Gov Barcamp is coming together at last - BarcampUKGovweb

Message from discussion Gov Barcamp is coming together at last
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From: Jeremygould <jeremygo...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [BarcampUKGovweb] Re: Gov Barcamp is coming together at last
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 21:33:04 +0000
To: BarcampUKGovweb@googlegroups.com

Rob, I'm with you on the unstructured approach to the day. I wasn't  
trying to be prescriptive but merely suggesting a very loose  
framework to try and entice those who haven't participated in a  
barcamp before and are nervous about attending - for example I wasn't  
suggesting that people stick to a particular stream but this was more  
to stimulate thoughts about direction of the various sessions, based  
on discussions I have had in and around Whitehall.

I think its of primary importance that we get as many government  
webbies coming to the event to meet and mix with those who also work  
in this area and have skills, experience and thoughts that could  
assist them. A rough attempt to try and create some of the day's  
agenda in advance might help that (and of course save some time on  
the day). I'm not really expecting that the whole day's agenda will  
be completed before the day but it would be good to know where we  
might start!

The stream titles are only there as ideas and can be dispensed with  
or amended depending on what people think?


On 7 Jan 2008, at 11:23, Rob . wrote:

>
> Great to see it all coming together!
>
> At all BarCamp events I've attended in the past, participants made a
> schedule on each day. This is part of the magic of the unconference:
> you give the participants freedom to express their ideas, and you
> maximize, not for structure, but for serendipity.
>
> Some of the best presentations I've seen have been a synthesis of many
> ideas and defy categorization. It'd be a
> shame if we miss out on seeing such presentations due to perceived
> schedule category constraints. Also it'd be a shame if opportunities
> for cross fertilization are missed because all people who self
> identify themselves with one stream title don't see any people from
> the others.
>
> My suggestion, for consideration by others, is that we drop the  
> stream titles.
>
> Rob
>
> On Jan 6, 2008 11:02 PM, Jeremygould <jeremygo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Fair points Richard. Its not meant to be prescriptive but more
>> encouraging for those who have informally expressed an interest but
>> have not signed up yet. In particular, this means those working on
>> web stuff inside government/public sector. There's a list of great
>> people signed up who have loads of expertise and experience to share.
>> But in my mind, if the people who actually do this stuff aren't there
>> then we are all missing a trick and an opportunity to create a common
>> vision about what we should be doing and how.
>>
>> All we are trying to do is stimulate some debate around the content
>> of the day in advance so that people have an idea about, 1. what to
>> expect and 2. where they might fit in. But it is all completely open
>> for debate, amendment and change depending on what the participants
>> want.
>>
>> I still think there's plenty of space in the day for the kind of
>> stuff you are interested in.
>>
>> Incidentally, I understand that there is a further event planned for
>> March which is much more focused on use of data, mash-ups, civic
>> hacking etc in particular rather than improving the way government
>> uses the web generally, but I am not involved in that one so can't
>> give you any more detail than that. Will ask around though and try
>> and update you.
>>
>> Jeremy
>>
>>
>>
>> On 6 Jan 2008, at 22:19, memespring wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Great stuff!
>>>
>>> Sorry if this sounds a little negative, but the structure sounds a
>>> bit, um structured. Looking down the list of people wanting to  
>>> talk on
>>> the wiki, they dont all seem to fit neatly into the categories below
>>> (mainly the civic hacking peeps). And it makes what the wiki  
>>> promises
>>> to be a very interesting event an bit dry.
>>>
>>> Unconference things like this Ive been to before have worked best  
>>> when
>>> this kind of thing is worked out on the day, or just a random
>>> allocation of slots/rooms.
>>>
>>> Great thats its up and running though :)
>>>
>>> Richard
>>>
>>> --
>>> /*
>>> richard [at] memespring.co.uk
>>> ++447976 730458
>>> www.memespring.co.uk
>>> memespring (twitter/skype/flickr/etc)
>>>
>>> Help map the world's online communities: www.groupsnearyou.com
>>> */
>>>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>
>
> >