I honestly don’t know how to write this review, because I’m of two minds. Let me tell you what I mean:
I had no idea what to expect from BarCamp. My first exposure to it was via a small graphic slug on Rex Hammock’s site, followed shortly thereafter by a similar graphic at Jackson Miller’s. So of course I assumed it was a developer/geekfest type thing to which I would be able to make little or no useful contribution.
Then Christian Grantham began chatting it up at NiT, and asserted repeatedly that it was “for everybody.” You only had to present in order to come. I had a few ideas for presentations, but nothing concrete. Then further conversations with organisers repeatedly advanced the idea that this was for everyone. You didn’t even have to present. In fact, it was billed as an “unconference.”
Because of the whole MCB thing, I decided that I should not only go, but also speak as well. So I wanted to know what to expect. And I watched a LOT of YouTube BarCamp videos. I saw a lot of talk about “no agendas” “blank sheets of paper on the wall” and “getting together to brainstorm.”
Cool.
Except….that’s NOT what BarCamp Nashville was. I don’t know if it’s because they didn’t trust us to be geeky enough for Freeform or if by the time something like BarCamp reaches the Bible Belt we have to force it into the standard PowerPoint-A-Rama that we’ve all come to know from church, sales meetings and overly dull e-commerce pitches.
Our BarCamp had not only one but two agendas. There was the main speaker forum at the Exit/In, and the sideshow speaker forum at Cafe Coco. But this was no UnConference. If the original BarCamps were Woodstock, then BarCamp Nashville was The Us Festival, complete with the Us V Them mentality so prevalent in the Nashville culture.
There were the nametag folks and the lanyard folks. There were the unwashed (and steam-pressed) masses in the Exit/In and the VIPs who had access to the air-conditioned VIP Bus–fully stocked with free beer. Don’t get me wrong; if you work for a company that ponied up massive dough to feed the throngs of nerds from all Nashville, then I suppose you have every right to expect air conditioning on a 100degree day. It just seems to me that if you are promoting something billed nationwide as a freeform idea exchange on a level playing field, then it’s a good idea to…have a freeform idea exchange on a level playing field.
To that extent I kinda feel like BarCamp Nashville wasn’t a true BarCamp when compared against the 2 minute YouTube segments I watched before hand. (Yes, that’s the extent of my knowledge about BarCamp. So I could be talking out my ass here. Maybe they’re all like this one.)
Did I have fun? For most of it. There were a couple of presentations which either went over my head or failed to stay on message enough to hold my interest. But that’s anywhere you see a Powerpoint. For the most part it was fun, informative and a good way to finally see some people (Hi, Gavin! Hi, Paul! Hi, Christy!) in real life I’ve heretofore only known through blog conversations.
I liked what I experienced–but I don’t think I experienced a BarCamp.
Regardless of whether or not this was hippie enough for my tastes, I have to say a HUGE thank-you to all of the people who sunk hours upon hours of time and effort into getting this event off the ground. I know the amount of work which goes into these things and I truly do appreciate the fact that you all took the time to put it together.
I figured that what we saw was what most Barcamps were. Interesting that it could have been different. I wonder if it turned into this because of the size. Of course, given the quality of many of the presentations, i’m not sure how free-form would have gone over. Your presentation ended up being free-form anyway. Good stuff.
Liked getting to meet everyone too! Glad to see everyone for real and not in 100×100 pixel thumbnails
>I liked what I experienced–but I don’t think I experienced a BarCamp.
Agreed. It didn’t seem any different than other web/geek conferences, except that it was free. Which was really, really nice. But not particularly interactive.
[…] BarCamp Nashville–My Thoughts « Just Another Pretty Farce (tags: barcamp conferences barcampnashville) […]
My guess is that it might have been a little more interactive without the stage and podium set up, but I suppose the venue set-up dictated that. But my experience has been (and yesterday proved) that it can be intimidating. I think I asked the greatest number of questions of any participant and I don’t think it was due to the material and/or my knowledge of it.
Good points. It’s hard to think of it as an “unconference” when it’s just so darned conference-like. But I enjoyed it, and I too thank everyone who put time, effort, and money into making it happen.
Kat,
It was nice to meet you yesterday. I agree with you about the un-unconference schedules and stages. The BarCamp name feels a little co-opted.
I do think it was a great event. I have also heard rumors of a more traditional BarCamp in the future.
