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Lifestyle Saturday
Uncharacteristically more mature than any other barcamp style event that I have ever been to (and I think that’s 8 or 9 of them now) today’s #uxcamplondon was thoroughly stimulating and satisfying. The laid back and low key approach of the organising team allowed the delegates to take the lead (as they should at a barcamp) and I noticed a lot of first timers engaging in purposeful dialogue right from the outset. And there were many newbies!
There were clearly a lot of intelligent people in Richmond today and they knew their stuff. I learnt something both new and profound at every single session. My own session didn’t materialise this time, because (a) I’m still learning about UX and (b) my side project seems to have become more of a side-lined project. It will be a while before it’s launched on an unsuspecting public. In all seriousness, if #uxcamplondon2010 takes place next summer I might just be ready.
One thing that I did miss was the open space and the introductions that usually happen at the start of these unconferences. Having 90 people in one room would have made it unwieldy, but perhaps splitting them into 3 groups of 30 would have helped. At Barcamp London 6 they divided 150 of us into 10 groups for the 3 Tags introductions. That way, you at least get a feel for who some of these people are, and as a newbie you might then find someone you can easily connect with (not that I’m a newbie). Apart from that, the organisation was slick and things ran very well.
There was no goodie bag at the start. There is no t-shirt. There was free cider. That means that there was no clutter for me to bring home and clutter up my flat with! So that’s a vote in favour of freebies in the form of food and drink. No baggage! All I took home was the memory of a great day and a few tips and tricks which I have learnt from the professionals.
What did I learn? There will be a progress bar on my app when it’s launched. There will be as many buttons as I need, but as few as I can get away with. There will be a balance between content over form and form over content. There will be a structure and a sound underlying ERD, but there will also be some flair and I may need to buy-in that sort of creative expertise. With any luck it will come with a built-in tutorial! However, there will most assuredly, be a long interval before anything happens.
I think the snatched conversations in the corridors of any barcamp are often the most valuable bits of the whole event. I’m on the uncommittee for Barcamp London 7 and PresentationCamp London, and I think I will be advocating more open space and more time for ad hoc discussion; a morning coffee break and an afternoon break might serve the purpose.
Barcamp London 7 will be more of the same traditional Barcamp experience. PresentationCamp is all about polishing your presentation skills whether you’re a geek or not, and whether your style is Lo Tech or Hi Tech. If you’re free on Thursday evening 27 Aug 2009, I’m giving a short talk in Victoria on the use of Lo Tech visual aids. It’s not directly related to PresentationCamp, but my speaking club is a lot of fun. You’re welcome to come along as my guest. There will be other speakers - not just me - and entrance is free!
Anyway, staging an event of the complexity of #uxcamplondon is not easy. I greatly appreciate the time that the Team put in, and the generosity of Gumtree and all of the sponsors. Thank you all very much for a thoroughly refined and sophisticated user experience!
Quite unexpectedly, the past week has thrown up three (or maybe four) opportunities for me to revisist my experiences as a business coach. Whether that’s coaching people on the mechanics of business or on the qualities of leadership, the “invitations” have reawoken in me a desire to take the issue forward.
As a BarCamp fan, I now have the prospect of getting involved in a niche camp. That could be a PresentationCamp or a CoachCamp, and I believe that there are two organisations in London who may already be willing to host such an event.
This sort of niche camp is not about coaching the delegates, it’s about exploring and developing the art of coaching in a digital age. And that’s “coaching” in the widest sense of the word. If you’re interested, drop me a line and we’ll get something up on the BarCamp wiki.
How transparent are your customers and your suppliers? Do they tell you what you really need to know?
How transparent is this government? And what do you think of the recent enforced transparency on MPs expenses?
Oxford University will be hosting a Barcamp on 26 July 2009 dedicated uniquely to the question of transparency. Wouldn’t it be good if you knew everything that your “suppliers” held on your file? It would be good for us too at Proactive. How many times do clients and suppliers have debates about who knew what when . . . or who didn’t know something which was actually vital? It’s in my interests as much as it is in yours, to disclose what is held on file.
All of my clients’ questions boil down to one main theme . . .
“Are we there yet?”
If there was a secure and bullet proof way to do this on-line then they could quickly and easily see the answers for themselves on a 24/7 basis. That’s what CCR is all about. I will be exploring CCR (client controlled records) and how to make it a reality when I speak next month in Oxford at Barcamp Transparency UK.
Having been on the Business Networking circuits for some years now, I have seen lots of mundane presentations and lots of successful presentations. I think the key thing is to be remembered. There are always some people who never make an impact, and who nobody ever remembers!
I went through a stage, which lasted for a couple of years, where I always took a prop with me and used it in my presentation. A sledge hammer, a toaster, a wet fish, a cuddly toy bat, a can of hot dogs and many more. For some reason, this week I revisited that strategy and I took a large child’s doll to Bebarcamp to reinforce my message that when we develop our own new ideas it’s our baby, and we don’t like letting it go.
My markteing strategy (my attention grabbing strategy) is having some impact. Delegates in the room, people that I have never met, were saying things like “oh, so you’re Proactive Paul”. And, I appear to have been remembered for letting go of the baby.
Mini Barcamp Fukuoka took place on 5 May 2009. It was more a Micro Barcamp than a Mini Barcamp with a total of four people in attendance.
And it all ran smoothly . . . well it would with just four people. The open space discussions meant that everybody had a chance to run a session, and we added an impromptu one at the end, on running another barcamp!
Session 1 - Co-working Japanese Style. There are currently few opportuinties for Independents, whether Japanese or Gaijin to find co-working space. What can be done to develop new ways of working for the internet age, and how can the whole communuity be engaged in this?
