I've been intrigued with Unconferences ever since I attended Wikimania at Harvard during the Summer of 2006. Although Wikimania was not strictly an unconference, I really appreciated the free flow of ideas, and the fact that much of the conference was unstructured. I've found that I learn much more from fellow participants, than formal presentations.
Recently I've been introduced to the concept of BarCamps. Quite frankly I'm intrigued with the idea of hosting a "Web 2.0 and Corporate Learning BarCamp in 2008". Here is a link from a BarCamp hosted in my home state of Minnesota earlier this year. It will help you get the idea.
Anyone else interested ? Post a comment, or send me an email: rhoeg@comcast.net.
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Update posted on January 7, 2008: Feedback to this idea has been positive. I've contacted some folks I know at both Stanford and Harvard with the goal of seeing if either of those organizations might be willing to provide space for such an event. As much as hosting a BarCamp in Minnesota might be easier for me, it's obvious that Boston or Silicon Valley would allow for better participation on the part of some key individuals.
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Hi there,
All the best for your project
I am in Italy and organizing Ecocamp. If I could be of any help even if from distance, count me in.
I recently made an interview to the author of BlogonExpo a digital conference for your interest
http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/2008/01/an-industry-conference-in-my-living-room-managing-a-digital-conference.html
I have an interview coming up about web conferencing and webcasting you might want to check in the near future
Julius
Posted by: julius | January 25, 2008 at 05:46 AM
I like the idea, although the location issue is an interesting one. I'm curious if virtual versions of a barcamp could work.
Posted by: Tony Karrer | December 28, 2007 at 05:28 PM
Richard,
I love the idea of barcamps. I attended some in 2006 in Berlin and Zurich
( http://muclearn.wordpress.com/2007/12/22/barcampzurich_impressions/ ), both with around 100 participants, and the NYPodcamp in April 07, which had maybe 1000 to 2000 participants and was already a little too formal. I really like the idea of having one on Corporate Learning and Web2.0.
If you need some help - let me know. Happy Holidays - Jens
Posted by: Jens Schroeter | December 21, 2007 at 10:30 PM