I’m still waiting for my brain to cool off, but I agree with your points. I really appreciate the work that went into it, and enjoyed many of the presentations, but expected a little more informality (is that a word?) and more mingling of the different types of attendees.
First of all, much thanks to you and Ivy for the presentation. It really was organic, and once it got rolling, it went very well. You are doing a great job as EIC of MCB (makes me wanna go take care TLC), and you expressed your passion well at the conference.
I suspect that some of the maybe ‘over-conferenc-y’ stuff was due to the fact that the organizers were wanting to get it right and not being sure of what audience was going to show up. I suspect the next one will be a little more like what you were thinking was going to happen this time.
Here is the question I was going to ask, if another question was needed: There is a perception of a ‘blogger clique’ in Nashville, originally centered around NIT. Do you think that MCB has helped ‘bust that myth’ or is perhaps perpetuating that myth? I realize that maybe the ‘insiders’ at MCB aren’t the folks to totallly answer that question, but I’m interested in your thoughts on this subject.
Again, kudos for the job you do.
Katherine, it was so good to see you. Avoid the clowns (I was so pleased you liked that.)
I’ve got lots of things swirling around my head about BarCamp.
Take care and sending many good thoughts.
hey kat, it was great to catch up with you yesterday as well. not to mention the many other fellow bloggers, whom i look forward to know more in the future days.
not sure if you were around for the ‘welcome’ but when barcamp was described in the welcome it sounded like the original concept was an open source conference. those conferences are incredibly difficult because they require everyone’s participation and most everyone needs to have a high level of understanding for a particular topic. i know, cause i’ve tried to organize this stuff before and it is hard when you want to teach people, but yet fuel the growing tech community.
i figured the cafe coco venue was going to be more open source than the exit in venue, but maybe it wasn’t
at true open source conference/gathering would just put people in a room and whatever came out of that room is what came out of that room. people might shift around to new spaces and start new conversations.
i know for me, i probably wouldn’t have gone unless i knew what some of the speakers were. if you had said “open source” i would have considered it, maybe have gone provided i knew some people going, but i know i wouldn’t have been able to take wife with me.
i liked the feel of it, liked the speed of it. the content was good on most elements. though some wandered or were hard to follow. i look forward to next time being more open source as this was a healthy jumping point.
[…] what appealed to me (and apparently at least one other attendee/speaker.) I saw a lot of talk about “no agendas” “blank sheets of paper on the wall” and “getting […]
[…] Kat Coble: I liked what I experienced–but I don’t think I experienced a BarCamp. […]
Kat, I consider it a success because I finally got to meet you.
…and Mr. Kat.
Good to see you and meet your hubby as well.
We definitely need to meet for dinner.
I think it’s interesting that Marcus really laid into me on my post, (which really wasn’t about Barcamp per se) and yet no comment here.
I’m not quite sure what to make of that.
I’ll chalk it up to he’s hot and tired.
I think it’s interesting that GoingLikeSixty replied to Marcus here, rather than on his own blog where Marcus commented. I was going to comment there too, but Marcus summed everything up better than I could have.
The truth is john h hit the nail on the head. Had we created BarCamp Nashville to be truly a traditional open source barcamp we would have had a much smaller turnout.
The essence of what we were trying to achieve was to bring different areas of Nashville together under one roof to become a tighter community. As I said during the opening, we want to put Nashville on the digital world map, we certainly did that yesterday.
Cafe Coco was added so those seeking an even more bare-bones barcamp session would have a place to congregate.
We’re thrilled that everyone had a good time and the community is that much tighter now. Now it’s time to go to sleep.
Peace.
Dave Delaney
I think it’s interesting that GoingLikeSixty replied to Marcus here, rather than on his own blog where Marcus commented.
I responded to Marcus over there.
Had we created BarCamp Nashville to be truly a traditional open source barcamp we would have had a much smaller turnout.
Would that have been a bad thing, necessarily. As I responded to Marcus over there, I saw a lot of folks grab their swag and head out early.
For our purposes, yes, it would have been a bad thing. We wanted to bring the different areas together, so that we would all become one community.
The interest seems to be there, so why don’t you start a MeetUp, or Geek Dinner of your own?
Cheers,
Dave
The interest seems to be there, so why don’t you start a MeetUp, or Geek Dinner of your own?
We have those all the time already.
