Opera Otaku

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend my second BarCamp here in San Diego. For those who don't know, BarCamp is:

an ad-hoc gathering of technical professionals, internet enthusiasts, and others in the San Diego area who wish to share and learn in an open environment.

Attendees don't just watch a set list of speakers. They give their own talks. Podcasting. Web standards. Microformats. Gum stick computers. Physical security. Robotics. Evolutionary algorithms. Yoga for programmers. It can be anything.

I attended San Diego's first BarCamp in June and Opera was one of the event sponsors. I gave two talks (one on the unique challenges of marketing Opera, and another where I demoed Opera Mini) and had a great time. For BarCamp San Diego 2, Opera was proud to be a sponsor once again, and I prepared a new talk to give: "Converging your Web - Opera Link Demo".

Unlike fancy tech conferences held at hotels, BarCamp is a lot more intimate and informal. (The BarCamp hosts proudly call themselves "unorganizers", and BarCamp itself is an "unconference".) Almost 100 people signed up in advance to indicate they would be coming. I don't know how many people actually attended, but there were always plenty of people around in the three classrooms (where talks were being held) and the common areas. Everyone was friendly, enthusiastic, and chatting away about their latest projects, thoughts on technology, and other interests. My talk on Sunday was well-received and I got a lot of good questions about Link and Opera in general, and several people spoke to me about Opera in between sessions. I was particularly happy to help one Opera user learn about a User JavaScript that allows one to open links as tabs in the background by hitting Ctrl-click.

BarCamp is ideal for anyone who wants to learn from and talk with some of the smartest and most enthusiastic people around, without paying a ton of money. In addition to free registration, attendees of BarCamp San Diego received a free t-shirt (see below) as well as free food, snacks, and drinks throughout the weekend. Most importantly, one leaves BarCamp with new knowledge and a whole new set of friends and contacts.

Check out (and click on) the schedule board photos below to get a sense of what was talked about.

I'm definitely looking forward to the next BarCamp I can attend (in San Diego or elsewhere). If you have one in your area, I definitely recommend it.