BarCamp Philly is an annual user-generated conference dedicated to educating, inspiring and empowering emerging talent in the creative, technology, and entrepreneurial spaces in Philadelphia and beyond. BarCamp Philly is recognized as one of the top BarCamp events in the country and attracts attendees from around the country. In 2011 and 2012, we were proud to be featured on the BarCamp Tour, an endeavor developed by a coalition of top technology brands to sponsor select BarCamp events nationwide.
I served as one of four organizers for the 2010 and 2011 events, and lead organizer for the 2012 event. It was multifaceted, time-compressed work that involved every aspect of the conference apart from the talks themselves: from designing and writing the site, materials, and social media activities that comprised the public face of the event, to establishing and coordinating venues, vendors, volunteers, and sponsors. (A good description of what organizing involved is here!)
My personal BarCamp responsibilities have included design (logo, print materials, website, t-shirt), web development, content creation (website, blog, social media updates, email updates), volunteer corps recruitment and management, fundraising/sponsorship enrollment and brand relationship management, stakeholder communications, vendor qualification/selection and management, party and event planning, ticket sales, advertisement and PR, and general event coordination/wrangling/day-of herding.
My work on BarCamp Philadelphia, both individually and as a team, is an excellent case study in the power of “multitools” in project execution. When a small (sometimes tiny!) team takes on a substantial project, success often hinges upon each person’s ability to wear many hats!
