beSwarm: an open spaces style meetup in Charlottesville

Our first beSwarm event went well. Look for beSwarm2 this summer/fall.

We are ready to go! See you at OpenSpace today. Come directly to the south entrance, where the event is held. Have a Spudnut on us. :-P~

Looking for lively tech discussions? Come to beSwarm on Feb 27 and join the conversation in an open spaces format. Think of it as an (un)conference which revolves around hallway and coffee break discussions.

• Sign up here.
• Saturday, February 27, 2010
• 10:00am to 6:00pm EST
• Plenary event: Lightning Talks at the end of the day
• OpenSpace @ 455 Second Street SE, Suite 100, Charlottesville, VA 22902
• Cost: event is free! (lunch offered at a discount)

Signing up is a good idea, but it’s completely optional. You can decide to attend beSwarm the day of; just show up!

How an open space conference works

You have time slots and spaces to meet (and coffee!). At any point during the event:

1. Pick an interesting tech topic.
2. Find that topic on the schedule board, or add it!
3. If needed, merge two or more separate topics.

The rules:

• Whoever shows up is the right group.
• Whatever happens is the only thing that could have.
• Whenever it starts is the right time.
• When it’s over, it’s over.

Use the Law of Two Feet. Not interested in a topic? Move along. These aren’t the droids you’re looking for. Speaking of Droids, don’t take a sudden interest in your phone because you find a topic boring. Find or start a new discussion!

beSwarm is not beCamp (and is not quite BarCamp).

Unlike beCamp, beSwarm’s schedule never becomes formal. Participants can add, move, and adjust the schedule in real time. See what emerges. Also, beSwarm’s emphasis is on discussion, not eyes-forward presentations.

That said, the open spaces format is an unconference and can safely be associated with the BarCamp spirit. Don’t miss beCamp because of beSwarm. Go to beCamp!

Sponsorship

OpenSpace is sponsoring beSwarm — Hooray! (The names of the open space conference format and OpenSpace co-working are actually coincidental, we think.)

Lunch

We’ll provide light refreshments and coffee. We’ll also provide lunch at a promotional price with free delivery to the venue. You’ll special order lunch here in the morning during the event. Thanks: Eppie’s and orderTopia.

Parking

There is plenty of street and garage parking available near the venue.

Organizers

beSwarm started with a First Wednesdays discussion between John Chapin and Ron DuPlain, found identity when John Feminella (who proposed the name “beSwarm”), Eric Pugh, and Nicole Radziwill joined the discussion over coffee and lunch, and landed a venue thanks to Jeff Gunther and the concierge at OpenSpace. Lunch delivery and discount are provided by Dan Epstein and Eppie’s, with order logistics from orderTopia including technical support from Brian Williford. If you are interested in talking to the organizers, or in organizing a future beSwarm, we have a beswarm-organizers mailing list. If you just want to let us know you are coming, see the sign up page.

A note on the name

beSwarm is not beCamp, but has its roots in beCamp (“We should have more than one bar camp in the year…”), so we chose a similar name.