Ich bin mir jetzt nicht hunderprozentig sicher, aber wenn ich mich nicht täusche, war das Castlecamp in Kaprun das einzige in näherer Zukunft und Umgebung. Im Blog von Hannes hab ich aber gelesen, dass inzwischen einige Barcamps geplant sind.

Zum einen in meiner Heimatstadt Salzburg, und zwar schon am kommenden Montag. Das freut mich zwar sehr und ich wär wirklich gern dabei gewesen, "leider" bin ich aber grad in Frankreich. Zum anderen in Traunkirchen am Traunsee, was ja auch nicht gerade weit von Salzburg entfernt ist. Könnte sich sogar ausgehen, dass ich da vorbeischau. Zumindest wenn ich das Frequency 2008 einigermaßen unbeschadet übersteh. ;)

Gerade weil meine Teilnahme an diesen beiden sehr ungewiss ist, freu ich mich besonders, dass im November ein BarCamp in Graz stattfindet. Bleibt nur noch zu hoffen, dass sich ein paar meiner Studienkollegen auch bemüßigt fühlen...

PS: Das BarCamp in Salzburg war natürlich schon im Juni. Fehler meinerseits. Aber um so besser, dass im Herbst eines in Graz stattfindet. :)

Ps: ah sì, dormo anche... se mi resta tempo.
Pps: domani riapre la classifica, sarà mica questo il trucco?

Mein Engagement bei Neuwal.com macht mir irgendwie richtig Spaß. Zwar habe ich bis jetzt erst einen Blogeintrag veröffentlicht, aber stets habe ich meine Augen und Ohren für die Recherche in Betrieb. Jetzt, gerade einmal beinahe zehn Tage nach dem Aufkündigen der Regierung liegt der Wahlkampf ja immer noch in den Kinderschuhen, und wahrscheinlich wird erst die Zeit ab Mitte August wirklich interessant.

Nach meiner Misére nach meinem letzten Handykauf musste ich nun warten, bis mein Vertrag endlich ausgelaufen war. Angefangen beim Mobilfunkanbieter tele-ring habe ich mit dem Motorola L6, welches durch anfangs massive Benutzung (20 Stunden im Monat war so der Durchschnitt) bald irgendwelche Probleme aufzeigte. Noch ein Jahr also bis zum Vertragsende und somit bis zu einem neuen Handy. Und so habe ich mir das Motorola Motofone F3 bestellt, ein vertragsfreies Handy um 35 Euro. Warum es denn nun so billig war, wusste ich nach dem ersten Mal einschalten. Und nun, Anfang Juni, lief nun endlich der Vertrag aus. Nachdem ich mit dem iPhone liebäugelte, mir die Tarife aber etwas zu hoch waren, habe ich mir heute das Motorola KRZR K1 bestellt. Auch schon ein nicht ganz neues Handy, aber scheinbar nicht so schlecht. Und irgendwie soll es mir ja auch nur als Übergang dienen.

Auf das bevorstehende BarCamp "bei mir zuhause", also jenes in Traunkirchen und somit nur wenige Kilometer von meiner Heimat entfernt, freue ich mich schon riesig. Einige bekannte österreichische Blogger haben ihre Teilnahme schon zugesagt, und nach dem ersten Kribbeln vor meinem ersten BarCamp in Wien, wo ich doch nun niemanden wirklich kannte (außer der Web2.0-Kontakt mit Luca), denke ich, dass dies eine angenehme Sache in einer wunderschönen Gegend sein wird.

Das mit dem Abnehmen haut nicht wirklich so hin. Natürlich ernähre ich mich immer noch richtig (einen Rückfall hatte ich zwar, heute, aberist zu verschmerzen), aber die Kilos purzeln nicht. Vielleicht wird das, sollte ich meiner Mutter Glauben schenken, besser, wenn der Mond endlich wieder abnimmt. Übrigens denke ich mir, dass ich jetzt schon unglaublich viel hätte abnehmen müssen, allein wenn ich überlege, wie vollkommen anders (und vor allem gesund und in geringerer Menge) ich mich ernähre. Aber ich muss da jetzt auch schon wieder meine Mama zitieren: "Zunehmen ist eben immer leichter, als abzunehmen." Stimmt, Mama. Danke für die Warnung. Irgendwie zu spät. Aber es wird schon noch, und ich habe mir auch schon ein Ziel für die nächsten zwei bzw. drei Wochen ein Ziel gesetzt. Ich weiß, man sollte es nicht, aber sollte ich es erreichen, werde ich darüber natürlich berichten.

