It’s been two weeks since Philly BarCamp, my first unconference. I didn’t know what to expect. It turned out to be exactly what I needed at the right time.
I had heard positive comments about BarCamp, and an equal number of criticisms of unconferences. The most preparing I did was to learn what an “unconference” was: a crowd sourced conference with little to no theme. This description feels vague, and that’s kind of the point. Without knowing the talks I’d be hearing, I was anticipating the event with a nervous energy, wondering what to expect.
I haven’t brought up politics on this blog for many reasons, but this feels to be the right time to mention a few things about me. I try to be as centrist as I can, but know that I almost always fall on the liberal side of things. I dislike American political parties: I see them simply as illicit machines that mute democratic voices by quieting opposing voices. I also have a mean contrarian streak. There aren’t many groups I cannot find something to disagree with. I say this because if you told me I’d have a chance to vote for someone who wasn’t a career politician, someone who had spent their life outside the system, who wanted to upend the system? I would have thought I’d be first in line. But, the only thing I mistrust more than a politician is a business man that inherited their fortune. This election hit me harder than I thought it would, but as a history addict, I immediately thought of other times of uncertainty and tried to draw on them as ways to plan a course of action.
With that in mind, it’s easy to understand why I’d be skeptical of any planning talks. The news was too new to not act without undisciplined anger.
Or so I thought.
The morning started out meeting so many new faces, connecting through a network of friends old and new. I even ran into an old coworker of mine from a map store I worked at in college. I was told BarCamp would be good for networking, which proved true early and often. I got to talk to people who have made the career change into tech. Everyone seemed so encouraging, warm, and friendly.
The first talk I attended was about running for local office. Local government affects you in a more direct/mundane way than the federal government. This talk laid out the steps needed: petitioning to be on the ballot, what priorities should be if/when elected, how tech can help both manage the job, but also to interact with constituents, etc. #Swoon
The next talk was about volunteerism: something I’ve deeply committed to this year. Unfortunately for me, this was presented from the scope of Harry Potter, a franchise I know close to nothing about. Less than 5 minutes, realizing I getting lost in jargon, I ducked out. I hope it was useful for others, but I understood next to nothing.
The session I used to supplement the Potter universe was about dealing with stress. As a once burned out teacher, I found this rather interesting. Coping mechanisms were shared, leaving attendees with actionable take always. A few days later I would sit through a workshop at work about “Working smarter, not harder” that left me with no take always. This made me even more appreciative of this talk.
I then broke for lunch with new and newer friends, all met through Code for Philly.
After lunch, I braved a talk about Google Analytics. It was dry, informative, and useful. There’s not more to say, as it seemed to be a crash course introduction that seemed to pack as much as it could for this setting. The only downside of this for me was that I had eaten a large helping of shrimp fried rice at lunch, leaving me to battle the effects of a food coma.
The next talk I attended was about leadership styles, and knowing what kind of situations allow people to thrive. Again, with the backdrop of the election, this proved to be a low key gem of the day. It broke down different types of operating styles of folks, and by understanding your style, knowing how to best to make an impact on a team.
I ended the day with a look to the future of civic tech through the lens of a futuristic look back. Mjumbe Poe laid out his forecast for the future through 2035, titled Cyborg City. Having not heard of civic tech before February, it proved to be illuminating for where it was, where it is, and where it can be.
Threading these talks gave me the blueprint for action I was looking for after the election: Thinking nationally, acting locally. BarCamp gave me the seeds for actionable ideas. At the after party, I met a gentleman named Stephen that found out about BarCamp through live tweets during the event.Researching the schedule online, he left his place in West Chester to get to West Philly, wanting to engage in a community to develop ideas for meaningful responses towards the election. Tapping into his skill set, he’s looking to join the data team on Leverage. Actionable steps to take part in a community and cause change, exactly what was needed for me and others.
Thank you BarCamp!
Pat Woods 