Comments on: BarCampLondon2

By: Alex - Microsmeta

Alex - Microsmeta — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 11:05:38 +0000

Milan, Turin, Rome. Italy it is waking up, too. Next barcamp here (Genova) will be held in April. “Force” all your friends to partecipate to this events, we must build a better internet :-)

By: leisa.reichelt

leisa.reichelt — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 23:54:15 +0000

hey Gordon. BarCamps are designed to be ‘roll your own’ so you could always organise one up your way! :)

(I know there is some talk of a BarCamp further up north later in the year… not quite as far north as you I think).

@ Leith: definitely go. Even if it is a little on the geeky side, you’ll probably get lots out of it. And it’s always good to have lots of clever geek friends!

By: Leith @ Birth of a Startup

Leith @ Birth of a Startup — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 01:50:37 +0000

I wish I was still in London. I lived there for 4 years, and it wasn’t til I returned home to Sydney that I began wanting to attend these conferences, and find the best ones are in the northern hemisphere… that being said, there is a BarCamp in Sydney in a week, so maybe I’ll attend. I was worried it would be a little to far down the ‘geek’ end of the spectrum, but perhaps not, eh?

By: Gordon

Gordon — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 22:45:34 +0000

I need to move to London.
Better still, these events need to move north!!

By: leisa.reichelt

leisa.reichelt — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 14:35:53 +0000

thanks for the book recommendation Tom (if only you got reward points at Amazon *sigh*). I look forward to reading that.

I think that what I was thinking when I wrote the point about fun/play is that there does tend to an assumption that work isn’t a space where either fun or play should be expected.

I know that when I’ve structured ‘play’ into workshops, for example, I’ve sometimes had much more success than when I’ve gone with the strictly dry and professional approach.

I think there are lots of opportunities to take an more playful attitude to our work, and maybe even create the expectation of fun… maybe even on the ‘stuffing envelopes’ days :)

(Although, as a sidenote, I read an Amazon review of the Pate Kane book where someone said it was fine for those people who have jobs that *are* more fun, and that making nursing or policing more fun could be problematic…. I’m glad I have a job that has much more inbuilt potential for play and fun)

I’ll keep an eye out for you at FOWA. I’d be interested to talk about this some more!

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 08:30:05 +0000

Ooh, I’m not sure I’d necessarily lump “play” and “fun” together so directly. Obviously, they often go hand in hand, but “fun” is a much more subjective thing and I’m wary of using it in work contexts (particularly because I find things “fun” that other people find “boring”). Similarly: things you enjoy are not always fun. Work should be satisfying, and enjoyable, but sometimes that has to exclude fun – especially on stuffing envelopes days.

Play, though: I can get behind that wholeheartedly. There’s an awful lot wrapped up in that word. I can strongly recommend Pat Kane’s The Play Ethic, which is a very interesting tour of the various ways play can influence society. It’s at its most interesting when it veers into the highly hypothetical – the chapter focusing on the “national wage” is fascinating.

Anyhow, I’m sure I can bat more ideas like this around at FOWA – do say hello. I’ll sort-of be on my own too…