Team Geared Up

TechCamp is beginning to make waves in the papers. Good stuff! Below are two articles…

In BizPlus.ie Magazine

29/08/05: TechCamp, Ireland’s first self-organising tech business conference, will take place on Saturday, October 15, in the Northside Civic Centre, Co Dublin
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The schedule for TechCamp will be filled by volunteer presenters speaking on technology-related topics, and showcasing innovative projects and systems they are working on.

The goal is to provide a forum where a peer-group can openly discuss and share ideas, and help foster technology innovation in Ireland.

The concept is based on the FooCapm and BarCamp forums that are held in Sebastopol, California every year.

Organiser Ed Byrne, of BDM Innovate, said: “The reason we set this up is because Ireland is falling behind the US in grassroots technology innovation.

“This means small and independent developers coming together to create new projects and found new companies.

“A possible reason for this is that we don’t have enough shared learning experiences, where a peer group meets to exchange knowledge and discuss developments.

“TechCamp hopes to solve this problem by bringing together a group of innovative and energetic individuals and providing a platform for them to collaborate.”

He said that the format of TechCamp is “unique” because it is a collaborative event.

It is not a presenter-attendee conference, everyone participates instead.

While admission to TechCamp is free, the rule is everyone must contribute to the event.

For example, participants could give a presentation, moderate a discussion, demonstrate a technology or help with running the event on the day.

Another innovative aspect about the event is the way TechCamp’s content and schedule is decided.

The event has been broadly outlined on the TechCamp web page, but the participants themselves will ultimately decide what the discussions will be and how the day itself will pan out.

The web page itself is open editable by anyone – so participants can add elements to it. Topics scheduled for discussion so far include: building a Web 2.0 business in Ireland, using blogs in third level education, and growing a user community.

Byrne said that logistically, TechCamp is completely different to the “run-of-the-mill” conference.

It is a collaborative effort, with the participants themselves organising the event.

For example, Gavin Byrne of the Media Co-op, is providing the venue and wireless internet access.

Attendees will work together to supply vital necessities for the day, such as projectors, whiteboards and coffee.

A list of participants can be found on the attendees’ section of the web page.

Some of people lined up to attend on the day include: John Breslin, founder of Boards.ie, Ireland’s largest bulletin board community and postdoctoral researcher at DERI, NUI Galway, in the areas of the Semantic Web, online communities and social networks; Fergus Burns, chief executive of Nooked, an Irish RSS marketing company; and Bernie Goldbach, contributor to the Irish Examiner and lecturer at Tipperary Institute. (29/08/05)

TechCamp to
foster innovation

29.08.2005 - Ireland’s first self-organising technology business conference, TechCamp, will take place in October.
On 15 October, a core group of well-known technology entrepreneurs will gather at the Northside Civic Centre in Dublin to address the perception that Ireland is falling behind the US in grassroots technology innovation.

According to the organisers, the format of TechCamp is unique because it is a collaborative event. It is not a presenter-attendee conference, everyone participates instead. While admission to TechCamp is free, the rule is everyone must contribute to the event. For example, participants could give a presentation, moderate a discussion, demonstrate a technology or help with running the event on the day.

Another aspect to the event is the fact that the participants themselves will decide what the discussions will be and how the day will pan out. The event webpage is open editable so participants can add elements to it. Topics scheduled for discussion so far include: building a Web 2.0 business in Ireland, using blogs in third-level education and growing a user community.

Some of the participants confirmed to attend the event so far include: John Breslin, founder of Boards.ie; Fergus Burns, CEO of Nooked; and Tipperary Institute lecturer Bernie Goldbach.

“The reason we set this up is because Ireland is falling behind the US in grassroots technology innovation,” explained Ed Byrne of BDM Innovate. “This means small and independent developers are coming together to create new projects and found new companies.

“A possible reason for this is that we don’t have enough shared-learning experiences, where a peer group meets to exchange knowledge and discuss developments. TechCamp hopes to solve this problem by bringing together a group of innovative and energetic individuals and providing a platform for them to collaborate,” Byrne said.

By John Kennedy