Bar Camp, an open multi-day event where people can share ideas and talk about just about anything they like, is a very important event for me. Two years ago I attended the first Bar Camp, which was held at Social Text’s offices in Palo alto. It was just a few weeks after starting TechCrunch, and nearly everyone I met there is now a friend. It was held just before all the craziness happened with the web, and the people who were starting companies weren’t expecting much of a return – they were doing it out of passion.
Pandora and TechMeme launched at the event, and we got our first glimpse of Flock. My notes on the event are here and here.
Since the original event there have been over 150 Bar Camps held around the world. 10,000 or so people have attended at least one of them.
This year, Bar Camp is back at the original location at Social Text’s offices in Palo Alto. But far more people are going to attend, so the organizers (Chris Messina, Ross Mayfield, Liz Henry, Tantek Çelik and Tara Hunt) have received city permission to take over the entire block (and so the event is called Bar Camp Block) At least 1,000 people are expected to flow through the three day event.
Event information is here. You can also sign up to attend at that link. See you there.