In fact, we had one the night before BarCamp and we’re having a picnic next Sunday.
hey kat, thanks to erin (who has been catching up on the barcamp breakdowns) mentioned a little take to task on ‘high functioning.’ i’ll consider it a bit of fun poking. i mean no disrespect to individuals, but when you get a large group together there is a varied learning curve & a broad topic base it is just too difficult to ensure a high end community. ie. erin wasn’t going to be able to have a technical conversation on blogging (though she knows community as we talk on that pretty frequently), video graphics, iphone apps. but she could more than talk about analytics. me, i could talk blogging, web design, but some programming or even twitter (which i am still figuring out) i am a wash.
&:~)
As I didn’t attend, take what I have to say with whatever grain of salt you have onhand.
I’m am actually surprised you had different expectations from what actually happened. No matter what they promised. Anybody that’s ever worked with groups of people knows that everything eventually gets systemetised – ALWAYS. It cannot be avoided.
When you accidentally hit upon something truly spontaneous, the first time is the only time it will be that way. In marriage, you can’t really have a “let’s be spontaneous” day, because you have to plan it in advance, and , well…
Ever been to a church that claims to “not be like church?” Everything looks so chaotic and unorganised on the surface. And yet, when you peel back the covers, you see a church organization, with church warts and lots and lots of commitees.
Even the anarchy club meets on a schedule.
After every Woodstock, there are myriad US festivals. It’s just the way of the world.
(And I prefer the US festivals, myself – I’m too ADHD and NEED the structure to concentrate). Others want sponteneity, and that’s cool. But, you’ve got to be there at the first to get that.
I really wish I could have gone to this. I’ve done Disney World in August and Ft Myers in July. Heat doesn’t scare me!
Just have to jump in on this conversation, because I do find it utterly shocking how negative people can be even in the face of three guys working unbelievably hard to pull off something innovative in a town not known for such things. I also don’t care a lick about offending people, so here goes. A few points:
1. Nashville is NOT yet a progressive place. Doing BarCamp Nashville was a bold move that aimed to forge an environment of communication and innovation and connect people who had formerly not known one another. While I grew up in Kentucky, I’ve since lived in, worked in, or visited 35+ countries and am a recent transplant from LA. I’ve worked with four different startups, three of them tech. Nashville, at the moment, just isn’t an environment that yet does a good job of incubating and promoting innovation.
2. BarCamp was wildly successful in helping entrepreneurs and media leaders connect, which is key to moving a city like this into an stage in which the creative class migrates here to do good work. Starting a tech company is a lonely, frustrating thing, and BarCamp helped connect us all. I had no idea Studio Now, Nashflix, Cabedge, etc. even existed before BarCamp started bubbling. We’ll all do better work now, and our doing better work means that our companies will create jobs and advance the brand that Nashville is trying to build.
3. I can’t speak for the organizers at all, but I’ll just say that I don’t think BarCamp was about bloggers at all. It was about the people and ideas that are pushing things around in tech and media. Bloggers aren’t for the most part the innovators; they are the commentators. And it sounds as though most of the Nashville blogging community was already pretty well connected, anyway. (Brittney’s talk aside, though – she was great).
4. It’s ridiculous to say that BarCamp Nashville wasn’t “BarCamp” enough. Nashville is new to tech and the players weren’t familiar with one another’s work yet. BarCamp put out the basics (understanding what is going on) for us to work from. And yes, like I said above, the innovation will come out of the entrepreneurs and developers who are creating rather than simply commenting.
5. So basically I thought BarCamp was great and think the guys pulled off an amazing thing.
Thank you for reading, and goodnight.
Nashville is NOT yet a progressive place. Doing BarCamp Nashville was a bold move that aimed to forge an environment of communication and innovation and connect people who had formerly not known one another. While I grew up in Kentucky, I’ve since lived in, worked in, or visited 35+ countries and am a recent transplant from LA. I’ve worked with four different startups, three of them tech. Nashville, at the moment, just isn’t an environment that yet does a good job of incubating and promoting innovation.
Oh God help us.
Kay West has morphed into some kind of hip Gen Y Tech guru.
Kat…I’m Kay West? Is this what you are saying?
I’m saying you bring that same “Nashville is a town of Hicks, and I know because I’ve seen the Big City” attitude that was so prevalent in her restaurant reviews.
It’s fashionable to look at Nashville that way, and to look down on “bloggers”.
