So what is a BlogCamp? A blogcamp is an informal workshop about the craft of blogging that is an outgrowth of the BarCamp, a format which gets people together in a casual, un-conference setting. The focus exists in order for those who might be strong in one aspect of blogging (such as photos or HTML code) to exchange knowledge and tips with others in attendance in order to help proliferate blogging and make it as easy as possible for anyone to participate. Most importantly, a BlogCamp helps those new to blogging to give them a solid foundation for the future by working with a group of fellow blogging devotees. Moreover, there is an important social aspect to BlogCamps in that all bloggers, whether they are beginners or seasoned geeks, are brought together and motivated by their common interest.
The beauty of a BlogCamp is that anyone, anywhere can have one. No one owns the name or the event. We've put this section here on Africamp in order to promote more of them in Africa, but they have lives of their own. While general barcamps are fantastic and have been steadily increasing across the continent, having a camp just for blogging decreases the massive scope that a large, general barcamp can have while increasing the specific focus to be solely on the many intricacies of blogging. All you need is an internet connection and people who want to share stories.
Over the next six months keep an eye for BlogCamps in Africa to happen in Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Ghana, and Guinea with Maneno's support. If there are others, please join this site to write up an announcement about them on Africamp. And remember, you can never have too many bloggers in the world!
Before we start:Abidjan is the capital of Côte d'Ivoire, located on the west coast of the "United States of Africa". Babi is to Abidjan what Big Apple is to New York or Jozi to Johannesburg.
BarCamp Babi 2010 will be a three day event held on March 5th through the 7th of this year 2010. BarCamp Abidjan 2010, also known as Barcamp Babi, will be a FREE event for anyone who is interested in using their skills, talent, vision, rive and financial resources to improve the production, dissemination, and monetization of content from and about Africa's economic, financial, cultural and social life. The first Barcamp Abidjan in 2009 gave birth to a Côte d'Ivoire-based social entreprise, Akendewa which is producing this second BarCamp .
BarCamps all over the world have brought together individuals and organizations to share ideas, passion, drive, ambitions and, eventually, collaborate on various projects and businesses.
Expected panelists and speakers (yet to be confirmed) include Google, Paul Sika, Jean Patrick Ehouman, Ameyah Debrah, E-tranzact, VIPnet, Web4Africa, Gwen Marshall, Radio Jam, etc.
There will be sessions organized by various Google representatives, presentations by lead speakers as well as other breakout sessions on various topics and interests as put forth by the attendees.
Register/RSVP today at the BarCamp Babi website. Help spread the word about BarCamp Abidjan 2010 by grabbing badges, and show yoursupport by donating to help cover costs. You may also contact the BarCamp Abidjan team through its website for sponsorship opportunities.
If you are interested in organizing a breakout session, let us know, especially if you have special needs. BarCamp Babi 2010 is supported by Google Africa, Web4Africa, Chembe Ventures, Foundation, Ushahidi, Web4Africa, who all pledged their support . Our media partners are IvoireMuzik,Ivoire Blog,Avenue 225, Fratmat.info, Koaci.com, Bassam fm (some to be confirmed). Our technical partners include VIPnet and Assistweb.
See you there!
Interested in becoming a partner? Contact Frederic Tape at tapefr(at)gmail.com or Edith Brou at edithbrou(at)gmail.com
An Akendewa production.
On December 22, 2008, over a hundred young Ghanaians met in Accra for BarCamp Ghana '08 to exchange ideas on entrepreneurship, innovation and development for a rising Ghana. This summer, the conversations moved to Washington, DC on July 25, 2009 where BarCamp Diaspora '09 brought together the African Diaspora to exchange ideas on doing business in Africa.
This December 21st in Accra, the BarCamp Ghana team, made up of passionate young Ghanaians, presents BarCamp Ghana '09, under the theme "Leadership for our times - cultivating change makers". The event will take place on December 21, 2009 from 8am - 6pm at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) campus at 20 Aluguntuguntu Street in East Legon, Accra.
A BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering where attendees meet for discussions, demos and networking. Unlike a typical conference, at a BarCamp everyone is both a speaker and a participant. The content is provided by all attendees based on their interests, unified under the theme. This year, the focus is youth in leadership and how the youth can create and make change in various ways in various disciplines for the betterment of Ghana. The event would highlight different success stories involving change-making youth. Change makers and youth leaders are strongly encouraged to attend.
