Just a Gwai Lo fun within prescribed limits [?]

In late August, the organizers have yet to finalize a date, Vancouver will hold BarCamp-style conference titled, appropriately, BarCamp Vancouver. I've started a PubSub feed for the unconference, which I will attend. After BarCamp Toronto, while waiting for my fligh back home at the airport, I started writing out my thoughts about that unconference in particular and unconferences in general (keeping in mind that I have only attended the first day of one of them, of course). Joey explained the concept of BarCamp (really well, I might add), and he says that the confusion about the philosophy of "no spectators" applies “doubly so for events with programmers”, mentioning that 75% of them classify themselves as introverts. It's not clear, though, what he prescribes, so my article, still in heavy drafting mode, will attempt a prescription.

Heading back to Vancouver soon, but I stopped by Coffee Zone Internet Cafe to write a little update: check my brief stories on 43 Places about Massey Hall (where I had an obstructed view seat of the Sigur Rós concert) and Local 4 as well as some of the photos I took this weekend (more to come). It was a really great weekend attending DrupalCamp and BarCamp though at the latter's venue, 171 East Liberty St., it was too loud to hear the presenters well, so the organizers of the next event are probably going to want to choose a better location. Another complaint of an otherwise interesting day: there were side conversations that the participants should have taken either outside or at least not right next to the presentations. I skipped on Sunday to wake up late (so to speak), have a yummy brunch at Pogue Mahone Irish Pub and take the ferry to Toronto Island Park. We—Karen and I—took the whichever ferry left first when we got there, which ended up going to Centre Island where we went on the small (and fast!) ferris wheel, got bitten by (and/or unintentionally ate) multiple mosquitoes and swung on swings.

Drupal Camp Toronto is winding down, and tomorrow and Sunday comes BarCamp Toronto. David Crow has some interesting advice about attending a BarCamp, which helped me worry less about not having something to present about. We (my Bryght colleauges Boris, who already posted from the airport in Vancouver, Roland, who has posted some video leading up to the camp, and Mark from Raincity Studios) got in last night around midnight and I didn't get to sleep until somewhere around 3:30 AM. (That's not a complaint!) Today, as I mentioned at the Drupal Camp introductions, I felt "uncaffeinated". BarCamp should be better, as it starts later. I'll be attending the Sigur Rós concert at Massey Hall after the unconference, and Sunday is up in the air. I haven't taken a lot of photos at Drupal Camp, but the roof on 215 Spadina provided me with a nice view of CN Tower and downtown Toronto.

In the middle of May I'll be flying to Toronto for BarCamp Toronto and Drupal Camp Toronto. It would probably help if I had a topic to present on at BarCamp. But isn't that what the month between then and now is for?<!--

My Bryght colleages Roland and Boris will be in town too, Boris attending some conference that's too expensive for me to go.-->