Session 2 - Washoku & Yoshoku Fusion. Sushi in London and Sandwiches in Fukuoka. There is a distinct shift in eating habits around the world, and this is now evident in a new breed of Okashi. A fusion of Wagashi with western ingredients leads to a sweet sort of Yogashi. There were alsosamples for us all to try!
Session 3 - Presentation Skills. Where do we learn those things that they don’t teach us in school (well at my school in any case). The old adage “keep it simple, stupid” still rules.
Session 4 - Blog Your Way To Fame. Katsuma-san has transformed herself from housewife to media personality in less than two years by blogging. Regular blogging and intelligent blogging - what can we learn from her system?
It would be great to run another Barcamp in the Fukuoka area, and if you’re into IT, and have an international community around you (do you study at APU Beppu) then maybe you’d like to help?
Mini Barcamp Fukuoka is taking place on Tuesday 5 May 2009 in the evening. It’s going to be the first Barcamp in Fukuoka, and it’s going back to the roots of traditional barcamps. To help all of the visitors appreciate what that means a very detailed guide has been set out on the Barcamp web site.
When you really get into the spirit of a barcamp, it’s easy to tell everybody about the things that interest you. And often, that’s the things you’re doing in your side project. Not the main thrust of your everyday work or life, but the thing that you are passionate about and really want to share with the world. When that happens (and there are only 30 tickets for this event) you end up with 30 people who would all like to talk, and only some of them will get that chance. That’s what the open space is for, and that’s when we collectively choose who gets to speak.
Then what happens, is that some very deserving individuals and their topics don’t get air time until the informal drinks afterwards. And guess what? They decide that there is definitely a need for another barcamp and then you go and organise a new one. Beware, it happened to me, and now I’m an avid barcamp fan!
Tickets for Mini Barcamp Fukuoka are available now on Eventbrite.
Have you ever had one of those weeks when the talking bottom comes to your workplace? You know the sort of person, the photocopier has broken and a young engineer is sent to sort it out. He opens up a panel, sticks his head inside, and all you can see is the seat of his trousers. And, then you hear pearls of wisdom like . . .
“These things are made in Korea you know. . . bloody lethal they are!”
He seems to end up talking through his bottom in more than one sense of the word! When something keeps going wrong in your life what can you do about it? It doesn’t matter if it’s a car that keeps breaking down, a computer which repeatedly freezes or somebody in your network who adds nothing but aggro. Whatever the problem, you can try to fix it, but if it cannot be fixed, then you have to get rid of it. It’s the same whether it’s cars, computers or relationships.
I’ve been working on a new presentation called “The Universal Problem Solving Technique” and it’s just about ready. Coincidentally, Bebarcamp is coming up, it’s an evening event on Wed 8 Apr 2009 in central London. Given half a chance I might run “The Universal Problem Solving Technique” as a session. Hope to see you there.
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World Affairs on Sunday
BarcampLondon6! This entire weekend has been spent at the new head office of The Guardian newspaper where I have met the most incredible and diverse collection of people ever! And I travel! I have been to 32 different countries and I speak 5 languages (badly) – 6 if you include my native English! Never before have I experienced such an eclectic mix of people and such a multifarious collection of sessions, workshops, seminars and werewolves.
If you don’t know what a barcamp is, this link will help you.
An atmosphere of genuine camaraderie has been evident everywhere, and the only common thread running throughout the event is everybody’s association (closely or loosely) with the expressions “IT” and “geek”.
And it wasn’t just about IT. My favourite comment from the hundreds of tweets posted about #bcl6 was “surrounded by people stabbing potatoes with pencils”. I witnessed many potato and pencil sculptures proudly being paraded through the corridors after that session! I took time out from being part of the Crew to join the “Just A Minute” session which faithfully followed the Radio 4 programme’s etiquette. I have vowed to improve upon that performance.
Now you may not automatically think of the words “human kindness” and “unselfish contribution” when you think of the IT fraternity. But, I have to tell you that everyone I have talked to has been only too willing to help out with practical or intellectual, sophisticated or even menial contributions and has made this weekend event run smoothly.
Letting 150 geeks do their thing in your brand new building is not a decision which is taken lightly. The powers that be at The Guardian have extended the utmost consideration and hospitality to all of us. Without exception, the staff, whether professional staff, support staff or freelancers, from the IT department through to PR and reception have taken everything in their stride. And the cleaners deserve special praise, they clearly had a lot more work than usual and cheerfully got on with it!
BarcampLondon6 has taught me a thing or two about IT, and a lot about human nature! Thank you.
With about 15 minutes advance warning, this spontaneous team implemented an incredibly professional clone of the Radio 4 show with music and buzzers and everything!
Thank you to one and all, who gave their time and effort willingly and freely with no expectation of reward! And one or two of them didn’t even know that the video was destined for Youtube!
Barcamps are aimed at IT specialists of whatever kind and the tickets are free! Twitter was alive with comment a few days ago, when the first batch of Barcamp London 6 tickets were released. Fifty five tickets “sold out” in less than 60 seconds on 16 Feb 2009 at 3.00pm.
The second ticket release is tonight, 25 Feb 2009, at 7.00pm GMT. Watch the ticket web site and be quick.
This time there are less than 55 tickets, but there will be more releases later. The releases are staged so that we can be sure that we get a wide variety of people at the event. There is even one release scheduled for the early hours of the morning (which morning you can find out later) so that the night owls can get a look in. After all, the event would not be as much fun if everybody was the same!
