October 10, 2017
BarCampPhilly is a user-generated conference and "AwesomeFest" that's celebrating their 10th anniversary this Saturday the 14th at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. We've been longtime sponsors of various BarCamps, and we're excited for this community to gather. Their die cut sticker is a bold use of the numeral and the color blue, with an illustration of fire symbolizing the spark of creative communities.
A BarCamp is an “unconference," which is a full day of six sessions in eleven rooms. The sessions are on a variety of topics, and the day is created collaboratively. Why we love unconferences is that they are built by the people, for the people. Attendees actually help create the schedule as the day begins.
The way BarCamp works is that when folks arrive, there's a big board with an empty grid with times along one side and rooms along another. If you're a planner and you have a talk ready, you can post it to the board. As the board fills up, people who are there for the event can start to see what’s happening and plan their day. Because this is an unconference, anyone can give a talk. In fact, the organizing team encourages any attendee interested in giving a talk to post their topic on the board. Most people are there to listen, learn and discuss in sessions. It's informal, yet formal and creative shines in this setting.
Topics at a BarCamp
The folks at BarCamp are open to creative ideas, and their content changes from year to year.Sessions and talks vary from the technical (“Wordpress Child Themes”) to the inspiring (“Running: Not Just for the Zombie Apocalypse”). From practiced talks (“Designing for People”) to open discussions (“Nerds w/ Kids Roundtable”). Also, if you don’t like the talk you’re in, use the “rule of two feet” to get up and go to a different talk.
Organizers make the magic happen
Behind every great gathering is the team that helps pull it all together. These folks work together with the partners and sponsors (like us!) to give the people at this event the best BarCamp experience possible. This is the crew, with their Twitter handles if you want to check them out.- Maurice Gaston: @mofro
- Brian Crumley: @briancrumley
- Joe Campbell: @joercampbell
- Amanda Clark: @CaptnPollyanna
- Lisa Yoder: @_lisli
- Briana Morgan: @babefromtoyland