Und außerdem komme ich seit kurzem jeden Tag zu spät ins Bett. Weil ich meistens noch relativ lange vor dem Computer sitze liege und meist erst um kurz nach 23 Uhr oder auch erst um Mitternacht das Notebook zuklappe. Und so möchte ich heute schon etwas früher gehen. Okay, es ist jetzt auch schon beinahe elf, aber was solls. Ich wollte euch nur noch über mein aktuelles Leben (welches aus meinem Ferialjob, meinen Entscheidungsfreudigkeiten beim Handykauf (ich finde nun den iPhone-Tarif gar nicht mehr so teuer), Abnehmen und Aktivitäten im Web 2.0, und sonst nichts, wirklich nichts besteht) informieren. Am Wochenende sehe ich wohl erst einige meiner Freunde (jene, die nicht irgendwo im Ausland auf Reisen sind) wieder. Mal sehen.

Und noch etwas. Ich brauche neue FlipFlops, neue Jeans, neue kurze Hosen, neue Shirts, neue Schuhe, mal wieder Chucks, 'ne dünne Mütze, eine neue Frisur, neue Socken, neue Boxershorts, eine neue Brille und neue Kontaktlinsen, ein neues Deo und eine neue Tasche. Aber sonst eigentlich nichts.

The details:
BarCamp from Noon to 4 p.m. at Swedish American Hall.
On Upcoming: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/859363/

I just realized that this is a BarCamp. If you don't know what BarCamp is it is a gathering of people discussing a subject, and it's unorganization at its best. People go, and they say, "What do you want to talk about?" and then the discussion begins. I had a taste of this at Web 2.0 Expo where there were Birds of a Feather and Web2Open sessions. They were about the same flavor: a bunch of people discussing something they were interested in.

I'm not really sure what it is that I am getting myself into, but it should be an interesting discussion and a deep dive into the social media fishbowl. Plus there is a party afterwards from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. with Mashable. I'm planning to asking a few folks there, "Why did you come here, what attracted you, etc" and I want to see exactly how "niche" the social media crowd is....is it birds of a feather flock together or rather people of different strokes learning from one another?

in München findet am 11+12 Oktober 2008 (Sa+So) ein Barcamp
( Was ist ein http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp )

Weitere Infos unter:

http://barcampmunich.mixxt.de/

Interessant finde ich insbesondere für mich das auch Leute die zur Zuschauen wollen weil sie noch nie auf einem Barcamp waren teilnehmen können:

http://barcampmunich.mixxt.de/networks/events/show_event.934

Also, gehts mit, dann schau ich nicht alleine zu

Und wieder einmal.

Nach meinem allerersten BarCamp, welches ich noch in schöner Erinnerung habe, hat mich Luca heute mit einer Twitter-Nachricht überrascht. Ein BarCamp Traunsee also. Und ich dachte anfangs noch, das wäre irgendwo im Südwesten Deutschlands. Bis ich bemerkte, dass die Stadt, die ich meinte, Traunstein heißt, so wie eben auch der Berg am Traunsee. Aber genug der unnötigen Worte.

Ich werde also auf das BarCamp Traunsee gehen. Der Traunsee ist, laut meiner höchst objektiven Meinung, der schönste aller Seen Österreichs, ach was. Weltweit. Und nachdem es ja zwei Grundregeln des Barcampen gibt, muss ich sie einfach mal befolgen.

1st Rule: You do talk about Bar Camp.
2nd Rule: You do blog about Bar Camp.

Und nachdem es mir verdammt schwer fällt, über BarCamps zu sprechen, da nur ganz wenige aus meinem näheren Umkreis etwas mit Web 2.0 anzufangen wissen, werde ich der zweiten Regel hiermit nachkommen. Und lade somit auch alle Blogger und Freunde der näheren Umgebung ein, ebenfalls bei diesem sehr nahen Veranstaltung teilzunehmen.

Was aber ist eigentlich ein BarCamp?

Barcamps sind aus dem Bedüfnis heraus entstanden, dass sich Menschen in einer offenen Umgebung austauschen und voneinander lernen können. Es ist eine intensive Veranstaltung mit Diskussionen, Präsentationen, und Interaktion der Teilnehmer untereinander.

Teilnehmer müssen entweder eine Präsentation oder eine Session abhalten oder aber bei einer mithelfen, oder sonstwie als Freiwilliger zum Gelingen der Veranstaltung beitragen. Der Ablaufplan für sämtliche Präsentationen wird erst am Tag selbst erstellt. Man kann sich vorab vorbereiten, sollte aber früh am Tag erscheinen, um sich einen Platz im Zeitplan zu sichern. Die anwesenden Teilnehmer wählen die Demos bzw. Präsentationen aus, die sie sehen wollen.

