I love Barcamp’s. I love what they stand for, how they are organized, the people you meet, the bonds that are made, the inspiration you can walk away with. It’s fun.
This past weekend I attended a Barcamp, BarcampBank actually, in Vancouver, British Columbia from Texas.
“What?”
That’s right. I watched, nay participated, in a BarcampBank from the coziness of my home in Dallas via live streaming audio/video that was being done in Vancouver 2300+ miles away. My buddy and designer extraordinare, Brent Dixon, made the trip and streamed the event for everyone through Mogulus.
A picture from my end.
As someone from afar, the experience was ok at first. Watching folks interacting in a (un)conference is neat and I began imagining how this wasn’t even conceivable even 5 years ago. But, for me, the experience went from ‘ok’ to a ‘holy sh%#’ moment when a question was asked from the online chat got relayed to the live group who started discussing it right there. To me, it represented a seed being firmly planted in how the conference experience will be altered. Will all conferences, henceforth, be virtual? Heh, no, come on…face to face will always win but they now won’t be limited to within those buildings either.
Lastly, I also wanted to say thanks again to the organizers of the event, they are good people and are all doing AMAZING things and I want to promote what they do. William Azaroff (Vancity & ChangeEverything.ca fame), Tim McAlpine (CurrencyMarketing & Young&Free fame), and Gene Blishen (General Manager of Mt. Lehman Credit Union and the CU Godfather). Thanks for putting it together gentlemen!
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William Azaroff
September 27th, 2008
So glad you could participate! Gonna have to meet up again in person one of these days.
Tim McAlpine
September 27th, 2008
Thanks for tuning in and chiming in. Tech like Mogulus definitely gives us a peek at a very cool future.
mmpartee
September 28th, 2008
Hey Brad, it was indeed VERY cool that you, CUWarrior, Ginny Brady, Ron Shevlin, and others could check in and have some participation in BCBBC. Look forward to meeting you in person someday soon. (And I'm adding this blog post to the event wiki.)