What is Bar Camp?

BarCamp is a loose conference format, with content and direction driven by its participants.

Central to the meeting is a board of sticky-notes, with rooms along one axis and times along the other. Participants may chair their own sessions by choosing a title and sticking a note in that slot. Usually each session will require a little introduction from the chair before opening up into group discussion. A session may take whatever theme the chair chooses- the aim being to share and enjoy a topic.

It’s unashamedly nerdy (though still open and accessible) and a great deal of fun.

BarCamp North East 2

Last year’s BarCamp North-East was my introduction to the format. I could only attend the Saturday, but the spread of talks included:

• Social Media
• Cloud Technologies
• Brewing your own drinks on the super-cheap (tip: visit the grocery at closing time and ask for the stock headed for the bin!)
• Dealing with procrastination

Participate!

I presented a session, entitled ‘Bringing web design into the 20th Century‘ during which we formed an ad hoc nu-media think-tank dedicated to committing web design crimes of the nineties. What I’d intended to present in semi-lecture format quickly took a collaborative life of its own as the team gained enthusiasm!

Take home message of the session: We may well look back at our current direction with scorn in 10 years, so don’t be complacent.

Take home message for me: Don’t try to over-structure or control a session… let it evolve!

Alongside the main streams were breakout sessions, such as ‘Powerpoint Karaoke‘ and late-night parlour games.

Another write-up of last year’s event can be found on Caroline Mockett’s blog.

Come and join us!

BarCamp North East 3 will be taking part over the 20th-21st March weekend (yes, ‘over’ the weekend- people spend the night at the venue, hence the ‘Camp’ bit) and will take place at the Centre for Life in Newcastle. BCNE3 is being organised with flair by the inimitable Alistair.

I’ve got one fun session nailed (with competition prizes!) and am hoping to present a second, more serious, session too.

It’s a whole load of fun- and welcoming for newcomers to dive into, so get your ticket now!

Twitter Tag: #bcne3

I had just over half-an-hour to whizz round the Maker Faire before I needed to be someplace else.

It seemed much larger than last year (twice as big?) and was split between hands-on crafts (mostly for kids), left-field creative projects and product stalls, with a couple of performance events thrown in.

I was left a bit cold by the Discovery Museum- they had a magnificent steam engine outside, but seemingly not much else. The heavily advertised light installation in the Great Hall didn’t get interesting in the short time I allowed it.

The Centre for Life, however, was buzzing with maker-life; the loud and prominent centre-piece being a ‘Tesla organ’, greeting visitors on arrival (best explained with a video, from @evilwallpaper).

Other highlights included @coldclimate’s LED reactive table, a ball-bearing ‘roller-coaster’ and a Rubik Cube solving robot.

I also caught up with @alistair, amongst the cacophony of his bottle percussion band, but sadly missed @AB_Thomas‘ fluorescent light performance. I didn’t ask whether his trembling afterwards was due to nerves, exercise, or the electric shock he pulled from one of the tubes. @G_Rak seemed to think it had been a brilliant (ha!) show, anyhow.

There were a fair few favourites returning from last year, including the mechanical horse, electronic graffiti wall and LED psychedelic spectacles.

The Maker Faire is on again today, costing £3.95 for an adult ticket, with discounts for families.

UPDATE: Jonathan Street has a nice write-up of the event.

There are some great social/network/educational events coming up over the next few months.

These are the ones on my radar:

March 13th-14th Maker Faire, Newcastle (the Centre for Life / Discovery Museum, Newcastle)

Saturday and Sunday day-time.

March 20th-21st: BarCamp North-East 3 (the Centre for Life, Newcastle)

A full weekend, including overnight. Twitter #bcne3 – more info from me.

March 25th: Tyne Twestival (The Tyne Bar, Newcastle)

7pm-11pm – more info from me.

March 29th: SuperMondays – SuperMobile (The Beehive, Newcastle University)

6pm onwards

April 28th: DIBI – Design It. Build It: A Two-Track Web Conference (The Sage, Gateshead)

A full-day conference

April 29th: Thursday Fizz

Evening Networking – postponed… June?

July 15th-16th Webdurance (The Culture Lab, Newcastle University)

A 24-hour ‘hack’ event to update websites for charities for free