It’s a funny feeling to do the same conference for 17 years (!!) and have its meaning shift because of factors outside our doors. The only constant is change, or as Bob Dylan remarked, “The times they are a’changin’.”
BarCamp Philly started as the antithesis of a massive conference. Instead of huge headliners, we asked our everyday community members to present the ideas that matter to them. We trusted them to bring bold ideas, fresh perspectives, and the charm only a group of Philadelphians can bring.
For a long time it worked — and it’s still working! That’s why we are hosting BarCamp Philly 17 on Saturday, Oct. 17 (see what we did there) at Wharton’s Huntsman Hall.
While we have kept BarCamp Philly fairly consistent, the world wound up on a different track. That has shifted what BarCamp Philly means to us, our regular attendees and the wonderful folks who walk into our doors and declare, “This looks incredible; I just don’t know what I’m in for.”
Instead of a place for longtime community members to shoot the breeze with people we see at least twice a month, BarCamp Philly is now a place for people to meet each other in real life.
To us, that means the stakes are low, and the importance is high.
In the years after COVID, we’ve seen the technology sectors and the people that populate them radically shift due to layoffs and changing priorities. Many local tech professionals had to leave startup culture to drive innovation within more established companies in banking, healthcare or innovation. At the same time, our community has told us that meeting new people feels like more of a transaction than a pleasant experience of our day-to-day lives.
These aren’t all of the changes that the pandemic caused, and all of the changes aren’t bad. This is the new normal, at least for now. With a new normal comes an adjusted meaning, and that’s why BarCamp Philly’s place in the Philadelphia technology community has had to adjust as well.
10 years ago, it was common for most of BarCamp Philly’s attendees to be from the same couple of industries and sometimes the same departments in a single organization. Now, our attendees are walking in with a new background. Some are the same, some are brand new. Instead of just hardcore technologists, our conference has become a home for artists, designers, creatives, entrepreneurs and communication professionals taking advantage of a rare opportunity to step out of their industry and skill set silos and learn what their peers in other spaces are getting up to.
How to put together a BarCamp Philly session: Your unconference guide
With the event now in its 16th year, organizers offer tips on how to make your talk unforgettable, helpful or just plain fun.
We’ve found something new. The focus on IRL connections means that the content of our session has changed as well. Technologists in new industries and non-tech-centered ideas mean that our sessions are more diverse than ever. Is it better? No. Is it worse? Also no. Is it ours? Yes! And that’s what matters.
The times are indeed a-changin’. But with BarCamp Philly still going strong as a community for people in Philadelphia who love to connect over technology and passion projects while making sure we carve out a space for those who are new-to-the-scene or “not-techy” to belong, we find that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
BarCamp Philly 17 will take place on Saturday, Oct. 17, at Wharton’s Huntsman Hall. Purchase your conference ticket here; the cost is $20. To sign up to present at the conference, arrive at 8 a.m. Read this to learn how to put together a BarCamp Philly session. See you there.