Alle Präsentatoren sind verantwortlich dafür, dass sämtliche Mitschriften, Folien, Audio und Video ihrer Präsentationen im Web veröffentlich werden zum Nutzen sowohl der Teilnehmer als auch derjenigen, die nicht selbst anwesend sein können. [barcamp.at]

Und somit freue ich auf dieses wahrscheinlich wundercoole Barcamp.

Datum: 22. - 23. August 2008
Uhrzeit: Freitag ab 16 Uhr bis Samstag 20 Uhr
Ort: Traunkirchen am Traunsee, Jagerweh und Klosterstube

Nähere Informationen findet man hier und überhaupt. Wer da nicht dabei ist, versäumt die schönste Gegend der Welt. Vor allem, nachdem Hannes Offenbacher schon so wunderbar über das Salzkammergut getwittert hat, freue ich mich schon auf all die Wiener, die endlich mal aus der Großstadt ein frisches Lüftchen atmen können.

Notamment abordés, des sujets tels que la musique en ligne, les "rumeurs 2.0" (excellente intervention), l'accessibilité des sites web, les méthodes agiles, la place du wiki dans la relation client, présentation du CMS Iphigénie, etc.

En plus tout le monde est reparti avec un beau T-shirt et un magnet logotisé Barcamp Dijon (très beau logo, d'ailleurs), alors...

Une journée placée délibérément sous le signe de la convivialité, de la bonne humeur et de l'échange de savoir autour du web et de ses pratiques. C'est parti pour l'organisation de la prochaine édition...

Регистрация новых участников на сайте Barcamp CA 2008 заканчивается 18 июля. Убедитесь, что вы зарегистрированы и оповестите об этом всех, кого только можно :) (а зачем это мне надо, а?)

Не-конференция (а это что еще за?) начнется 1 августа 2008 года и будет проходить в таком формате:

1 августа: Прибытие участников + регистрация участников
2 августа: Регистрация презентаций + презентации/дискуссии + Install Fest
3 августа: Инкубатор Инноваций + Install Fest + BridgeCamp

Инкубатор инноваций это: Все желающие у кого есть Интернет-идеи, приходят с подробно расписанными проектами, а спонсоры будут выбирать понравившиеся идеи и предлагать сотрудничество.

Install Fest это: Специалисты будут устанавливать всем желающим Open Source, от офисных и графических пакетов до броузеров и операционных систем.

BridgeCamp это: В фойе будет вывешено отдельное расписание. Каждый желающий сможет вписать туда интересующий его вопрос, связанный с Интернетом. В свою очередь, каждый, кто считает, что может достойно ответить на данный вопрос, подписывается ниже. Таким образом, в аудиториях соберутся люди, кому этот вопрос интересен и смогут обсудить и найти возможные пути решения.

Баркемп будет проходить в Американском Университете Центральной Азии (Бишкек, Кыргызстан), где соберутся специалисты в области new media из стран Восточной Европы, Центральной Азии и Кавказа.

Если вы живете далеко от Бишкека, но хотите участвовать в Баркемп, отправьте запрос на получение трэвел-гранта. Запрос нужно отправить Бектуру Искендер (bektour [at] kloop [dot] kg) до 12 июля (!).

Участники из дальнего зарубежья могут ознакомиться со списком стран с которыми установлен БЕЗвизовый режим. Тем же, кому необходимо приглашения для оформления визы, нужно написать Бектуру (bektour [at] kloop [dot] kg) письмо со сканом паспорта.

Все вопросы можете писать в комментариях к этому посту или спросить на форуме Barcamp CA 2008.

Мы ждем вас!

Join me next week on Wednesday (7/9) at 1pm PST when I get a chance to interview the organizers of RE BarCamp on why they are putting this event together and what they hope to accomplish!

So, who am I going to grill?   Andy Kaufman, Brad Coy, Todd Carpenter and Jay Thompson have all confirmed that they'll be on the call.  It's a great group of people, so I'm positive it will not only be fun, but we're likely to cover a lot of ground including:

• What is BarCamp?   And what is going to happen there that won't happen at RE Connect?
• What type of person do you think will get the most value out of RE BarCamp?
• If someone wants to help you guys organize, how should they get involved?

But I also want to include your questions, so feel free to log into the chat or call into the show just like the typical 4realz Roundtable...

However, what's up with the name: 4realz DeepDive?

Ever since I started doing the 4realz Roundtables, I've wanted to have a channel to talk more specifically about individual products (and especially product launches) with company executives, or in this case, talk about events with event organizers.

