Of Mice and Men – My First BarCamp

The first BarCamp I attended was in February 2008¹: BarCamp Hannover (post in German).

BarCamp

BarCamp Hannover

I wasn’t sure if I should go. I had doubts. It’s about a two hours drive by car from Hamburg. How would it be? Why should I spend “lots” of money to listen to some Internet stuff? The BarCamp itself is for free, but is it worth the money? Shouldn’t I better spend my time and money to get to somewhere else? Like going on vacation.

In the end it was one of the best decisions of my life. I learned many new things. Not only Internet stuff, but also something about me, uncertainty, prejudices, and comfort zones. Mine to be exact.

Things I Learned at BarCamp Hannover

I can’t remember the content of the talks. Only the unconventional talks I can remember: Internet in China, and head hunting. Although I haven’t been to both. An important part of attending a BarCamps is being open to new and interesting topics. And that doesn’t mean just Internet technology or Internet culture but completely different stuff.

I remember the participants very well. I still meet a lot of them five years later regularly at BarCamps and similar events. And I don’t want to miss this.

The experience that interested attendees don’t need an organizing middleman and that there’s no need for an “official” body to get permission from to create something awesome is one of the most important insights for me.

So: #barcamps #ftw

¹ Actually, my first BarCamp was WordCamp 08 in Hamburg about a month before in January of 2008, but it was setup just a little bit differently and was mono-thematic.

WordCamp 08 in Hamburg