On the ground at BarCamp Sydney

Ever wondered what an open, free-form computer conference would be like?

Early on Saturday morning, at the BarCamp Sydney conference, a group of people crowded around the conference scheduling board. Most wore jeans and t-shirts, and all nursed take-away coffee. "Who's speaking first?" asked one of them. "No one so far – why don't you give a talk?" asked another. A young man carrying a laptop wrote his name and subject matter on an oversized Post-It note and stuck it on the scheduling board. "There – I'll give the first talk," he said.

BarCamp is an informal conference covering all aspects of the IT industry. It differs from most conferences in its philosophy towards content. Rather than scheduling keynote and industry speakers, all audience members are invited to speak on any subject. At the beginning of each day, participants write their names and topics on the scheduling board; in this way, the day's content is only decided once the audience arrives.

The BarCamp formula originated in the United States, where participants camped in tents during the event. It was an intentional rebuff towards more expensive, strictly-controlled industry conferences. BarCamps are held regularly around the world, in countries as diverse as Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Thailand. While all BarCamps are organised at a local level, they follow the same rules: fostering an environment of open discussion, without a pre-planned agenda.

Does the format work? Conference "unorganiser" Ajay Ranipeta said that "Everyone has something they can contribute," a view supported by the conference motto: "No spectators, only participants."

"People are often surprised at how much they know. But you might be an expert in some obscure field that everyone finds interesting. We don't want you just sitting in the audience."

This weekend's BarCamp was attended by over 200 people. Pre-conference registration took place on a wiki; on the day, an organiser with a laptop greeted attendees at the door. "Would you like to register? Then you are registered. Go and write yourself a name tag," she advised.

Participants came from diverse areas of the IT industry, such as web development, e-business entrepreneurs and a few freelance programmers.
Attendees were mostly young, mostly male and carrying the latest
gadgets: most had laptops, including the new ASUS nine inch Eee PC; many gestured with their handheld PCs and mobile phones to make a point.


Post-it Topics of Ideas and Discussion
The conference has no set topic, but a few key issues emerged over the weekend. The most prevalent was social networking, community development and communication.

It’s not hard to see why. Facebook alone has over 69 million active users and recently declined a takeover bid of US$1 billion by media conglomerate Yahoo!.

"Social networks provide ambient intimacy," said web developer Ben Buchanan. "You can stay in touch with the people you care about, and tailor the information you receive about your friends." Alison Young agreed. "Sites like Twitter let you become a part of your friends' lives. It really creates a bond with people, whether they're in your neighbourhood or on the other side of the world."

The interaction of social networking and business was explored by participants. Entrepreneur Elias Bizannes criticised businesses for failing to understand the importance of social networks. "Social networking isn't a business model; it's a feature," said Bizannes.

"All business products will need to incorporate that idea. So if you run a website, you'll need to understand the way your customers interact with your site and each other."

Mick Liubinskas, a developer, was more concerned about the monetisation of social websites. "We went to a conference for advertisers and all they talked about is how to get on social networks. But people will find somewhere to run to next, to avoid over-marketing."

Web 3.0 was also a key topic for participants. "The concept of Web 2.0 is a dynamic, user-driven mesh of technologies," said Tjoos.com founder Bart Jellema. "So what will happen in the next generation?"

Mr Jellema suggested that Web 3.0 would be completely data-driven.
"Data will be the key. There will be independence from platforms, devices and the internet. Users might be able to collaboratively design websites and applications. The barriers between applications will begin to break down as portability between applications increases." Said Gilad Greenbaum, "Perhaps the platform is the killer application in 3.0."

Others were more cynical; quipped an audience member, "The difference between Web 1.0 and 2.0 is how much your IPO is worth. Where's the money in user-driven content?"

Recent graduate Joseph Gentle said that any system that provides value will find a way to get monetised. "The money is in the application. Build a good enough application, and it will bring consumers – and with them, advertising."