On a DeepDive conversation, I'm going to limit the number of guests who are "on air" the entire show to just me and the official guests.  However, using a format more standard in the radio industry, I'm plan to unmute listeners if they have specific questions they want to ask people on the show!   No doubt that this format is just an experiment and you, the listeners, will be the judge if it works or not!  ;)

By the way, I've been doing something similar, where I interview just one person per show, on Rain City Radio for the past few weeks, and I can see how that format could really compliment the 4realz Roundtable discussions!

Also worth noting...

At the request of more than a few people from the East Coast, I'm going to try a new time slot for next week's 4realz Roundtable... (That's right, there's going to be 2 shows next week: a Roundtable and a DeepDive!) Next week's roundtable discussion will be on the usual day (Thursday), but at a new time (1pm PST).

And next week should be great as we're going to cover how the Cuomo/Fannie Mae/OCC appraisal rule changes are going to change the mortgage brokerage industry.   This is a topic that was suggested to me by two people after the very first roundtable on the DOJ/NAR settlement conversation, so I'm glad that we get to make this happen!   I've already confirmed Jonathan Miller of the Matrix as a guest on the show, so i know it is sure to be both interesting and informative.

UPDATE:

You can listen to this great conversation here:

[audio http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-20339/TS-129850.mp3]

Some of the details:

• Official Website: http://rebarcamp.com/
• Time: July 22nd (Tuesday before RE Connect), 9am registration. Event from 10am to 6pm.

You can help by volunteering to:

• Help set-up the room the night before (see RE BarCamp for details!)
• Help create an information factsheet for the event (ask Andy Kaufman for details!)

And if you're planning to show up, it's free, but they're asking that you fill out the official RSVP which was only set up a few days ago!

Jeremy and Val got a last minute invite to BarCampSeattle. We met a lot of great people working at the very edges of internet technology! And, they had the free pizza! Thanks Shelly Farnham for the invite!

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Image via Wikipedia

Last year's SF Music Tech Summit raised an interesting concept for me - Blogs, Social Media, Wikipedia etc. are nothing more than "The Tyranny of the Bored".  The premise being that the new gatekeepers of music and media are those who sit around all day and do nothing but post blogs, review records and generally interact with the web.

The concept never really sat well with me - sure, it seems like just a lot of people with too much time on their hands, but IS it?  Is that what things like Wikipedia are primarily made up of?  Losers without a life?  Somehow, it didn't add up.

Then I read this article, and the penny dropped.  The basic thesis here is that thoughout any technological or industrial upheaveal, there's a period of brain-freeze in society at large - the changes are too vast to contemplate, too new to fully grasp, so we mask it.  During the industrial revolution, we used gin.  During the latter half of the 20th Century, it was TV (namely, the sitcom).  "Desperate Housewives essentially functions as a kind of cognitive heat sink, dissipating thinking that might otherwise have built up and caused society to overheat."  Wild, I know.

But once we emerge from this binge, enormous technological leaps are ready to be made.

What struck me most is about how this relates to the emerging music economy:  "The way you explore complex ecosystems is you just try lots and lots and lots of things, and you hope that everybody who fails fails informatively so that you can at least find a skull on a pikestaff near where you're going. That's the phase we're in now."

And this was exactly my approach to the presentation I gave at Barcamp, it was exactly the approach Andrew Dubber thought was the right one (he called it "Ready-Fire-Aim") and it's exactly what Penny Distribution is shooting for.  With the goal of carving out 1/100th of the cognitive surplus that's suddenly waking up from it's stupor.

To me, the best thing you can do (if you've any interest at all) is read a lot, think a lot and then try something in the music industry ESPECIALLY if it's technology related.  Look at the ingredients that will make up the New Music Economy, then fire up the stove and start cooking - a sprinkle of licensing, a dash of subscription, maybe a slice of Co-Marketing.  Someone's going to make one HELL of a stew.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Here Comes Everybody

Denke, so eine Veranstaltung kann ich Jutta mal zumuten. Sie hat immer eine so große Klappe - jetzt soll sie mal zeigen, was dahinter steckt. Stattfinden tut das Ganze am 1. und 2. November in Berlin. Freu mich schon - und wenn einer ein paar wertvolle Barcamp-Tipps hat... immer her damit!

Luc and I have been to a couple of BarCamps and their variants - SocialDevCamp, PodCampDC, and beCamp. These all break down to about three principles.

1) They cost nearly nothing, because the organizers find sponsorships.

2) There are no set speakers or sessions.

3) There are many smart tech geeks that show up to each and every BarCamp.

