway talk and deciding on your next session.

When is BarCamp?

Saturday July 19^th, 2008 10:00am to 4:00pm with the possibility of an impromptu trip to a local pub should the community desire to continue the discussion.

Where is BarCamp?

The Edmonton World Trade Centre, Floor 6 (600-9990 Jasper Avenue NW). You can find a Google map here.

How much does BarCamp cost?

Nothing. Free. Nadda. BarCamp is a sponsored event. We have arranged a couple of generous sponsors to cover the room, lunch, beer, etc. A big thank you to our sponsors:

• Nexopia – http://www.nexopia.com
• Tec Edmonton – http://www.tecedmonton.com

Who should come?

You! Everyone! No matter what you interest in technology we can almost guarantee there will be something that you will find interesting, or someone that you will find interesting to talk to.

What are people going to be talking about?

We are planning on having three different presentation rooms, as well as a couple of discussion rooms/areas, a “business” room, a “tech” room, and a “misc” room. Ultimately the topics will be whatever the community want them to be.

What should I bring?

Whatever you want. We are arranging wifi so that you will be able to bring your laptops if you like. Also bring whatever other gadgets you want to talk about, show off, etc. Have a new iPhone, Arduino, Lego Mindstorms, whatever: bring it, play with it, show it off. Or bring nothing at all. Whatever you like.

Where do I sign up?

Given the space limitations on the venue we have 125 spots open based on first come first serve. Please sign us ASAP to make sure that you have a spot, you can sign up here. Rest assured we won’t give your name or email out to anyone, or use it to contact you, without your permission. Please sign up here: https://www.inviteright.com/E18395DA

For more info, and to get involved, check out:

• http://www.barcampedmonton.com
• http://www.barcamp.org/BarCampEdmonton1

Thanks to everyone who came out to DemoCamp Edmonton2.  We had over 80 people there and it was a great time.  For a recap of the event check out Mack’s recap on his blog.

DemoCamp Edmonton 2 has now been scheduled for Tuesday May 20th at 6:30. It will be held at the Billiard Club at 10505 Whyte Ave (google map forthcoming). Check out the DemoCamp wiki for more information, and we’ll post more information here as the date comes closer.
As always please invite your friends or anyone else that you know that might be interested. Please sign up on the wiki (preferred), the facebook page, or fire me off an email (cam.linke@gmail.com). This will help us plan for numbers.
See you there.  Let’s keep this community growing.

We just want to say a quick thank-you to everyone that showed up last night for Edmonton’s very first DemoCamp.  Almost 70 people attended, well beyond our initial estimates of 50 or less.  As well, many people came out afterwards for drinks at The Windsor. One of the main goals of DemoCamp is to build connections in the Edmonton community, and we’re sure many new connections were made last night.

We’d also like to thank all the speakers that came out.  You all did a great job, and we look forward to seeing you again!  Here they are again in the order they presented:

There’s already a great recap of the nights events, as well as content on Flickr and Twitter.

Over the next few weeks we’re going to be collecting feedback and going over this DemoCamp to see what we can do better next time.  If you want to keep up on what’s going on we encourage you to join our mailing list, follow our RSS feed, or join the BarCampEdmonton Facebook group.

Just a reminder that DemoCampEdmonton1 is happening tonight.  It starts at 6:30 at the University of Alberta, School of Business room B-9 (#36 on the map).   The cheapest parking is in lot N on the east side of Hub Mall (map).  Get there early to be sure you get a seat!