Tag Archives | barcampphilly

it belongs to the community

I’ve been kicking this post around in my head for a while (along with sooo many others) and it finally seems like the right time to get my thoughts out there. Over the last four years, I have learned a great deal about planning events & conferences, and quite frankly — hustling. I’ve run on excitement, enthusiasm, soy chai lattes and the thrill of bringing awesome educational & inspirational experiences to the good people of Philadelphia. I have learned so much about myself in the process, and seen the good (and the bad) side of people. This year, I’ve decided to step back a bit and I wanted to provide more context as to why. So here goes.

Barcamp Philly After Party Photobooth

In the summer of 2008, I stumbled across the opportunity to bring the global unconference Barcamp to Philadelphia alongside my now great friend JP Toto. BarCamp Philly was decidedly a huge hit. Each year has been a complete sellout and the geek love that sprouts from this event is impossible to measure. Friendships are formed, new collaborations are developed, shy people become impressive speakers, new jobs are landed!  4 years running, real shit has happened as a result of BarCamp Philly. I’m not trying to brag — it’s a people-powered event and Philly knows how to represent! I’m so grateful to my fellow organizers, JP, Kelani Nichole and Sarah Feidt for making it so. And yes, you read that right, a rockin’ tech conference put on by 3 chicks and 1 dude!

Fast forward a bit, 2 BarCamps down, the next opportunity strikes… TEDxPhilly! TEDx events had just started cropping up in cities around the world and it was Philly’s turn. Conversations had started, introductions were made, a license was granted. Since BarCamp Philly was on such an epic roll, I was ready to conquer this event. Biggest challenge I’ve ever taken on, by far. The first year we held the event at the Kimmel Center. After doing BarCamps in donated university space, this was crazy to me. Like, a real professional grownup event in a top shelf venue. I thought I had hit the big time. After it was over, I felt like I was run over by a truck. So many insane lessons learned, so much left to learn.

The second year was far better than the first. I put those hard won lessons to work in a multitude of ways. The team was more focused, the tools were more appropriate, the speakers were more aligned, the experience was more thoughtful, the venue was more accommodating, the sponsors were more generous. It was a worthy challenge to work out some of the things that didn’t work the first go ’round. Due to better planning, I was fortunate enough to simply watch the show like an audience member. Quite frankly, I was just plain tired.

So this is where I tell you why I participated in bringing these events to Philadelphia. Because I genuinely care. I want people to be moved, to connect with others, to learn something new, to think differently, to see something they haven’t seen before. This is all done on a volunteer basis, so I have to care!

Caring is in fact the reason why it’s hard not to hear the naysayers sometimes. The ones that bitch about the price, the speakers, the choices we made. I already know, I can’t and won’t ever be able to please everyone. That lesson is learned! It took some effort and a thick skin to learn it, but there you have it. I care, dammit! And I’ll have you know, I hear everything and I’m always listening.

So why is it time to move on?

It’s just time for me to see something new, experience something different, be an observer, be an attendee. It has been an incredible experience to create platforms for people to share their awesomeness with each other. I’m proud of this work and have great hope for the people who will take the reins in the future… people who have also invested huge parts of themselves in making these events a reality.

It belongs to the community.

That’s my magic phrase that is guiding this transition. It’s hard to let go of things you have worked so hard for, but I know that it’s what’s best for the events and it’s what’s best for me.

Carry on!

p.s. If you’ve been on this wild ride with me, please give a shout below. It’s fun to relive the memories with all of you :)

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my community story

The vibrant community of TEDxPhilly, photographed by Kevin Monko of Monkophoto.

Earlier this week I was given the opportunity to share my experience with TEDxPhilly at an Innovation & Entrepreneurship class at UArts. When first asked by the wonderful Hilary Jay of DesignPhiladephia, I hesitated. Public speaking is not my comfort zone at all, and organizing TEDxPhilly this year was pretty damn challenging on many levels. What would I talk about? How would I close with a message of positivity? I was unsure how to proceed.

Before I go too much further, I want to say that Hilary gets it. DesignPhiladelphia is an amazing 10 day event that descends on Philadelphia each October, showcasing incredible design talent in the community, through exhibits, lectures, open studios and more. I'm in complete awe of the annual undertaking. The truth is, I reached out to Hilary independently, because when I see people pulling off such meaningful events, I want to reach out to them and ask – how do you do it!?

So back to class, back to this presentation. I was thinking about winging it and just riffing on the experience, but I realized it was a good opportunity to sit with it and think about it. I've had a canned answer for how things went, how I pulled it off (with an amazing group of volunteers), etc, but this was my chance to tell a story of how I got there and where I am today. 

This is how the story goes…

In the Spring of 2007, I came upon a group of likeminded individuals — web developers, designers, and generally enthusiastic people who wanted to change things up a bit in Philadelphia. Tired of the same old same old, you need to do things in this order, etc. While we ultimately all became great friends, this was also one of the first professional communities I had ever been a part of. Need design inspiration? Check. Wanna get that WordPress question answered? Check. And so on and so forth.  I always found this group to be very welcoming and everyone had something to contribute. And if you didn't, you thought of something. That's how it worked. 

It was this group that gave me the guts to co-organize the first BarCamp Philly in the fall of 2008.  It was a very pivotal moment for me. Oh hey, turns out I like this community organizer thing. BarCamp Philly gave way to Refresh Philly which gave way to UX Book Club Philly and ultimately my largest project to date: TEDxPhilly. Each project had different requirements, different community overlaps, different stresses and rewards. 

