Are you guys absolutely committed to Saturday the 11th? That means missing a whole day of SXSWi.

You have an alternative date to suggest? We’re discussing a possible date change, but at this point it appears unlikely. The date will be announced this Friday though, so please check back.

It's a real shame that it's on the 11th and most people will be at SXSW. If it was on the 10th or 15th you'd probably get more people turning up, including lots of good speakers.

I agree, since I've paid for SxSW, I'll only be swinging by to BarCamp when the sessions aren't too interesting... but thats a long walk from the conv center... I'd also request a date change... the 10th or the 15th also sound good to me.

I 4th the idea for the 10th.

SXSW also wants a date change for various reasons, however there are literally hundreds of people who won’t have access to SXSW and will be attending BarCampAustin. There are already buses being scheduled from Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio; so at this point there won’t be any date change.

Let’s all not forget what BarCamp is all about. We’ll all be getting together to have a great time, and everyone is invited. If you can only stop by for a few minutes, cool. If you want to camp out all day, that’s cool as well. Want to pop in and out at will, still it’s all good.

Oh, and it’s free. So you won’t have to pay twice, or loose any value that you’ve invested in SXSW since the panels there run from 11-6 and BarCampAustin will be running from 9am to 3am. That said, I hope everyone attending SXSW will feel free to drop in and out as they please.

-whurley

The sessions (and event-philosophy) at both events are polar opposites. I think whurley did meet with the SXSW folks, and tried to work things out for SXSW attendees who also want to attend BarCampAustin, but you'll have to 2x check with him. The cool thing is BarCampAustin will be going from 9am to about 3am. SXSW is only from 11am to 6pm…meaning guess what? You can easily go to both events without even breaking a sweat ... and I have a sneaky suspicion it might not be so hard to get between confs ☺

That said, if you’re searching for XML, finding your self without clothing, or trying to knit tag clouds for your grandmother you should check out SXSW. Otherwise BarCampAustin will be where it’s at. And you can't beat the price.

Ditto to rthrash's comments. These events are more complimentary than competitive. Bar Camp primarily exists for the local scene to network, although there will be out-of-towners to support the event. Bar Camp is free, and anyone with a good idea can present. Maybe in 2007 we can get SXSW Interactive to start on a Sunday so we can do a graceful segue. Bar Camps on weekdays are doomed to fail due to work commitments. Evening-only Bar Camps are not long enough to be valuable. The venue is close enough that people can go back and forth, based on their schedule and session interests.

To help people find there way, we’re posted a map on the main BarCampAustin wiki page. The distance is less than a mile (actually about 8 blocks) so it shouldn’t be an issue for people to come and go as they please.

Of course, there are after-hours events at SXSW (isn't that the whole point?), but I'm looking forward to the synergy of both conferences.

Richard Goodwin is organizing a <a href=";http://www.richardgoodwin.com/wp/2006/01/06/organizing-wordpress-meetup-in-austin-during-sxsw/">WordPress meetup</a> for 7 PM on Saturday. I suggested that it would fit will with BarCampAustin.

Hey Ryan, those tag clouds are for local and global grandmas ;) Please note that SXSW panels start at 10am on Saturday, not 11am. I know the date ain't changin', but if you come to SXSW at 11, you'll miss my panel :( I'm definitely checking out part of BCA as well as SXSW, and we'll see if we can't get my co-panelist J Wynia down to BCA as well to demo his attention harvesting prototype (http://www.wynia.org/wordpress/2006/03/06/dissecting-the-attention-recorder-write-your-own/)

Hey David, we would love to have you. Actually, the cool thing about the schedule is that we have now added stuff all the way till way past midnight. So, feel free to come over whenever. What have we added you ask? Well, the wordpress meetup/mashup is going to happen from 6-8, there will be two panels from 8-9, and at 9pm we have some live music on hand and a late happy hour sponsored by Tito's vodka (among others). We're completely open to everyone from SXSW coming by so feel free to drop in and out as you please. :)

Ditto on that, I'd love to meet you and J Wynia both! I'll be there noon-whenever on Saturday, hope to see you there :)

Hey folks - Nathan from PBwiki here. Instead of rebuilding from cache, check out the previous versions or flashback pages. You can revert to a previous edit state without having to do too much digging.

Nathan -- maybe directions on reverting could be added to the Changes page to make it easier to discover this process?

I just want to say thank you to Hurley and everyone else who helped get this off the ground. I have been going to computer trade show stuff for 25 years and Bar Camp Austin was one of the best run and most informative events I have ever been to. Period.

While I love SXSW and as a local Austin person I would cry copious tears if it went away.... it is a pretty lame computer conference. It tends to have a lot of "soft" non technical sessions and a major focus on "Celebrities" of the web world. Thats fine and it is what it is... its just that the bar camp event was much more relivant to me personally.

Good work and congratulations to everyone involved. I cant wait until the next one.

BTW.... why wait until next year... Austin could handle one of these quarterly. Holding it at the UT campus right after shool lets out whould be fantastic. Also, as the thing grows, it might be cool to do it at the pickle center (the old IBM facility) that is run by the state.

Oh, and one other idea:<br>

I think it would be really cool to have an small area set aside... kind of a 10x10 booth or a table at the restaurant for orientation. Have a couple of knowledgable old timers (barcamp vets) staff the table and have pictures and posters from the other bar camp events around the world. This would have two benifits... first it would help everyone who attends to learn a bit about the history and philosophy of barcamp. Second it would be a place for people to bring questions about how to upload pictures, edit the wiki, and use the other net tools that are part of the event.

What are the start and end times for the event?

whurley - I have commits from ISSA and TRISC for $500 ea. for the badges. Let me know who to write the check to...cd

Oh, and shouts to Carl de Cordova - we haven't talked since the first MacWebDev thingy here in Austin - 15yrs ago?

My bad - wrong year - whurley - call me and salvage my comments...cd

Guys, please do not read these comments as most are years old! ;)