That's where you come in. You can connect with all your compatriots in at one conference on one day, and begin to network and gauge the thoughtfulness of your ideas. It's a decent measuring stick of what's out there and what everyone is focused on.

If you want to participate, find one here. If you can't find one in your area, try organizing a BarCamp.

What's this blog about?

เพื่อความสะดวกในการจัดการ งานนี้เราเลยจัดทำเว็บไซต์ที่ชื่อ barcampsongkhla.org ซึ่งจัดขึ้นที่ ภาควิชาวิศวกรรมคอมพิวเตอร์ มหาวิทยาลัยสงขลานครินทร์

จากหน้าลงทะเบียน มีคนลงทะเบียนทั้งสิ้น 95 คน แต่ในวันจริงมีคนมาประมาณ 50 คน ซึ่งรู้สึกผิดหวังเล็กน้อย เพราะคนหายไปเกือบครึ่ง แต่พอมาเปิดบันทึกตอนประชุมเตรียมงานในช่วงแรกๆ ก็พบว่าเกินเป้าเล็กน้อย เนื่องจากตอนแรกๆ ตั้งเป้าไว้ที่ 40 คนเท่านั้น

เนื่องจากคนที่หายไปกว่าครึ่ง ทำให้หัวข้อที่จะพูดหายตามไปด้วย ห้องที่เตรียมไว้ 2 ห้อง ก็ถูกยุบรวมเพียงห้องเดียว การโหวตเลือกหัวข้อที่ต้องการฟัง ก็ต้องปรับเปลี่ยนมาเป็นโหวตหัวข้อที่จะพูดก่อนพูดหลังแทน (มีหัวข้อหลักที่พูดในงานทั้งหมด 10 หัวข้อ) แต่ที่น่าดีใจก็คือ ไม่เพียงแต่มีหัวข้อใหญ่ๆ ตามที่ลงชื่อไว้เท่านั้น แต่มีคนพูดในหัวข้อย่อยๆ ซึ่งแตกหรือต่อเนื่องมาจากหัวข้อใหญ่ๆ เสริมขึ้นมา ทำให้เกิดประเด็นที่จะพูดขึ้นมาอีก เพราะฉะนั้นเวลาสำหรับแต่ละคนจึงแทบไร้ความหมาย เพราะเป็นการพูดคุยแลกเปลี่ยนที่ต่อเนื่องกัน ซึ่งตรงกับคอนเซปท์ที่ว่า "อะไรจะเกิดมันก็ต้องเกิด" หัวข้อในงานมันไหลไปเรื่อยๆ จริงๆ

สำหรับในช่วงบ่าย บรรยากาศค่อนข้างจะเงียบเหงากว่าในตอนเช้า เนื่องจากหลายคนต้องเตรียมตัวเดินทางไปงาน WUNCA (กลุ่มคนที่มาหลายคนคลุกคลีอยู่กับ Opensource ใน ม.อ.) แต่ก็ไม่ได้แย่อะไรมากมาย

ถึงแม้คนจะไม่เยอะเท่ากับ BarCamp ของที่อื่นๆ แต่บรรยากาศก็ไม่น่าจะด้อยไปกว่ากันเท่าไหร่นัก เป้าหมายหลักในงานนี้คือต้องการให้มีการแลกเปลี่ยนความรู้ประสบการณ์เท่านั้น และเป้าหมายรองคือการ เผยแพร่ event ในลักษณะนี้ให้แก่คนในพื้นที่มากขึ้น ซึ่งผมพบว่าเป้าหมายทั้งสองอย่างที่ตั้งไว้ ค่อนข้างประสบความสำเร็จในระดับหนึ่้ง ซึ่งถือเป็นการปูทางให้กับงาน #2 BarCampSongkhla ซึ่งวางแผนจะจัดขึ้นในปีนี้ (ยังไม่กำหนดแน่นอน)

หลังเลิกงาน ตัวผมและ staff ได้พูดคุยสรุปถึงข้อผิดพลาดของการจัดงานในครั้งนี้ และพูดคุยถึงทิศทางในอนาคตของงาน BarCamp ครั้งถัดไป นอกจา #2 BarCampSongkhla ที่น่าจะจัดได้ในปลายปีนี้แล้ว ในปีถัดๆ ไป เราอาจจะมี SciBarCamp  หรือแม้แต่กระทั่ง HealthCamp เป็นครั้งแรกของประเทศก็ได้ ใครจะไปรู้

รูป staff (เรียงจากซ้ายไปขวา) @chobi_nizzy, aum, dreamcatcher soulless,@suppasu, @win_chayin, @lineer, @golfastro และพี่มะปราง@learner เป็นคนถ่ายรูป

และสุดท้ายนี้ต้องขอบคุณ อาจารย์ทุกท่าน ที่คอยช่วยแนะนำด้วยครับ

ป.ล. แก้ชื่อตามที่ Chobitz_nizzy บอกมาครับ

When Gods Own Country is hosting a BlogCamp, then its has to be very special. The Event will happen on a huge house boat. This is going to be the first unconference to happen on boat. The Event is hosted by Kerala Tourism.

