Boulder Business Special Report

BarCamp: Boulder’s (un)conference

By Mark Phillips, 11-13-06

I attended the Boulder BarCamp on Friday and Saturday (See ColoradoStartup.com's great writeup here). The idea for the BarCamp is rooted in the notion that a typical conference presentation could be just as interesting and productive if the presenting panel were replaced with a random sampling of folks from the audience. Some call it an (un)conference; others BarCamp. The only rule seems to be that every attendee should either give a presentation or help with one. There is no pre-set agenda, and while an (un)Conference holds a strong appeal for technical folks who love wikis and lug around open-source-product-laden Macs, the agenda is not limited to bits, bytes, or the next great iteration of web development.

Still, the discussions at BarCamp/Boulder were largely focused on technology. I attended a discussion about identity and attention ownership, a talk in the hall about how to become an "inbox ninja", a lively discussion about web-design trends, a lunch-time game wherein teams built and presented a business plan with three randomly-selected words and fifteen minutes to brainstorm (there were no winners at BarCamp, but I still think my team-Team Hyper-won...see our site here!), a demo and discussion about Me.dium (an enlightening article about Me.dium got buried in Tuesday's election discussion :-)), and an exciting conversation in the corner about information gathering, identity security, and a million better ways to gauge the will of the people than the voting system we have now.

The wrap of the design presentation struck me as particularly important. Discussion leader Andrew Hyde showed us a design by German taste-maker Sebastion Schmieg. Schmieg has predicted several important design trends in the past and his kingcosmonaut site was highlighted as the next place the web will/could go. The design is jarring and simplistic and text-heavy, but Schmieg has predicted several important trends before. Is this the future? Could he be right? And then I remember the first winds of FirstTuesday, Internet Keiretsu, and the Webbies and remember the energy and the hope that accompanied the promise of a wide webbed world eight or ten years ago. If the future of design depends on barnstormers like Schmieg, is the future of web function and policy somewhere to be found in the energetic conversations of the BarCamp? Is an open source gathering like BarCamp the key to reshaping the way business is done, decisions are made, governments are elected? (That last bit is a stretch, but that's where my brain goes.) Unlike our Internet ancestors, can BarCampers build on what's come before; talk and brainstorm, go to hip, creative jobs and sit in Aeron chairs (or the their latest iteration...yoga balls, maybe?), bring their dogs to work (in places other than Boulder), and build an economy that's both vibrant and fiscally sustainable?

It's impossible to tell, but I suspect that the trip will be fun! See you at BarCamp Round2.

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