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Barcamp Dallas IV ~ 9/29/07

August 30, 2007

Mark your calander, Barcamp Dallas IV has been scheduled for September 29th, 2007 (Saturday).  The location is still TBD (if you can host 75-200 all-day guests just add your info to the wiki).  What is Barcamp?  I will reprint from the ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to Barcamp Dallas‘ below:

Background: 

The original BarCamp was held in Palo Alto over the weekend of Aug 19th, 2005. Follow-ons have been held in Toronto, New York, Amsterdam and Las Vegas.   You can read about it in Wired, Wikipedia or News.com.  The idea is that the organizers provide a venue, some projectors and a blank schedule board. The attendees fill in the schedule with activities and presentations and create the actual conference content. Of course, the quality of the event depends on the quality of the attendees, but experience with previous BarCamps (and predecesors like Open Space Technology) show that when presented with the opportunity, people will rise to the occasion.

What to do at Barcamp:

The most important thing you can do a BarCamp is meet fellow technology geeks. Don’t wait to be invited, just walk up to people and introduce yourself. Well, wait for a pause in the conversation first. Many people will be wearing name tags with lists of their interests, it’s perfectly appropriate to start a conversation based on a shared interest. If there’s a group discussing something you’re interested in, walk up and politely join the conversation. If you’re part of a conversation and you see someone at the fringe hanging back, invite them to join in.  At BarCamp, there are no spectators, only participants. One of the best ways to participate is by giving a presentation. You should do a presentation. If you don’t like the idea of getting up in front of a group (or don’t think you’re "expert" enough to speak on a topic), then schedule a "group conversation" about a question or topic that interests you. If you’re having trouble picking an idea for a presentation, post your ideas on a page on the wiki and ask for suggestions. There will be slots for 20 minute and 45 minute sessions. If you absolutely don’t want to do a presentation/conversation, don’t sweat it too much, there are other ways to participate, see the Wiki for details.

Why Dallas?

Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, Northern Virginia, Seattle, Boston, Portland, Austin, San Diego, Silicon Valley. Notice anything missing? Despite an abundance of geeks (Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit here), Dallas does not normally appear on lists of leading technology communities. It’s up to you to change that. Although the best way to change things is to immediately go off and found your own startup, you could also start attending events like Refresh Dallas, or visit the geek-friendly art at Paul Slocum’s And/Or Gallery, or throw your own event. If enough geeks in Dallas start acting like it’s a tech center, then Dallas geeks will start to get the recognition they deserve.

Written by Alexander Muse · Filed Under Blog 

Comments

One Response to “Barcamp Dallas IV ~ 9/29/07”

  1. Charles Stricklin Says:
    September 6th, 2007 at 4:18 pm

    Aw, man! I’d love to come, but I’ll be in California for the New Media Expo. Maybe somebody could record a session or two and release them as a poadcast or something.

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