New Delhi Times - Gaurav Bhatnagar reporting from New Delhi, India

Marc and others have been lately blogging about how technology conferences are often expensive paid affairs. I would love to attend conferences but I am just too poor (right now...) to be able to afford such luxuries. So what can be the next best thing? How about organising one yourself? Well, its not a conference. Actually its an "un-conference" and its called Barcamp. Like the wiki says, BarCamp is an ad-hoc un-conference born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees. Barcamps have become pretty popular lately and many have taken place in North America and Europe. But this one is going to be the first barcamp in whole of Asia!



The Idea
I think Barcamp is a great idea and a big thanks to Jon for taking the initiative in organising one here in Delhi. The main differentiation between a conference and an un-conference is that in the latter every attendee is also an active contributor to the event and not a mere spectator. So one could contribute by presenting on a interesting topic, or by taking notes and posting on the wiki, or by pitching in for food or by playing emcee during the day. Its a democratic process where all talks and presentations are treated equal. There is no keynote, for example. The setting is informal and most speakers are not seasoned presenters.

The Theme
The theme for Barcamp Delhi is "Next Generation Internet: Web 2.0, mobile computing, and other cool stuff". Yes, thats a whole lot of buzzwords but I think consumer internet space in India is at an inflexion point. The mobile revolution is already well under way. There are a whole lot of new technologies that are defining this new broadband enabled always connected world. User generated content and citizen journalism have created an information channel parallel to mainstream media. How will all this come together and shape the future? What technologies will be instrumental in creating this new Internet? Which companies will matter? What new businesses will emerge? We hope we can get some insight and interesting discussions around these questions (Dude, you can't actually answer any of these in a day!)
And also note the "other cool stuff" in the end. That is for those of you who have some really cool stuff to show off but doesn't squarely fit in the web2.0 category. Doesn't matter. I mean, it is a democracy after all. And then India is the biggest of 'em all :)

What's in it for me?
Well, the materialistic answer is "Free food and maybe a Free tshirt!". But the karmic answer is that this an experiment in open learning and sharing. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join. It's a forum for bouncing off your ideas or showcasing what you are doing. Obviously it also helps people connect and network. And hey, you get to boast that you presented at the first ever barcamp, not just in Delhi, not just in India but whole of Asia! How cool is that?

When, where, what time, how do I participate?
Barcamp Delhi is scheduled for Saturday March 4th. More details on the Wiki.
Please feel free to contact me (gaurav at tekritisoftware dot com) or Amit (amit at uzanto dot com) if you have any questions. And do add your name to the Wiki if you plan to attend. Happy barcamping!