เคยเขียนเรื่อง BarCamp ไปแล้วสองครั้ง (ครั้งแรก, ครั้งที่สอง) แต่ไม่ได้จัดสักที ด้วยเหตุผลหลายๆ อย่าง

พอมาอยู่ที่นี่ มีโอกาสอันดีที่จะได้ดูวิธีการจัด BarCamp ของจริงว่าเค้าทำกันยังไง จึงสมัครไปร่วม BarCamp Leeds ซึ่งจะจัดวันเสาร์หน้า (17 พย.) อันนี้ขอบคุณคุณสุกรีคนบอกข่าวมา ณ ที่นี้ เรื่องที่จะไปพูดคือ Drupal ตามสไลด์อันเก่าที่เคยทำไว้

ที่เกริ่นมาตั้งยาวเพื่อจะบอกว่าปีหน้าเราจะมี BarCamp Bangkok แน่นอน ผมยังไม่รู้ว่าจะได้กลับไปร่วมหรือเปล่า แต่ยังไงก็มีแน่!!! โฆษณาไว้ล่วงหน้าเป็นปี ถึงคราวจัดจริงๆ อย่าพลาดนะครับ

ดังนั้นขอเอาจดหมายเชิญของ BarCamp Leeds มาลงให้ดู เพื่อจะได้เป็น best practice สำหรับ BarCamp Bangkok (ส่วนการรายงานบรรยากาศงาน รอดูใน Blognone)

BarCamp Leeds {2007} - One week to go!

Hey everybody! We're all excited about next week's BarCamp and with only 6 days to go, there's a bunch of useful information we wanted to share...

FIRSTLY...

We've got a lot of folks on the waiting list, so if you can't make it, PLEASE hit reply and let us know so we can pass your ticket to another deserving BarCamper!

The SCHEDULE...

Doors will open at 9:30am, and the welcome talk will start at about 10am. Then there'll be time to talk with other Barcampers, grab a drink, and sort out the day's schedule.

The sessions are provided by those who attend! We're hoping that folks will come along with interesting talks, sessions and workshops, ready to share their expertise with everyone else. The schedule is decided on the day using post-it notes, marker pens, and a big board, so don't worry if you haven't got anything ready until the last minute. By all means register your talk on the wiki - but you'll still need to scramble with everyone else for a slot...

Each session is a half hour and we recommend leaving a few minutes at the end for questions and feedback. There'll be a ten minute break between sessions for folks to refresh, think, and mingle. As BarCamp presentations tend to go on for longer than scheduled if not kept in check, we'd like to ask presenters to please keep to time - it's not fair to others if they keep being moved later and later.

FOOD, DRINK & REFRESHMENTS

Thanks to Yuuguu, Sun, and Green Communications, it's all on the house! We'll provide...

* a good lunch
* a mid-afternoon snack
* drinks and refreshments throughout the day

There'll be plenty of vegetarian options available; if you have any other dietary requirements, please hit reply and let us know.

PARTY!

BarCamp finishes at 7pm, but it's not over then; our afterparty, with free drinks both alcoholic and soft, goes on until 9pm, when we'll be headed off to an as-yet-unconfirmed bar in Leeds. The afterparty - and at least some of your drinks at the bar - are sponsored by none other than Rockstar Leeds!

FREE STUFF!

Free BarCamp Leeds stuff will also be available thanks to Stickyeyes, nti, Apple, Plusnet and Adobe. At various points during the day we'll be giving away iPhones, an iPod nano, and a copy of Photoshop CS3 - and there'll be collectible BarCamp mugs for everyone!

WIFI

There'll be plenty of laptop power points available, and each talk area will have a projector. (If you use a Mac, be sure to bring along or borrow a VGA dongle.) Wireless internet will blanket the whole of Old Broadcasting House, although some ports and services may not be available; if you need anything unblocking for your talk, let us know in advance so we can get the Leeds Met technicians on the case!

OUR SPONSORS...

