Inaugural BarCamp Philly to be held November 8
Canary Promotion + Design is proud to be a sponsor of the first BarCamp Philly!
The first-ever BarCamp Philly, an all-day collaborative event for people involved in technology, media and creative fields, will be held on Saturday, November 8th at The University of the Arts in the Terra Building, located at 211 S. Broad Street (Broad & Walnut). Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m., and sessions will run from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. BarCamp Philly creates opportunities for participants to share knowledge, experience and support with one another in an open, classroom-style environment.
With over 200 registered attendees, registration has been closed, but people still interested in attending may add their names to a waiting list for possible openings. For more information, visit www.barcampphilly.org.
Philadelphia’s first BarCamp, organized by JP Toto and Roz Duffy, is part of an international network of BarCamps which have taken place across North America as well as in South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. It’s also part of a city-wide movement to encourage a collaborative creative community.
“With events like BlogPhiladelphia, PodCamp Philly and Ignite Philly bringing people from all over the region together to be inspired, BarCamp seemed to be a natural next step,” says Duffy, a web producer and a founding member of Independents Hall. “The connections that are possible may lead to new collaborations, new projects, future events. Hopefully it will bring more attention to our fine city!”
Toto, owner of a small technology consulting firm called 30Points Design & Consulting, attended his first BarCamp in Orlando. “I was hooked instantly,” he says. “About a month later, I attended Social Dev Camp East in Baltimore where I met fantastic like-minded developers, creatives and community organizers. After that it was obvious to me that Philadelphia needed to hold its first BarCamp. We hope that events like this inspire other folks to step up, organize more events and help lead the city’s technology and cultural growth.”
The events’ content is provided by participants, with the schedule being determined the morning of November 8th. All attendees are invited to present at BarCamp Philly and can sign up on a schedule when they arrive. Participants include web developers, designers, entrepreneurs, software engineers, public relations, marketing and social media specialists, community organizers and students.
Through BarCamp Philly’s website, participants have been exchanging ideas on session topics, which could include entrepreneurship, product design, branding, the broader social impact of social media and new technology, community organizing through social networking, understanding open source licenses, how to develop web or iPhone applications, and the state of the creative economy.
BarCamp Philly is sponsored by The University of the Arts, 30Points Design & Consulting, Canary Promotion + Design, ChoiceShirts, Comcast Interactive Media, Microsoft, Mother’s Work, Umlatte, AlertBot, BadCat Design, Empressr, Independents Hall, P’unk Ave, Rock River Star, and Wharton Learning Lab.
The name BarCamp originates as a play on Foo Camp, an invitation-only event held by open source publisher Tim O’Reilly. The first BarCamp was held in 2005, in Palo Alto, CA. The open invite event was a huge success and thus spawned a series of BarCamps all over the globe from Boston to New Zealand to India to Orlando and on November 8, 2008 in Philly. For more information on the BarCamp concept and events around the world, visit www.barcamp.org.
To schedule interviews and event coverage, please contact:
Megan Wendell, Canary Promotion
(215) 242-6393, megan@canarypromo.com