Date :- 16th August 2008

Venue :- Alappuzha

15th is a holiday and 17th is a sunday. So 16th is the perfect date to be on a boat in Kerala with blogging friends. This is a limited entry event. So if you are planning to enjoy a blogcamp on the backwaters of Kerala add your details to the following form.

Url : http://www.blogcampkerala.com/ (brand new website!)
Shared Key : godsowncountry

You will be contacted to confirm your attendance.

Also Visit

http://www.contactvirus.com/blogcampkerala

http://barcamp.org/blogcampkerala

http://groups.google.com/group/blogcampkerala

Join the wiki!

Here is the list of the bloggers that I know personally:

Kenney Jacob - Disruptive Technologies

Im relatively new to blogging and would love to interact with the blogging community of Kerala. 2nd Barcamp of Kerala and the venue was sponsored by the Association of Computer Science Engineering Students (ACES) of School of Engineering CUSAT. It was a great success! Thanks to Kenney Jacob, an avid blogger, an entrepreneur, a technology evangelist, I got to meet and learn from many techies and entrepreneurs. The event was like homecomming! I cant wait for the BlogCamp and hope the event will be a resounding success in the tech circles of Kerala.

So do create a post like this and link up the bloggers you know.

Other bloggers who are talking about it:

BlogCamp Kerala - Kenney's Blog
BlogCamp Kerala - technoparklive.blogspot.com
Kerala Blog Camp - TheAnand's Ripples
BlogCamp Kerala - DailySEOblog.com
BlogCamp Kerala August, 2008 - andback.wordpress.com

More photos from the venue:

POE (post occupancy evaluations) were mentioned too often - I have an issue with POE  as a means to evaluate performance, and as they have been referred to before are the wrong tool for the wrong job.  Yes there needs to be post project evaluation, for as Ian Cooper notes, every building project without a feedback loop is a prototype. But to measure people performance through their relationship with the building is the wrong starting point. After all its about the service users 'experience'

The four key speakers were Prof Peter Barratt at BuHu Salford University - key message here for me was his comment that all the successful projects were led by Facilities Management, his case studies included the Sydney Opera House and Wm McCormack Place in Cairns as part of the Australian Facilities Management Action Agenda, the Trondhiem Hospital where the construction team were selected by psychologists to ensure they understood health issues, and John Zeisel's work in Boston USA with Alzheimer's centers

Neil Sachdev, Sainsburys Commerical Director, illustrated how they engage with their customers on store design,

John Lorimer from Manchester City Council on testing furniture with pupils against a background of how the school environment shapes and influences education , and

Nigel Oseland on POE's who also . Nigel also introduced the Dunbar's number concept of 150 and talked on biophilia kinship, of our history of camp fires and story telling, of seeking nature and space and waymarking, but now confined into office cubicles.  (We need to get out more, tell stories have camp fire meetings and connect with nature - not surprising then the increase in barcamps and benchmarkwalks)

The investment in really engaging with and empowering end users is impressive. Five years in the case of John Zeisel in understanding Alzheimer's needs in the USA , a huge investment from Sainsbury' s and the patient work in understanding pupil and teacher needs from Manchester City Council.  None of these three examples start with the building, but with the users.  Why then as an industry do we fool ourselves we can do the engagement stuff with one or two value management exercises and a POE?

I was not alone in noting an under theme of web 2.0 in the presentations and discussions.  There was the mention of pupils using second life to determine space and colour requirements, of the use of Web2 (twitter maybe, blogs, or facebook groups) in getting real, unsolicited, feedback from facilities users. I sensed though it was something to put on the wish list and get on with the business in hand.

It is a pity this was an under theme as to me as is where the real service user innovation lies. Service users make use of web2 technology outside of the work place, ie in second life, in twittering, in facebook, in myspace ... etc etc etc.  The innovation is in using this in design and facilities management.  We seem to be blind to or just awakening to its potential. The potential to allow continuous dialogue between service users and service providers / designers   This is not rocket science - those using twitter can contact the government on issues (and get a response) and be kept in touch with the Prime Ministers actions, speeches and even thoughts.