But I don’t think I’m gonna take the time to point out all the Tech and New Media and Startup business and Business Owner people who are bloggers here in Nashville, because I’m tired of doing that.
You’re relatively new here. Maybe before you lay into the blogging scene you might want to sit back and realise just how many of us are the EXACT people BarCamp wanted to reach.
“Nashville is a town of Hicks, and I know because I’ve seen the Big City”
Nope, that’s not what I’m saying at all. Just saying that BarCamp was a great thing because
a) Nashville isn’t a great hub for tech startups now; but
b) this event helped connect those of us who are doing them; and
c) we can do better work now.
I just mentioned that “big city” stuff to note that I have been out there and have enough data to make statement (a). Nashville is a great city and I’m excited to building a company here because it has much more to offer in the way of authenticity than most other places I’ve been.
In terms of laying in to the blogging scene, maybe you’re right, but what fun would that be?
Hey 60,
I am hot and tired. Seriously… very tired.
Kat,
I just have such a hard time understanding how a volunteer based event that was free and tried so hard to celebrate what all of us are doing can still be the subject of so much scrutiny.
I really don’t have anything else to say. Peace.
marcus
I just have such a hard time understanding how a volunteer based event that was free and tried so hard to celebrate what all of us are doing can still be the subject of so much scrutiny.
Because when you invite people to an opensource event, part of the opensource is getting feedback.
I thought you were cool with that.
Oh, I’m all good with feedback. In fact, I think you need to get to know me a wee bit better. I think you may see me as some corporate tool or something.
I’m all about Open Source, and have contributed to OSS as long as I have been a programmer. There are, of course, general rules of courtesy that help Open Source projects actually grow and become successful. The first rule is appreciation for the work that came before you got involved. Once you have that rule down, you can move into the constructive criticism that will help to make the project better.
Obviously, if you diss the project founders for their work, you expect to get dissed back. It’s kind of like, “well go start your own shit then.” And Kat, I know you are good at that, so this is not a threat, it’s an invitation. If I never have anything to do with another BarCamp, and I may not, at least I know that progress is underway.
I disagree with a lot of what you said about the day, but at least we’re talking now which is better than before. I saw part of your presentation, and it was good and well attended. Sorry I couldn’t stay for the whole thing.
Here’s something I should have said to you that night and on the blog earlier. Thank you for actually being committed to the event and staying the whole damn day. You braved the heat, some not so great presentations, and some things that pissed you off to be a part of it and I commend you for that big time.
Maybe you’ll be an active part of creating the next one?
I nominate Kat to run the next BarCamp! Everybody with me!?!
Let me know the date when you get one.
I nominate Kat to run the next BarCamp!
Do Open Source events have “runners”?
Regardless, I think I’m on record somewhere (GoingLike60, maybe) as saying I’d be more than happy to work on the next one.
I would have been happy to work on this one, too, but one of the sponsors seemed less than enthused about any participation from me. Which is understandable, given my open critique of his current business models.
The first rule is appreciation for the work that came before you got involved. Once you have that rule down, you can move into the constructive criticism that will help to make the project better.
So, wasn’t the fact that I stayed all day, didn’t avail myself of any free drinks, encouraged others to come by actively promoting it, thanking you and Kelly in person and then saying
NOT appreciative enough?
I wasn’t one of the 150+ people who hightailed it after getting a swag bag. I was one of the more active non-sponsor participants there. I personally thought I met all the etiquette rules for Open Source critique.
“well go start your own shit then.” And Kat, I know you are good at that, so this is not a threat, it’s an invitation.
What is it with the men in this town not wanting my help with making our joint events better, but wanting me to go start my own competing thing instead? I sooo do not get why that keeps happening. Surely we’ll all realise that my analyses of situations are not without merit.
I disagree with a lot of what you said about the day
Such as…?
I saw part of your presentation, and it was good and well attended. Sorry I couldn’t stay for the whole thing.
I’m sorry–I didn’t see you there. Then again, I was dealing with a fair amount of stage fright. I’m glad you appreciated what you saw.
Maybe you’ll be an active part of creating the next one?
As I’ve said before, I’ll happily get to work on planning another one this week if that’s what people want to do.
ok. You win. You were plenty appreciative and I really need more sleep. Lemme get back to you next week. 🙂
Birdwhistell made the point that we have been driving at through all of this, right from the very start when Marcus and I dreamed this up.
