There was a time when Portland was home to more camps than you could shake a stick at. Camp this. Camp that. Camp camp campity camp. And while the number of camps have thinned a bit in recent years, it’s always good to see one that’s stuck around. Like ProductCamp Portland, which takes place this weekend. Read More
Category: BarCamp
BarCamp Portland 4 could use your help
[HTML1]It’s no secret that I believe in supporting the free events here in Portland. I firmly believe that companies who can step up to sponsor these events are fostering the survival, development, and maturation of the Portland startup and tech community. What’s more, a little bit goes a long way.
Well, it may be time to cough up that little bit if you’re in a position to do so. You see, BarCamp Portland could use your help. Read More
Feeling the urge to gnaw on some unconference sessions? Beaver BarCamp is Saturday
We love our events here in the Silicon Forest—especially events in the whole unconference format. And there’s no better unconference than the original unconference, BarCamp.
And while BarCamp Portland IV is still half of a year away, there’s a great opportunity to sink your teeth into BarCamping this weekend with Beaver BarCamp in Corvallis. Read More
Tabula Rasa: Slate Technologies opens with a Beer and Blog, followed by BarCamp Portland and Strange Love Live
When’s a good time to start a startup? That’s right: anytime. And the folks over at Portland-based Slate Technologies are not only starting up, they’re opening an office to boot.
Slate has some interesting projects underway—and likely even more interesting things to come: Read More
BarCamp Portland: Proposed Adopt a Blogger/Adopt a Journalist session
Ooh. We’re getting close now. Just a few short days and we’ll be in the thick of the planning for BarCamp Portland—the unplanned unequaled unconference for discussing all things, tech or otherwise.
Even though the conference structure is deliberately unscheduled, it’s no secret that a lot of folks spend some time thinking up cool sessions that they can propose.
Which brings us to today’s post…
BarCamp Portland: The Weekend that was
Another (dare I say “wildly successful”?) BarCamp Portland is in the books, thanks to the efforts of the Legion of Tech, the hosts, the sponsors, and—of course—the attendees and session leaders.
I could easily prattle on for pages about the wide range of interesting topics, the community building and strengthening, the learning opportunities both inside sessions and out, and the general just, well, geeky fun of the whole thing.
But, I always find roundups to be the best way to provide the most coherent and well-rounded picture of these kinds of events. There’s no possible way of covering the entire thing from one perspective, so only many perspectives will do.
- BarCamp Portland session topics and notes
- Twitter stream of “BarCampPortland” mentions
- Flickr photos tagged “BarCampPortland”
- Tom Offermann “First BarCamp for Me”
“Not knowing what to expect when I arrived, I quickly found an enthusiastic crowd, plentiful food (bagels stacked high and all the Bubble Tea you could drink), and lots of interesting sessions, with topics ranging from WordPress to CrossFit to Bikes to Patents to Predicting the Stock Market.” - Aaron Hockley “Decompressing from BarCampPortland“
“I had a great time this weekend at BarCampPortland. A big thanks to everyone involved; the organizers did a great job with logistics and the participants brought a lot of knowledge into dozens of sessions on all sorts of topics.” - Jake Kuramoto “My First BarCamp”
“This weekend’s topics varied wildly, mostly around tech, primarily open source, which is very strong here in Portland. There were several other, “only in Portland” sessions like “How to raise chickens sustainably” hosted by Legion of Tech board member, organizer and chicken maven Selena Deckelmann.” - Selena Deckelmann “Bar Camp Portland: What a weekend“
“I’m still buzzing from BarCampPortland. I loved every minute of it, and managed to learn a ton from all the amazing people in Portland. I met a ton of new people, and started several more projects.” - Andy Lester “Post-Its from BarCampPortland“
“Makes me want to start up a Bar Camp Chicago. And move to Portland.” - Lynn Fredricks “BarCamp Unconferences: Tech Trade Get Togethers“
“This wasn’t just a geekfest for the twenty something set; there was an even mix of ages and experience. I truly felt I left the unconference carrying with me more useful new relationships and technology information than I had from the last few conventions I have attended.” - George Huff “BarCamp Portland“
“Anytime a bunch of geeks get together there is a lot of brain power getting kicked around, so that’s pretty awesome. What’s great is the general goodwill everyone has. People are happy to be here and love a chance to have their thoughts and ideas expressed or learn new ones.” - Silicon Florist links from day 1 of BarCamp Portland
- And easily the winner for the “perspective on BarCamp Portland that I—even with access to similar Dirty Dancing references—could never have accurately captured” from Miss Burrows “At BarCamp, you can have the time of your life”
That’s what I’ve seen so far.
