Fighting the onslaught of “invite-only” expensive trade conferences, the Silicon Valley software community started the Bar Camp in 2005.
BANGALORE: An unconventional techie rebellion has reached Indian shores. Fighting the onslaught of “invite-only” expensive trade conferences, the Silicon Valley software community started the Bar Camp in 2005. A year on, the movement is in India, home to an enviable pool of technology professionals.
Delhi hosted the first ‘desi Bar Camp’, with 75 participants at the Adobe office. Staying true to the US concept, it was open to all and free of cost. “There were no big-ticket speakers, so anyone could sign up and make presentations,” said organiser Amit Ranjan.
The success of the Delhi Bar Camp made news in the blogosphere, and soon, city-specific groups started their own camps. Now Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore have joined the fray.
In India, tech conferences could cost Rs 3,500 per day or more. After being “bored to death at paid conferences,” Kiruba Shankar, Chennai Bar Camp organiser, said the “un-conference” set-up appeals as, “the best ideas anyhow occur at tea break or lunch when people talk freely and network.”
The event aims to foster sharing of ideas, where participants discuss topics like Web 2.0, an internet ecosystem or talk about the feasibility of innovations like the $100 laptop.
All Bar Camps have dedicated ‘Wikis’ - websites that allow users to add or modify content, giving information about the event, with blogs being used to woo techies.
The Hyderabad Bar Camp will see at least 50 participants, while Chennai expects to touch the 100-mark. “This will be a conference of peers and not another pedagogical do,” said Hyderabad organiser Ramesh Loganathan.
Chennai and Hyderabad will host Bar Camps on April 8, so the organisers plan to use video conferencing to enable techies to follow developments in both cities.
An essential for Bar Camps is a wi-fi (wireless internet)-enabled campus.
The Hyderabad Bar Camp will be held at Indian Institute of Information Technology and the Chennai event at the IIT campus. The Bangalore gig is still to be fixed. “Both Yahoo and Adobe campuses are available. Bangalore could easily attract max participants,” said R Muthu Kumar, Bangalore organiser.
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