One of the best thing to come out of TEDxPhilly from my perspective was that it was the most diverse audience I had ever created an event for. Young, old, professional, student, musician, artist, scientist, nonprofit, corporate, techie, luddite, the list goes on. The TED brand is very powerful and draws people out the of the woodwork. That's why I wanted to bring it to Philadelphia — to help people discover new people and projects and get inspired again!

So what was the message I wanted to leave with these students? It was simple and this is how I put it:

Find community
Create community
Have fun (the most important thing)
Pass it on

When asked, "how do you find community?" I said this… Just show up. That's the first step. Inevitably there's going to be someone else there who is also there for the first time, and better yet, someone that's there to welcome you and learn more about you and your interests.

Maybe you ultimately decide you want to start your own community project — figure out how to do it, either dive right in, or ask someone you look up to how they went about it. Learn from your mistakes, and share them with others.

Make things happen. Don't complain, just do. We're all in this together.


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BarCamp Philly = AWESOME

When I signed on to help plan BarCamp Philly this past summer, I couldn't have possibly known the huge impact it would have on my life.  I've been talking about this recap post to friends, and realizing that there's not much more I can say about how great the event actually went (it was AWESOME) because I have already said it all on the BarCamp Philly blog.  What I did want to write about was how I went into this event as one person and came out another. 

I've always considered myself very much of a team player, someone who likes to collaborate, build something together, stay behind the scenes.  I am still that person, but in doing BarCamp, I had the opportunity to take a greater responsibility for the outcome by being a leader of the project (I shared that role with JP Toto, who thankfully let me run wild with all of my crazy ideas and plans).  I hope it doesn't sound like I am tooting my own horn here, but for the last month, almost every minute of every day was consumed with a persistent thought, "What can I do to make this event completely AWESOME?"  I hope that came across to people who attended.

So how am I different? I guess because I saw a shred of what I am capable of.  Those of you that know me well, hopefully think of me as your biggest cheerleader, always trying to be supportive of your projects and endeavors.  I'll do anything to help my friends become aware of their potential, and I'm not afraid to place my foot firmly in your a$$ to remind you of the path to happiness that lies before you.  I don't always believe in myself enough, however, and this event served as one of those reminders to JUST EFFING DO IT.  And now, on the other side of things, I'm ready to DO a lot more. So watch out.

BarCamp really is about community and we couldn't possibly have gotten anywhere without the help of all of the superb volunteers and of course all of the people who attended this user-driven event.

I am especially grateful to my dear friend Geoff DiMasi for believing in me and always encouraging me to swim in deeper waters. I'd also like to thank the amazing Kelani Nichole for working side by side with me on so many aspects of the event, from shirts to signs to incredible superpowers (possessing them, that is).  To Matt Knell, for not only rallying the NYC crew, but for constantly brimming with enthusiasm towards BarCamp Philly, every step of the way.

To Gloria Bell and Melissa Thiessen, who signed every single person into BarCamp and completely held down the fort while we ran around attending sessions and managing the event. To Dave Konopka for offering indispensable WordPress knowledge and firing up the BarCamp Philly wiki. To Marion Summerville, for assembling the most beautiful grid of index cards for the analog schedule. To Carl Leiby for creating the famous digital schedule (which is now open source for all future BarCamps). To Arpit Murtha, Jim Cavanagh and Aaron Held for providing and designing video content for the 13th floor lobby.  To Kendall Schoenrock and Carsten Petzold of LTLprints.com for donating stickers for our sponsor wall. To Dana Vachon and Katie Regenye for baking us the most delicious Open Source Cupcakes.  To the CIM crew for representing in force, and for offering a helping hand wherever possible.

To UArts for donating a dynamic and inspirational environment for learning and sharing. To Indy Hall for letting us host several planning meetings and for being a major catalyst in the Philly tech community. To P'unk Ave, home of the Junto, for hosting a welcoming pre-party on Friday night. To National Mechanics for letting us throw it down like rockstars (complete with RockBand) and for chipping in a massive amount towards our rapidly diminishing bar tab.

To all of our generous sponsors for contributing to the costs associated with BarCamp Philly.  To all of the speakers, who brought knowledge and passion to each of their sessions. To all of the attendees who came with an open mind and a positive attitude. 

And finally, to all of the new friends I have made as a result of this event. I'm thrilled to know you all and look forward to many interesting collaborations and enjoyable moments in the future.

Thank you EVERYONE for making BarCamp Philly AWESOME.

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are you coming to barcamp philly?

BarCamp Philly

I’ve been a total blog slacker these last few weeks, but I actually have a pretty decent excuse. I’ve been really busy helping plan BarCamp Philly, happening on Saturday November 8th at UArts, as well as putting lots of effort into keeping the BCP website so fresh and so clean and totally up to date.

I am super excited about BarCamp and you should be too!  Chances are, if you know me personally, you’ve already heard me go on about it, but if you haven’t, I will give you the nutshell summary.  BarCamp is an ad-hoc user-generated (un)conference where likeminded people come together, usually in a setting where people can break into groups (classroom situations are ideal), share thoughts and ideas, participate, collaborate, etc.  There are no pre-planned speakers or schedules. The attendees are the presenters (if they so choose).  Check out some of the people coming to BarCamp Philly!

The event is totally FREE to attend and you even get a t-shirt! You’ll also get the opportunity to chat with people who are doing cool stuff all over the Philadelphia region. We’ve even got some great folks from NYC coming, and I am sure points further than that.  We have plenty of fun events in the works before and after the event, so be sure to visit the BarCamp Philly website often to stay on top of things.

Last but not least, registration is required. It’s really key that we have a sense of how many people are attending and we do have to cap it at some point to make sure that we don’t exceed capacity of the event location.  So if you are thinking of coming and haven’t formally registered yet, please do it today!

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