BlogCamp was a huge success. All of us left the place with our brains a bit more fuller than before. But there were a few things which we could avoid for the next edition of BlogCamp. What is there another BlogCamp in the pipe-lines? Yes it definitely is. Simply because, BlogCamp 2006 was a huge success with more than 200 participants and 100+ virtual participants from all around the world. Not only that, but also the very fact that this years edition did not touch up on many important topics of discussion. To name a few: Blog Censorship (A topic od discussion which was roaring all over India a few weeks back when the ISPs decided to block blogspot, typepad and geocities), Photoblogging (Sharad Haksar did give a talk on Digital Photography, but that was by no means close to photoblogging), Desktop blogging softwares etc.

Also not much of the technology involved in blogging was exposed. Hard core bloggers and techies were pretty much disappointed to find little appreciation for their work. For instance the session on Ajax-ifying your blog by Boskey didn’t find enough crowd.

What went wrong? The equation. Imagine organizing a barcamp and saying, within two days we shall cover all techie stuff. Techie stuff could range from robotics to web 2.0. This would just limit the speakers to brush thro’ the vast topics at hand and not delve into the depth of it.

Also as soon as you make it too general, the event by itself fizzles out. People come here to learn something new and go back home and use it. BarCamp had that element in it. People learnt about technologies which they could wet their hands on. But BlogCamp isn’t BarCamp. People failed to see the line which separated them. Almost 70% chaps who attended the BarCamp attended the BlogCamp too, with high expectation, which BlogCamp certainly couldnt deliver.

I feel, Chennai bloggers are obsessed with the term ‘unconference’. After the phenomenal success of the BarCamp, every other meet here is in the unconference mode. Unconference is a good thing, but not for all kind of meets. I would suggest narrowing down the content and more importantly having workshops instead of ppt sessions.

Also instead of having a BlogCamp 2007, I would suggest BlogCamp should follow the BarCamp’s steps. It should become global and initiate other cities to have their own BlogCamps. They can transfer their existing site to say chennai.blogcamp.in and have a registration page similar to BarCamp.org, so that other cities can register and share online resources.

Updates:

1) We know http://bothack.wordpress.com is too long, introducing the all new http://bothack.in. Would be great if you guys can update your bookmarks. Even if you don’t, no problem. You wont be missing much.

2) Microsoft MAX – a desktop feed reader has been launched yesterday. Am too busy right now with Post BlogCamp organizers meet. How ever I notice people are raving about it. Will soon post about it.