No doubt, many people are still recovering and gathering their thoughts.
If I’ve missed you or if you’ve just posted your thoughts, please by all means, comment below with a link to your post or resource, and I’ll be happy to add it to the list.
BarCampPortland: Five reasons to attend
[Editor: Leave it to Dawn Foster—chair of Legion of Tech, publisher of Portland is Awesome, and blogger at Fast Wonder—to over deliver. I asked for five reasons to attend BarCampPortland, and she graciously composed an entire post. So, without further ado…]
BarCampPortland:
Portland Geek Culture: building an active tech community in Portland, Oregon
BarCampPortland is an unconference for the Portland tech community, produced by the Portland tech community. It is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. BarCampPortland is also an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from participants. You never quite know what to expect at BarCamp.
The event will be held on May 2, 3, and 4th at CubeSpace. When you arrive on Friday, there will be an agenda framework (times / rooms), but the content for the sessions will be decided by the participants. You can expect interesting topics, cool people, wifi, fun activities, and more!
You can watch this BarCamp video if you want to learn more about the BarCamp format and concept.
5 reasons to attend
- The participants set the agenda. No big, corporate conference planners deciding what you want to hear; you get to decide what we talk about!
- Fun! We have plans for evening werewolf, other games, and maybe even a movie on Saturday night.
- You get to hang out with cool people. Last year about 250 of the coolest people in the Portland tech community attended.
- The format is highly interactive: you can ask questions, contribute, and participate. Keep in mind that roundtable discussions work better than presentations at BarCamp.
- All topics are welcome: open source, wiki, programming, knitting, online communities, science fiction, and much more. Get creative with your topics. Want more time on a topic or want to hold an adhoc discussion? We have plenty of flexibility built into the BarCamp format.
- Bonus: You can get a cool t-shirt if you donate to BarCampPortland by april 26th. Design by Brash Creative will be announced mid-week.
If you have not yet RSVPed on Upcoming, please do it now. Having an accurate count of attendees really helps us plan the event!
Holding events can be expensive, so we are still looking for sponsors. None of the organizers make any money on the event – all of the sponsorship money goes toward event costs. The more money we raise, the more we can do for the event. If your company is interested in sponsoring, please contact Selena Decklemann (selenamarie on gmail).
For more information, visit the BarCampPortland wiki.
Silicon Florist is a proud sponsor of BarCampPortland.
BarCamp Portland 2008 dates announced
It’s still three months off, but I’m happy to report that BarCamp Portland, our local BarCamp gathering, has announced the dates and location for the 2008 event: May 2-4 at CubeSpace.
Tech + Geek + Culture. The event for the Portland tech community, produced BY the Portland tech community. Interesting topics, cool people, and great networking opportunities. Always free to attend.
BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from participants.
The name BarCamp was inspired as a complement to FooCamp.
BarCamp Portland is managed by the Legion of Tech (the same great folks behind Ignite Portland). For more information, visit BarCamp Portland. To RSVP, visit the BarCamp Portland on Upcoming.
Additional BarCamp Portland coverage can be found on Dawn Foster’s Fast Wonder blog.
Super Friends launch “Legion of Tech”
While you may not realize it, a number of the exemplary Portland-based technology events—Ignite Portland, BarCamp Portland, Startupalooza, and others—have the same, very active cast of characters behind them. And now, to help facilitate the hosting and management of said events, they have opted to form an Oregon non-profit: the Legion of Tech.
This organization has two primary functions: first, we organize key community events like BarCampPortland and Ignite Portland; second, we provide resources and help to organizers of other community technology events. Specifically, the purpose of this organization is to
- Grow and nurture the local Portland technology community through educational, not-for-profit, community-run events.
- Make it easier for community members to organize technology events.
- Provide resources and assistance for technology community events.
Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing these folks make this venture as successful as the events they have managed, and am eager to learn more about lending a hand in their efforts.
If you’re feeling the same way, please visit the Legion of Tech (which, as far as I know, does NOT look like a giant floating Darth Vader head. But if, by chance, it does? I’m totally going for the Bizarro role, but I would also settle for Solomon Grundy or Grodd.)
Meet: BarCamp Portland informal meetup tonight
The regular—yet informal—BarCamp Portland meetup will be held tonight at 5:30. Jive Software will host the event.
The Portland meetups are intended to be a little less intense and more frequent than a full BarCamp Portland event. The intent is to get a group of cool people interested in technology together to chat over drinks on the fourth Thursday of every month. Anyone working in high-tech is welcome to attend.
To RSVP, visit the BarCamp Portland Upcoming page.