BarCamp Ghana ’09 is a FREE event for anyone who is interested in using their skills, talent, and resources to benefit Africa. BarCamp Diaspora gave birth to a Ghana-focused healthcare NGO, REACH-Ghana, which will be presenting its story since its inception in July. BarCamps all over the world have brought together individuals and organizations to collaborate on various projects and businesses.
Panelists and speakers will include Patrick Awuah of Ashesi University, Estelle Sowah of Google Ghana, George Minta of Empretec, Hajo Birthelmer of Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), amongst others. There will be sessions organized by Google representatives and as well as other breakout sessions on various topics and interests as put forth by the attendees. If you are creating or making change in your own small way in your community, consider sending the team a note about your project or business to info at barcampghana dot org. Some of these stories will be mentioned at the BarCamp and all the information will be on the BarCamp Ghana website.
Register/RSVP today at the BarCamp Ghana website. Help spread the word about BarCamp Ghana '09 by grabbing badges and support by donating to help cover costs. You may also contact the BarCamp Ghana team through its website for sponsorship opportunities. If you are interested in organizing a breakout session, let us know, especially if you have special needs.
BarCamp Ghana 2009 is sponsored by the GhanaThink Foundation, Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), Ushahidi, Web4Africa, etc. Our media partner is CITI 97.3 FM.
See you there!
We welcome corporate involvement in the form sponsorship. BarCamp Lusaka is a Free to attend event so that we can encourage participation. Your support in shouldering the costs for the event will be greatly appreciated and acknowledged through all our media efforts and at the event.
Thank you to iConnect.zm are sponsoring the cost for venue hire and fast wireless broadband for the day.
We would prefer partnership in the form of direct sponsorship of certain items we need over receiving cash.
Other items you may sponsor:
•Food organiser (lunch, drinks, snacks)
•white boards
•PA system
•Name Badges
•T-Shirts (a great opportunity to place your logo there)
What you will get in return
•Acknowledgment at the opening session
•Special mention if you sponsor items used during the session
•Public announcements of support via our website, facebook and twitter account
•A warm, fuzzy feeling about contributing to the software development landscape in Zambia
BarCamp is an open format of conferences that has been used around the world to discuss technology where participants not only listen, but share ideas and lead conversations of interest to them. On the continent of Africa there have been multiple countries that have already created their own BarCamp for those interested in the newest innovations in technology, to come together and discuss topics of technology. On 19th December 2009, BarCamp Lusaka '09 will be the first BarCamp in the country.
BarCamps have officially been around since August 2005, when a group of friends decided to hold a participant-powered conference in Palo Alto, California, USA from 19 – 21 August 2005, as an open opportunity for those interested in technology to meet as a response to the invitation-only O’Reilly conference happening at the same time.
The idea was to have an ‘unconference’ conference that anyone could host and where everyone could present on topics they were passionate about. Since then barcamps have been held in over 350 cities around the world, including cities and communities in Africa fostering discussions, initiatives and ideas that might not have come to light before. While originally a very technical event in focus, they have evolved to cover any manner of topics from programming code to cupcakes.
BarCamp Lusaka '09 will be an all day event held on the 19th of December, 2009 at the Mulungushi Village along Lusemfwa Rd in Kalundu, Lusaka. This will be a not to be missed opportunity for all those enthusiastic about Zambian development in the context of technology. The exchange ideas for BarCamp will seek actual day-to-day application for the various technologies discussed. This will also be a great place to build connections.
Due to the limited capacity of the venue, reservation for those who are attending will be required. You are encouraged to register to attend BarCamp Lusaka at http://www.barcamplusaka.org/
Attendance for this event is FREE.
We'd love for you to come - if you're creative, a technologist, an artist, a writer, blogger, or a developer, geek, entrepreneur, academic researcher, gamer or investor with a passion for using technology in the context of Zambian Development please join us. If you're just curious and interested - we'd love to meet you too. Come and demo, talk, share or just hang out!
Confirmed participants at this year’s event include:
- Eve Andersson and Misha Seltzer (Google)
Google is the world's most popular online software development company. In our current era Google can be likened to IBM and ICL in the mainframe computer era or Microsoft in the desktop era. Google have been keen participants in BarCamp events across the continent including the very first BarCamp Africa that they hosted at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California, USA in October, 2008. Google will be making presentations on the Google Maps API, Google Apps, Google Analytics and Google Adsense.