And then where - consumers constantly in dialogue with a supermarket on store layouts, on colour, on products and costs - office users ditto with the fm's on suggestions and wc complaints -  pupils on school design, residents on city facilities and urban design - on eco town developments,  and all in real time as it happens.

Definitely a topic to be discussed at the be2camp event in October

В Киргизию съедутся блоггеры всего мира

1-3 августа в Бишкеке в Американском университете пройдет первая международная конференция блоггеров и разработчиков BarCamp Central Asia 2008. Об этом вчера на пресс-конференции сообщили ее организаторы, передает 24.kg.
В ней примут участие около 350 программистов из стран Центральной Азии, СНГ, Восточной Европы и Скандинавии. Приглашенные обсудят развитие интернет-технологий в регионе, а также инвестиционные возможности различных интернет-проектов.
BarCamp представляет собой международную се… полный текст

Источник: CNews

This past weekend was dominated by all things beer with the Tusker Safari Sevens and Tusker Project Fame finals happening on the same weekend, I wonder how the Tusker big brass were able to divide themselves between the two events happening on opposite sides of town. Despite the obvious temptation especially on the former I ended up in a different type of Bar which was not a Bar. With a nudge from a techie guru whom I know and  also happens to work with skunks I found myself spending the better part of Saturday at Barcamp. Despite my initial misgivings about what I presumed would be a very techie affair with acronyms and abbreviations being thrown left right and centre I ended up learning alot and having a good time to boot.

Alot of posts (More than 10 at last count) have been writen up about the content of Barcamp Nairobi including pictures where I have spotted my smug mugshot in the crowd! so I won't attempt to try and go into the content of the presentations cos they have been covered my more worthy campers. Instead I will just state what I liked about it and what little more I would like to see added.

What I liked.

• Democracy, people got to choose what topics would be included and because the sessions were going on concurently in 3 rooms you had a choice of which particular session to attend this was a true reflection of 'people driven process
• Participation, was not only expected and encouraged it was demanded, it was not just about a speaker talking for half an hour while we were watching the clock in fact most of the times I got a feeling that the sessions were ending too fast.
• Networking, I was able to make the aquintance of several bloggers and persons in the blog and IT community who despite being 'famous' were all approachable and willing to engage all and sundry.
• Ubuntu, not the software (although I noted that many of the poeple attending are big fans of FOSS) but the spirit of humanity where people were genuinely willing to be helpful, this puts a human face rather than the obnoxious geek image that people have of the techies.
• Variety, It was not just about computer systems and develpment of software there was diversity in topics from setting up Ubuntu servers, rural lighting to Iphones and Blogging tips so I didn't feel left out although quite a number of the topics were above me I could still find enoug sessions to occupy me all day.
• Unconference, this terminology intrigued me and I wanted to know what it was all about but as the day wore on it impressed me, the informal nature of going about things, the lack of moderators, the diversity, the lighning sessions (I didn't think it would ever be possible to keep a public speaker in kenya to a presentation of only 5 minutes!) and the lack of the usual evaluation forms at the end of the seminar. there was not even a guest of honour although the PS for information turned up he particpated and contributed like any other camper.
• Mixed Grill,- not the food (there was none but I don't think anybody missed it) All sorts of people turned up from IT specialists, Bloggers, Civil Society, Enterpreneurs, Students and even government policy makers and all mixing and participating as equals and wanting to share something.
• HotSpot, thanks to Wananchi for some of us it was our first time to experience really fast, Unrestricted internet (really had to restrain myself from abusing the connection to do hefty downloads) connections and as the presentations went on we were able to google all the interesting facts that came up and I have a nice big BarcampNariobi bookmark folder full of juicy links to nibble over slowly with time.

Oportunities for Improvement

• Space, I guess even the organizers did not bargain for such a big attendance especially on a cold July Saturday but the 3 rooms for most of the sessions were full to capacity, I can bet that next time due to the favourable reviews I have read so far they can expect even more people
• Timing, ok this is personal! I really really really missed the rugby so next time tafadhali consult the KRFU calendar.
• Publicity, the whole thing needs to be demystified so that we can have more people coming in especially as presenters cos alot of times people get intimidated by technology and think that it is only for experts.
• Beer, si it's a Bar ama? :-)

so to the organizers of Barcamp this is my unofficial conference evaluation form in case you forgot!

Barcamp got me thinking seriously about Africas approach to ICT. Now, I might not have as many as 21 but I have questions nonetheless.

1. Where does Africa feature on the Internet?
2. Do we have the infrastructure to compete?
3. Are we tech savvy enough to compete?
4. Do we have the content to keep our own traffic local and attract traffic from outside the continent?
5. What is the way forward and how can all this be achieved?
6. Where am I going to figure in all this?

