Camping seems to be the latest rage at the moment. Of course, we’re not talking about outdoor camping (it might be a little cold for that … even during the summer) but the user-generated unconferences. Barcamps, if you’re not familiar with the concept, are conferences without a pre-planned agenda and relies on the participants to give talks or chair discussions on particular topics. These unconferences can be great places to engage with people on similar topics in a format that’s much more accessible than traditional talks with Q&As.
If you’re intrigued as to where to pitch your tent (oh dear, I can hear the pun police sirens) then here are your upcoming choices for the next two weeks:
Barcamp Glasgow: 5pm, 9th Sept 2010, BBC Scotland, Glasgow (Google Map Link) (Linkedin Group)
The theme for this barcamp is Social media: Public and Private.
In more detail … Public and Private in two senses, The Government v Private sector web and the on going privacy issues concerning an indviduals data on both social networks and governement websites. For example, The bbc.co.uk website is one of the most visited and innovative on the web with its linked data/ semantic sites and the UK government was reported to have spent 130m on building and operating websites in the last year. Can this cash be spent better? How do startup pitch for public sector work? Are government sites crowding out startup innovation? Facebook continues to evolve its privacy setting, does it users really care? Can Governments really keep our data secure and private?
FilmCamp 10: 2-6pm, Tuesday 28th Sept 2010, Glasgow Film Theatre (Google link) (Facebook Group)
Don’t let the title discourage you. Organised by Jen Davies, this barcamp has a interactive and digital media slant as well as film. With a line-up of leading speakers and presentations from programme and film-makers, game developers and web designers and people behind emerging creative digital media technologies, this event explores the future of moving image, multi-platform content and the increasing convergence of technology. Aimed at freelancers in broadcast and digital industries, as well as final year students, programmed commissioners and editors, FilmCamp 10 is an event inspired by the spirit of BarCamp (www.barcamp.org) – a free, ‘un-conference’ designed to facilitate the sharing of ideas in an open environment. The event will end with an opportunity for networking and refreshments.
ScotGovCamp: The review
Lastly, I just want to point to the recent ScotGovCamp. It happened on 31st July 2010. There are lots of interesting things that came out of it, including this excellent blog which has pretty much everything you need to read about it.
Review of the day by Roy Hair and Lauren Currie
Flickr Page (Photos from the day)
Twitter list of ScotGovCamp people to follow (via @prettysimple)
Whew! After all of that, I thought I would sign this post off with a camping joke …
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of red, they lay down for the night and went to sleep.
Some hours later Holmes woke up, nudged his faithful friend and said, “Watson, I want you to look up at the sky and tell me what you see.” Watson said, “I see millions and millions of stars.” Sherlock said, “And what does that tell you?”
After a minute or so of pondering Watson said, “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three in the morning. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Metereologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day today. What does it tell you?”
Holmes was silent for about 30 seconds and said, “Watson, you idiot! Someone has stolen our tent!”
Predictions for 2011 - 3. The Rise of Multi-user, Multi-device Tablet Applications