BarCamp Kerala is back to where it began, the Technopark. The 12th edition of the event, which is about sharing knowledge on technology and business through discussions, demonstrations and discussions, will be held at Technopark on April 22.
It is for the third time that Technopark is hosting the event, the other two being the first edition in 2007 and the fifth in 2009. Twelve editions in five years is no small achievement!
BarCamp, which started in the United States, is basically an ad-hoc ‘unconference born from the desire to share and learn in an open environment. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join.'
An event with no formalities or no registration fees, it is a user-generated conference, which is intense and fun-filled at the same time. “They are organised largely through the web and anyone can initiate a BarCamp. That is the first stage. The content, which often focusses on early-stage web applications and related to open source technologies, are provided by participants. All participants are encouraged to present or facilitate a session.
Everyone is a speaker and a participant. Usually, some 20 topics would be there, but all of them may not be covered. Nearly 150-200 people register for the event, of which many wouldn't turn up. Thus, the whole thing is organised in a disorderly way! However, there have been no issues till date and all editions have been successful. The best part is we've been able to hold editions in different parts of Kerala,” says Kenny Jacob, one among the founding fathers of BarCamp Kerala. The co-founder of MobMe Wireless Solutions, he is currently the CEO of WordZo and Ayruz Web Holdings.
A successful run
The second and third editions of the event were hosted by Cochin University. The fourth and eleventh were held at IIM-K, Kozhikode, sixth at Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology, Kakkanad, seventh at Kristu Jyothi College of Management and Technology, Changanassery, eighth at Mar Athanasios College for Advanced Studies (MACFAST), Thiruvalla, ninth at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri, Karunagapally and tenth at SCMS B-School, Kalamassery.
The first edition had around 100 people and usually around 100-150 people turn up for the event each time. “It is a great thing that the community takes the trouble to attend the event. When we started it, we faced problems with the name and the concept of informal meeting. Educating the community about BarCamps, finding a venue and the right community and informing them all, was a great team effort. By the time we had the third edition, we got requests from a few institutions to conduct it on their campus,” notes Kenny.
For registration and information about BarCamp 12, contact: Anand Subramanian (Kochi): 9846430463, Niju Mohan (Kozhikode/Kannur): 9995743824 and Kenney Jacob (Thiruvananthapuram): 9846831128.
