BarCampMadison High Points

A large Thank You goes to all those who helped organize and run BarCampMadison, and to the sponsors who made it possible and those who participated in the sessions and other parts of the enjoyable tech event.

Most people seemed to enjoy the event. For those who did, the hope is that they'll tell their tech-minded friends and acquaintances about it, and more people will show up for future CM3/I-94 barcamps. There were a few Chicago people that participated in BarCampMadison, a few Minneapolis people, a bunch from both Milwaukee and Madison, an Iowa contingent, plus a few of us from areas other than those listed above.

The next scheduled event is MinneBar on 21 April 2007. A number of people from Wisconsin will be there to make new tech and entrepreneurial community connections. We hope you'll consider joining us at the spring tech unconference in the Twin Cities!

A few highlights from BarCampMadison:

1. Getting the chance to make new connections for the FS3 supercomputer project. Some people, like Matt G and Dave M, expressed interest in participating in the project. Others, such as Jerry P and Jeremie M, knew people that may be interested in hearing about the project and may participate in some way on the project.
2. Meeting geeks that have interesting stories and backgrounds. For the thirty or so people I met, I wish I could have spent three or four hours talking with them about different topics, rather than 10 minutes or 30 minutes. (Thank goodness for follow-up meetings that will happen after the barcamp is over.)
   
3. Participating in interesting sessions:
1. Technology and voting/democracy
2. RightShoring and flat world discussions
3. BarCampUSA planning
4. Wall of Sheep - wireless security
5. Wii Fight and other Wii games on the big screen
4. Friday night casual event -- Mexican restaurant and comedy club

Because of several projects occupying most of my time in the two weeks leading up to BarCampMadison, I was not as prepared for the event as I would like to have been. Fortunately, one of the great aspects of a barcamp is that low preparation level is not an impediment to having a worthwhile time at the event. The concept of a tech unconference is that you're sharing topics about which you are passionate, and participating in sessions on topics about which others are passionate. The focus here is on connecting with the people, not on being seen as a polished presenter or on attending many mini classes for the professional training or certification value you'll take away.

Another great barcamp...

Next one --- MinneBar!

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