- Mary Tembo (MD and founding of Media 365)
Mary is an entrepreneur with a passion for media and how it is used to promote solutions to social challenges. Mary and her sisters founded Youth Media that published the TrendSetters, a magazine that won numerous international awards for encouraging honest discussion on matters of lifestyle and health among the youth. She was co-owner of the Spar at Cross Roads before she started Media 365 who recently produced the popular mini-series Club Risky Business on ZNBC and Muvi TV. Mary Tembo will be part of a panel discussion on online content in Zambia
- Vaezi Chima (Management Consultant based in the UK)
Formerly a Productivity Development Engineer and Project Manager with Nokia and Motorola. Vaezi has consulted with companies like Cable and Wireless Global Market, Mizuho Corporate Bank, and GE Healthcare and more. His core area of expertise is strategic programme delivery. Vaezi intends to propose a point of view on how we can implement a framework to nurture talent of Zambian software developers.
Please register to attend as there is limited sitting available for the event. Reserve your spot for BarCamp Lusaka at http://blog.barcamplusaka.org/
Attendance for this event is FREE.
Forum Innov @ frica and the ANPE Development Center in Mali welcome the first Malian barcamp from 9:00 to 18:00 on Tuesday, December 15, 2009.
A BarCamp is an un-conference meeting, open to all in the form of workshops and participatory events where content is provided by participants who are all, in one way or another, bringing something to barcamp.
This first barcamp in Bamako will mainly focus on the Innov @frica project whose goal is to provide actors and network engineers in ICT * from the South to build new forms of networking focused on innovative uses.
It will also address other themes such as peripheral intercultural TV participatory, community radio, energy, ICT education and the concept of a fab lab.
This barcamp is organized by the FING ** and ANPE Mali with the support of OIF *** and the Aquitaine region.
You can now register on the page barcamp Bamako.
You can also find more information on the larger event, Innov @frica Forum to be held from December 14 to 18 in Bamako at: www.innovafrica.org or contact us directly at: contact@innovafrica.org
* Information Technology and Communication
** New Generation Internet Foundation - www.fing.org
*** International Organization of la Francophonie
We have a special thanks to MyMoney for coming on board so quickly the night before the BarCamp and helping us with some issues we were having with the venue.
MyMoney also helped present a session on Mobile Money and Microfinance in Cameroon.
MOBILE MONEY CAMEROON SA (2M), created in 2006, is a Cameroonian public limited company with a capital of F CFA 1 billion. The company is an outcome of the pooling of local financial institutions and companies.
2M has the endorsement of:
2M is an electronic payment system provider and to this effect, has developed in Cameroon, an electronic payment service dubbed MyMoney. The service enables everyone carry out daily financial transactions with the use of either a phone, a smartcard, a USB key, a wrist-watch, a key-holder or the internet.
Well, Cameroon first ever BarCamp has come and gone
More than 200 people registered to attend the day-long unconference; about 250 people showed up physically at the event.
BarCamp has become the premier technology conference in Cameroon, bringing together the best minds and representation of the hottest companies in the internet, entrepreneurial, new media, and software industries, among others.
Thanks to Our Sponsors
Huge thanks has to go to all of our sponsors for their kind support.
In particular I’d like to say a personal thanks to everyone at RINGO that worked so hard with us to make this event happen.
Thanks to the Speakers
The feedback from the talks has been tremendous and there truly was something for everyone.
Thanks to You
Of course the biggest thanks has to go out to each and every attendee who made the effort - and especially those who came from far to show their support.
It wouldn’t have been much of a BarCamp without the conversations and buzz.
On a personal note, I’d like to thank everyone who got involved in organising BarCamp Cameroon and helped to spread the word and secure such a brilliant turnout. It certainly was a fantastic group effort -
A few important notes:
* All necessary documents we have created to run this BarCamp Cameroon will be made available on the google group.
* You can yet follow post-unconference discussion on the google group.
Sign up on the mailling list to be notified by email or follow us on Twitter for updates.
Join us next year for a free "un"-conference for the digital and technical community ,See you again at BarCamp Yaounde 2010!
my sincere thanks.
Jean-Francis