We want to put Nashville on the Digital Map.
We want innovative tech (and other) companies to open up shop here, to hire local talent and to invite new talent to this great city. BarCamp Nashville was created for that purpose, and to help the companies and individuals already here meet new people. The community has expanded greatly since Saturday, so says the blog posts and comments that follow.
As for organizing the next BarCamp Nashville I nominate Kat too. Kat, you seem to have a really clear understanding of how this works. So how about it? How about not offering “to help organize”, but to actually organize the next one? Why don’t YOU lead the next one? What do you say? Are you up for the challenge?
Cheers,
Dave
Wow. After recovering from my heatstroke, I was feeling pretty good about BarCamp, but this thread has ruined that. What the hell is happening here? Kat offers some criticism–mild criticisms in an over-all positive report–and all of a sudden it’s “Hey, let’s everybody insult and patronize Kat, insult and patronize bloggers in general, and then bully Kat into organizing the next BarCamp!”
It was hot. It was too hot in the Exit/Inn. It was different than the other BarCamps seemed to be. And it was still cool as hell and interesting as all get out and worthwhile and I’m looking forward to one held maybe in January, if we’re going to have that many people packed into a space that size. How is that so damaging to folks’ egos that you’re running around acting like this?
It’s true that I’m just a blogger and I lack the ability to innovate, only comment, but in my real life, I am in charge of all things digital for my company and I had been feeling really good about what I heard there in terms of how it would help me professionally, but now I’m feeling a little grossed out by the whole thing.
Can we get a list of which of you think you’re better than the bloggers and are hostile to criticism so that I can steer clear?
I’m all for a “cooler” location next time. It was crazy hot in there.
Cheers,
Dave
Wow this is getting ridiculous. How about we turn this into a big controversy and then let’s talk about it at the next BarCamp!?!?! I’ll just go on record and say that this is why I posted this morning:
I’m all for constructive criticism and take it daily in my product development cycles, but I found Kat’s post to be critical in un-productive ways and was simply offended by the “know-it-all” tone that she assumed.
It was just a purely personal response to someone I thought was being bad for America.
What a disappointing exchange. You may think me biased, but I genuinely thought Kat’s comments were balanced and fair, were not inappropriately pointed, and deserved consideration. I know it has to be hard to hear ANY kind of criticism when you’ve worked so hard on something, and it may even feel harsh to read these kinds of comments now rather than after some time has passed. But who would remember the details after some time had passed?
Ask yourselves: how many of you have ever been a conference or event of any scale that didn’t provide the opportunity for participants to give feedback? I can’t think of any, and I’ve been to a lot of conferences, conventions, meetups, brainstorming sessions, and other stuff like that. I’ve organized quite a few myself. And we always had a mechanism for gathering feedback. And you don’t do that because you ONLY want pats on the back — not that you aren’t secretly hoping you’ll only get pats on the back! Of course that’s what you’re hoping. But your first critique brings you back to reality and you swallow your pride and read or listen on and resolve to do better next time.
There were no feedback forms at BCN. It would have been a little weird if there had been. But Kat is doing what a lot of attendees never take the time to do — she is providing thoughtful input about what she didn’t like and what she thinks could be better. If you didn’t know all along that you were going to have to see some less-than-glowing assessments, guys, you weren’t being very realistic. That’s just how it goes, especially when you assemble hundreds of people with diverse backgrounds and interests and levels of experience in the various topics at hand.
Believe me, I’m sympathetic to how ugly it must look to read any uncomplimentary assessments so soon after such an exhausting endeavor, but if you don’t read them now, they’ll never be available again, and their relevance would soon be lost anyway.
I’ll just go on record and say that this is why I posted this morning:
And where, exactly, was this posted?
Hey,
Once more, I apologize and admit that exhaustion had a lot to do with my replies. I’m well rested now and appreciate Kat’s feedback. All the appreciation and criticism all show that she cared enough to recap and share her perspective. And, like I said, she was one of the peeps who stayed the whole day, which is noble.
Kat’s feedback is just as valuable as everyone else’s. I don’t completely agree with some of her points, but that’s totally fine. She’s still a very important part of BarCamp Nashville.
If this is too off topic, delete it.
SxSW is looking for input on their panels for next year.
http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/
[…] been a healthy discussion going on (like here and here) about how it wasn’t a “real barcamp”. While I tend to agree that it wasn’t […]