BarCamp

Last weekend I attended Toronto’s first second BarCamp, called BarCamp Tdot because some people here (I’m not one of them) call Toronto “Tdot” (pronounced “tee dot”) or “the Tdot”. I suppose it’s because they want to have a name used only by true locals and they’re sick of the decades-old “T. O.” (which stands for Toronto, Ontario). Methinks that since BarCamp is not a local phenomenon, to have used the name Tdot wasn’t particularly appropriate in this case.

BarCamp was a wonderful experience. I don’t have time to blog about it but that’s OK because others have done it nicely. All BarCampers are supposed to participate actively (it’s an “un-conference”), and I led a session called “Socioeconomic Fallout from Web 2.0”. There were 18 of us (usually...for instance, AmberMac dropped by for a bit while checking out all the sessions, though she told me later at the mesh conference that she hadn’t really been able to hear much because of the multiple sessions without walls in between). I started the session by essentially repeating the contents of my previous post and then opening things up to a round-table discussion (literally, as we were all seated around a large round table!). My thanks to those who attended, especially the active participants: Martin Cleaver, Ken Schafer, Michael Bodalski, and others. And my huge thanks to the organizers, all volunteers (the event was free), with David Crow and Jay Goldman taking the lead, and the 20-odd sponsors who covered the expenses by contributing $250 each.