• nti and Leeds Met University (www.nti-wy.co.uk) have kindly provided our venue, helpful staff, wifi and are looking forward to welcoming everyone to Old Broadcasting House. Also, thanks to nti, two lucky Barcampers will be taking home some goodies from Apple and Adobe.
• Sun Microsystems (www.sun.com) will be providing our refreshments bar throughout the day and giving the chance to win a Nintendo Wii to each BarCamper who enrols into the Sun Partner Advantage Program. Sign up at BarCamp.
• Yuuguu (www.yuuguu.com) are sponsoring our lunch. Yuuguu lets you interact with your colleagues and friends as though they were sat right next to you... no matter where in the world they are. Yuuguu is really nice to your PC or Mac; provided you can save a file on your computer and access the Internet - Yuuguu will work for you.
• Stickyeyes (www.stickyeyes.com) are sponsoring our BarCamp Leeds schwag. Stickyeyes is one of the UK's leading internet marketing agencies, providing a wide range of online marketing solutions which drive traffic to your website. Established as one of the leading agencies in its field, Stickyeyes provides a wide range of services including SEO, PPC campaign management, email marketing, affiliate marketing, viral marketing, strategic consulting and campaign management, and online PR.
• PlusNet (http://www.plus.net) will be giving away a pair of iPhones to a couple lucky campers! PlusNet is one of the UK's best value ISPs; based in Sheffield with a staff of 200, Plusnet provides dialup, wireless broadband, VoIP and unlimited broadband services.
• Green Communications (www.greencomms.com) are sponsoring our afternoon break. Green is a full-service communications consultancy; established more than ten years ago the firm has grown into one of the most successful agencies in the UK – a fact recognised by several industry awards and being named as one of the best small consultancies in the UK by PR Week.
• Rockstar Leeds (www.rockstarleeds.com) are sponsoring our afterparty. We asked them to give us fifty to sixty words to add to this reminder, but since they will have used 40 by the end of this short sentence, they're afraid they can only give you 20 of their favourites. Plinth; onomatopoeic; hula; crustacean; tautology; bolas; googly; chortle; malleable; crepuscular; hullabaloo; filibuster; simulacrum; procrustean; palindrome.
  SEE. YOU. AT. THE. BAR!

HOW TO GET TO BARCAMP LEEDS

We're at Old Broadcasting House, just off the Leeds Met campus (see http://maps.google.co.uk?q=LS2+9EN for a map). Please take public transport if you can. A free bus to Leeds Met University leaves from directly outside the city train station every few minutes, and Old Broadcasting House is only a couple of minutes' walk away from Stop #10 (see http://www.wymetro.com/BusTravel/FCB.htm ) - or around twenty minutes' walk directly.

From the free bus stop, head up Portland Way, turn left, cross the bridge over the Inner Ring Road cutting, and Old Broadcasting House is on your right.

From the train station, turn left out of the main doors, continue straight ahead up Park Row, crossing the Headrow after a while and continuing straight along Cookridge Street, until you reach the large A58 junction. Bear left and follow the road towards Leeds Met, then cross the bridge over the Inner Ring Road cutting, and Old Broadcasting House is on your right.

Carsharing is being organised on the BarCamp wiki. There is only limited parking at Old Broadcasting House; the nearest public car park is at Leeds Nuffield Hospital, and is run by NCP.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Do I have to do a talk? I'm scared!

Well... no. Officially, everyone at a BarCamp is supposed to either present or help out; in practice, about half the people who turn up present. We really hope you will talk, though; we can always open up more space for presentations if the schedule gets full! At other BarCamps, there have been some presentations where a hundred people watched, and some where only four people were there - but those four were fascinated by what was being said. So don't worry about being too obscure, and don't worry that someone's going to nitpick at your talk; it's a friendly and supportive event.

What can my talk be about?

Anything you want. Anything from neat hacks you've found, to the intricacies of Ruby on Rails, to raising venture capital, to something that isn't at all to do with technology (which are frequently the most interesting talks)! The chances are, someone'll be interested.

Can I come for just some of the BarCamp?

Sure, but remember that BarCamp's about skill-sharing and community; if you're just turning up for a couple of hours half way through the day, then you may want to consider giving up your ticket in favour of someone else who wants to be here for the whole event. As a rule of thumb, if you're going to be here for less than half of the day (not including the afterparty!) it might be best to hold back and come along to the next one instead.

THAT'S IT!

We'll see you on Saturday 17th November, at Old Broadcasting House, for the first BarCamp Leeds!

- Deb, Dom, Imran and Tom