Since I don't want to take my employers time (I move to enter this post as evidence to support that litigation in the future), I will give my view and answers in my next post. For now ponder on that!

Come sempre si svolgerà ad Urbino e sarà un cocktail di quattro eventi che mixeranno divertimento e riflessione intorno al tema dei social media e delle culture partecipative.

Per quest'anno ci siamo allargati su tre giorni (10, 11 e 12 Ottobre) e come lo scorso anno il Festival dei Blog si svolgerà parallelamente a Parole in Gioco.

1. In particolare il tutto avrà inizio nella serata del venerdì 10. Stiamo infatti organizzando una cena geek per far incontrare e conoscere le persone appassionate che lavorano sul territorio nel mondo della tecnologia. L'idea è quella di promuovere la condivisione di progetti e idee, conoscere persone interessanti e creare magari le premesse per realizzare insieme quello che si ha in mente e che, per un motivo o per l'altro, non si è mai riusciti a realizzare da soli.

[nota bene: ci piacerebbe molto, in questa occasione, poter ospitare la prima girl geek dinner italiana fuori da Milano (o comunque in una realtà non metropolitana). Per fare questo serve un piccolo gruppo organizzatore locale, formato ovviamente da girls, che agisca sul territorio in stretta collaborazione con il gruppo delle organizzatrici storiche milanesi.

Se ci sono in zona volontarie è questo il momento di palesarsi :-) ]

2. Il giorno 11 il Festival ospiterà invece il primo BarCamp accademico in Italia. Si tratta di un BarCamp a tutti gli effetti con una track dedicata ad interventi di taglio accademico sull’impatto sociale di Internet. L’evento è di respiro internazionale e si ripromette di attirare i migliori ricercatori e studiosi di Internet in Italia e all'estero in un contesto informale caratterizzato dal libero scambio di idee e partecipazione. La felice coincidenza della conferenza internazionale dell’associazione internazionale dei ricercatori che studiano Internet che si terrà a Copenaghen la settimana successiva faciliterà la partecipazione di ricercatori provenienti anche da luoghi remoti del pianeta. Le iscrizioni dei partecipanti saranno raccolte, come al solito, tramite il tradizionale wiki di conversazionidalbasso.

La domenica mattina ci concederemo invece un pò di sano relax con la prima edizione dei giochi olimpici dei blogger e la premiazione del concorso fotografico "Living in a Wireless Campus".

3. I giochi olimpici dei blogger sono una serie di specialità che richiederanno la capacità di fare rete sociale e di muoversi nello spazio urbano della città rinascimentale di Urbino.  In tutto sono previste 6 specialità di cui 3 online e 3 in stile mixed reality game. Come lo scorso anno i vincitori saranno premiati con qualche succulento gadget tecnologico che dobbiamo ancora individuare.

4. Il concorso fotografico "Living in a Wireless Campus", organizzato da un gruppo di studenti di uniurb in collaborazione con Urbino Wireless Campus, è riservato a quanti abbiano ritratto una scena di uso dei computer portatili a Urbino. In questi anni ne abbiamo viste tante di scene divertenti di gente appostata negli angoli e nelle posizioni più impensabili. Per partecipare bisognerà caricare la propria foto su Flickr taggandola opportunamente. I primi tre classificati vinceranno rispettivamente una macchina fotografica digitale professionale, una cornice digitale ed un account pro su Flickr.

Come al solito per la partecipazione e per la comunicazione sono disponibili i seguenti spazi:

Wiki | Event page on Upcoming | Event page on Facebook

Infine, come sempre, il Festival dei Blog è aperto a ricevere e valutare proposte di partnership e sponsorship. Per chi fosse interessato è disponibile nella sezione "Diventa un partner o uno sponsor" un documento che descrive l'evento e le opportunità offerte dal Festival dei Blog ai nostri partner e agli sponsor.

Beeinflusst vom erfolgreichen Barcamp Hannover in diesem Jahr, soll mit dem ConventionCamp eine Kommunikationsplattform angeboten werden, um den Erfahrungsaustausch zu neuen Partizipations- und Interaktionsformen im Internet weiter voranzutreiben. Die Veranstaltung am Medienstandort Hannover versteht sich, vor allem auch wegen ihrer Zielrichtung, nicht als Konkurrenz zum hiesigen Barcamp sondern vielmehr als Ergänzung.

Event URL: http://www.conventioncamp.de

Location: ContiCampus am Königswortherplatz

Veranstalter: Institut für Management und Marketing (Leibniz Universität Hannover) & w3design GmbH