June 28, 2007 – 1:04 am by Kris Neuharth
So I’ve only just today recovered enough to write about all that went on this past weekend. After a rough Thursday and Friday, fresh from my flight from New Jersey I decided to stick to the plan and take the train down to Chicago for my first BARcamp.
For those not in the know, BARcamp is:
A BARcamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from participants. The name BARcamp was inspired as a complement to FOOcamp, a private tech gathering run by Tim OReilly.
What it amounts to is all the free beer, Mountain Dew, Red Bull, and pizza I could consume for two days straight. Don’t worry, I pitched in too.
Let’s begin in the beginning and end in the end… I hopped on the train at 8am across the street at the Amtrak station and rode pleasantly on over to the Central time zone. I have to take this opportunity to mention that the train is far superior to any plane, they have bigger seats and power outlets. Wow. I was able to re-learn Javascript before we de-trained in Union Station.
So it goes without reason that I didn’t do much logistical planning before leaving for a city I’ve only been to once. I assumed that since Chicago has trains for public transit that they would all leave from Union Station in the Loop. Nope. After waiting in line for what I thought was the right train ticket I was politely told to go outside and walk a few blocks.
I walked outside and realized that the ticket person wasn’t clear which way South was. I found a city map and tried to get oriented when I was approached by a friendly local bum. He asked me where I was going so I said “Blue Line.” He told me that it was real easy, just to walk straight down the road I was on and I’d run right into it. I was jazzed with directions and gave him a few bucks and set about on my hike.
More on this “planning” thing… I was wearing shorts and sandals. It was cold and raining. Sub-optimal attire.
After walking a few blocks I realized that I had gotten some “bum directions” after having crossed the 94 highway. I asked another guy totally decked out in Cubs regalia on the corner where the Blue Line train station was. It may be important to note that I was rocking my Padres hat and that they trounced the Cubs last weekend, and to make matters worse, there was a bench clearing brawl over a stray pitch.
It was at this point that I realized I’d better play this cool, lest I arouse contempt in this man’s baseball-loving, possibly grudge-holding heart. He directed me “left for a few blocks” which I followed into Greek town. Very nice.
I finally came across a train station and felt relieved. I knew my stop was Damen but I wasn’t clear as to what direction that was. I can’t say that the map was the best but it’s probably more that I am very unfamiliar with mass public transit. A train arrived and I got on and sat down. All of a sudden I felt this wave of uncertainty wash over me and I stepped of, based on the map the train was headed in the wrong direction.
So I waited for the next train going the other way, got on and realized that the first train was actually what I wanted because it goes around the Loop and doesn’t just end there as the narrowing lines in the Loop vicinity would lead you to believe. Much time passed whilst awaiting my next train and taking in a bit of the urban culture.
I got on the train upon arrival and things were going well until for no explained reason the train stopped in the subway portion of my ride - for nearly 20 minutes. It was humid as could be on the already packed train full of sweaty, foul smelling people out and about for the day. At this point it became clear that I could never live in a big city that depended on mass transit like Chicago does, I lack the patience.
My stop came and I wandered around the Wicker Park area until I found my final destination. While ringing the doorbell to be let in, I was yelled at by a man in a cab who called me over to help him carry bagels and supplies for BARcamp. I promptly helped him with all of that and realized the true spirit of the event: totally community participation and commitment. This is the word made flesh of the Free / Open Source software movement, geek culture, and all the things I read about daily on Slashdot and Reddit. A true sense of belonging and that what I was a part of that weekend, and any other day, was important and exciting. All that from bagels, remarkable.
I got the lay of the land in this abandoned loft office building and plopped my stuff down, grabbed my computer and mingled around. I saw a version of the One Laptop Per Child machine which is a really cool project. Everyone who gathered around to hear the guy talk about it kept asking when they can buy one. Once released to the world I’m sure we will see all kinds of crazy applications of the machine for those of us not starving in a Third World country.
I spent all afternoon listening to presentations and wandering around to the various small meetings going on and taking in the culture. It’s not often I get to so deeply immerse myself with my own people. Work comes nowhere close.
The beer was free, courtesy of recent Google acquisition FeedBurner. Thanks guys! The beer was also very good with several kegs and a kiddie pool full of really good top-shelf micro-brews. My favorites were the Hebrew and the Flying Dog offerings.
It felt like pizza and provisions were arriving every several hours to keep pace with all of the arrivals. At peak capacity there were probably 150-200 people crammed into that place.
Into the night… the talks died down and the beer flowed freely. I worked on a pet side project of mine for a while and watched the DJ spin house music. After a very long day, and too much beer it became clear that I was in it for the long haul. As long as the music thumped there was no chance of much needed sleep. The crowd dissipated and I was one of the 20 or so people who stayed the night. For nostalgia’s sake the move Tron was projected onto the wall. When the music stopped at 4am I found a lonely corner on the decaying hardwood floor and crashed.
In the morning I awoke to the same scene and much of the same crowd as the day before. I listened to a very good talk on venture capital and took part in an entrepreneurial discussion. After more pizza and a few Mountain Dew’s I packed my things and strolled back to the train station full well knowing that the party would keep going well into the night again.
All in all, a great time. Next year I think I need to go with someone else and have something more to work on or get more involved with some of the ad-hoc projects going on throughout the weekend. The spirit of community, shared information and support, and unbridled passion all were very strong motivators. I learned a lot and probably most importantly, I didn’t win the “I puked first at BARcamp” t-shirt at 3am.
It would be awesome if the technology community in Ann Arbor / Detroit put on our own BARcamp in the near future. There are more than enough people in the area, especially now with Google in town. They are springing up in all the major cities across the world, why not here? I’d be down to help organize when the time comes.
Update: Official Flickr photoset
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