Institutional Web Management Workshop 2008:
IWMW 2008 Barcamp

IWMW 2008 BarCamp

This year delegates will be given the opportunity to run their own BarCamp sessions.

A board will be provided at IWMW 2008 for people to post up ideas for slots, rooms will then be allocated. Screen projectors will be available in rooms for people to use. During the 45 minute allocated slot there will be time for up to 18 sessions and each session will be 20 minutes long. It may be possible to run a session that spans the entire 45 minute slot.

Some ideas for topics include:

• Your entry to the innovation competition
• A technology you are currently working with (you could demonstrate the technology)
• A project you are currently working on
• A discussion area you feel strongly about

If you have an idea for a BarCamp session you'd like to discuss please email m.guy@ukoln.ac.uk. Slots will be kept empty for the start of IWMW 2008 to ensure every one has an opportunity to participate.

What is a BarCamp?

Wikipedia defines BarCamp as an international network of user generated conferences, open, participatory workshop events, whose content is provided by participants. A BarCamp is typically one or two full days held at a weekend attended by people with an interest in technology. The day is split into a number of sessions typically of around 30 minutes each. Depending on the number of participants, size of venue, etc. there may be several sessions running simultaneously.

At the start of the day a board is put up and people scramble for a slot to do their talk. Often a whiteboard and post it notes is used to allocate rooms and timeslots. Once this has been done the sessions start. People turn up to whichever sessions they wish provided there is enough room. If there's not enough space then they go to another session. No one can pre-book a session (either as a presenter or participant) and there's an accepted rule (though no one checking up) that if it's your first time at a BarCamp, you present something. There is no fixed format for sessions, often they involve some kind of on screen presentation but they could be round table discussions or more practical.

"One of the best presentations I've seen was titled "stuff I know" and was a guy drawing shapes, arrows and random words on a flip chart while telling us what we should know..."
Mike Nolan

The IWMW 2008 BarCamps

The following barcamps were organised:

Session1: Wednesday 23^rd July 2008 from 14.15-14.35

1. "Sex, Lies and Microsites" [see Ning page]
2. "So What Is A Good Open Source CMS? [see Ning page]
3. "Stuff You Need To Know About iTunesU [see Ning page]
4. "How Can A WCMS Save £3.4 Million In 12 Months? [see Ning page]
5. "Tenish 5-Minute Ways To Improve Your Website [see Ning page]
6. "Web Analytics Guiding Web Development [see Ning page]
7. "Web 2.0 In Student Activism: What We Can Learn From Anonymous [see Ning page]
8. "How Qualified Do You Have To Be To Manage A Website? [see Ning page]

Session 2: Wednesday 23^rd July 2008 from 14.40-15.00

1. "Canadian View On Life, Dearth and Social Software [see Ning page]
2. "DIY CMS - Building A Low Budget System, Getting People To 'Buy-In' [see Ning page]
3. "Immediacy WCMS In Action [see Ning page]
4. "T4 CMS / Sitestat / Redesign / Rambling Q&A / Discussion [see Ning page]
5. "Barriers To Making Things Work On Second Life [see Ning page]
6. "Simple Scriptaculuous [see Ning page]
7. "Forum: Feedback on Nedstat [see Ning page]
8. "Migrating Into A CMS - What Is Your Experience? [see Ning page]
9. "Live@EDU [see Ning page]