=== What is it? A BarCamp is something in between a social gathering and a group discussion, usually on topics involving technology. Everyone must participate- there are no spectators, only participants. On the outside, it might look like a meeting between a closed group of geeky people, but it's not at all that. What differentiates a BarCamp is its open-source nature. Anyone can attend it for free. All details are available on a wiki, which everyone can edit and help in shaping the event collaboratively. BarCamps happen all over the world quite regularly. In India, significant BarCamps are conducted in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai. In fact, BarCamp Pune 5 just got over on the 29th of November. Yes, Kolkata is missing from that list- This is BarCamp Kolkata 1, the very first BarCamp in Kolkata.
=== Should I attend? If you're inclined towards technology/ computers and intelligent conversation with interesting people, especially entrepreneurs, excites you, you should attend. If you don't stay in Kolkata/ don't know too many people there, it's all the more reason to attend- You won't see faces you saw in the previous BarCamp because there weren't any! Everyone will be meeting people they don't know, so don't worry about company. If you're an entrepreneur/ are planning to start up in the near future in Kolkata, you will gain invaluable contacts of people who already have experience in this field. If you're looking for bright students who can intern with you/ whom you can recruit, you should definitely come- some of the brightest students from IIT Kharagpur will attend (yes, the BarCamp itself is being planned out mainly by students of IIT Kharagpur). === What needs to happen before the BarCamp? People first get to know about it on the net and participate by doing whatever they can- publicize it on the net by blogging about it or similar, create some artwork for the event, or go hunting for sponsorship to help organize the event. As it gets closer and closer to the event, members are asked to confirm their participation and asked to decide a topic they'd like to talk about. === I want to attend it. What should I do? Attend it then. BarCamp Kolkata 1 is happening on the 3rd of January 2009 at the IIT Kharagpur extension center in Salt Lake. More details can be found on the wiki [ http://barcampkolkata.org ]. -- Ramkumar R (one of the event planners) _______________________________________________ ilugd mailinglist -- [email protected] http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
