Phew! Well that was a blast (and tiring!) I’m sorry I’m only just now getting to writing the post wrap up but unfortunately this is the first time I’ve found time.

So I haven’t blogged since Barcamp a GoGo for a lot of reasons including school and national exams but also because I’ve been doing web development work and organising Barcamp Auckland.

Beforehand

Sponsorship

I’m so grateful to Botany Downs Secondary College for saying so early on in the year that they would provide the venue and wifi. Not only because this made my life as a Barcamp Organiser so much easier because I could focus on other things like t-shirts, food and Twittercamp, but also because the venue is perfect for a Barcamp situation. There a 5 classrooms (each with a mounted projector) surrounding a commons area with ottomans, tables and chairs and a kitchen! Even the design fit in well with the Barcamp philosophy, with the use of glass echoing the Barcamp openness and the layout symbolises the coming together (in the commons.) So thank you Botany Downs Secondary College.

The hardest thing was getting sponsors. “No duh” I hear you say but I really did underestimate the amount of work required to even get an answer, not to mention a positive one! One thing this taught me was it’s who you know who counts. None of the (possibly hundreds) emails (which I customized for each firm based on how Barcamp would benefit them) resulted in a sponsor, all of the sponsors came from people I knew who knew someone at another firm who sponsored the event.

Our first sponsor was Microsoft (thanks Nigel) and I got in contact with Nigel via Mauricio Freitas. The first sponsorship is definitely the hardest and to get a big name like Microsoft on board meant a lot, not only as a confidence boost to myself, but also in the confidence other potential sponsors now had in me, and the event. Around the same time I got a phone call from another firm who said they wanted to sponsor but then pull out about a month before the event! It was a real shock because this firm was going to sponsor all the food and Microsoft’s sponsorship was going to be going toward the t-shirts (at this time I was hoping for 50 people to even turn up!)

I can’t quite remember how or why I chose him, but I started emailing Karl von Randow about getting some local web development firms donating $1-300 (at the “Bronze” tier) so that we could at least have food! Shortly after I received an email from Che Tamahori (of Shift) and Darren Wood (of APN Finda), each wanting to sponsor at the “Gold” tier. Wow! I was stoked and I knew that the amount of sponsorship I had received meant that I had to put a lot of work into making the event as successful and professional as possible. I wanted the sponsors to be pleased with how their money was spent but more importantly I believe it was my job to shine a good light on their brand - and I hope I have done that.

The t-shirt

Up until the point where I had decided that this event had to be a defining Barcamp, bringing a touch of professionalism to the unconference, I was planning on making the t-shirts myself, with the logo on the front and sponsors on the back. I think it was after chatting to Karl on the phone one afternoon we decided we wanted the shirt to be a wear-again one, not unlike webstock’s. At this point I really wanted an illustrated shirt (similar to those great threadless shirts) and Karl said he knew someone who might be able to help.

The t-shirt turned out wonderfully even though I put Matthew Allen (aka Mata) under a great deal of time pressure and I found mself becoming the annoying “nit-picking” client. Sorry Matt. In the end though Mata hung in there and delivered a beautiful t-shirt that was printed by Identity Gurus. Mata talked a bit more about the shirt design in a session “Spaghetti or Meatball” and I’m hoping he’ll be typing up the main ideas for record.

Unfortunately after we placed our order we found out they didn’t have any more coffee/chocolate brown left - which is what Mata designed for, and we had to go for black instead.

Setting up

On the 14th, Eugenia, Novia and Zak joined me in setting up the venue (which took from around 10am til 3pm.) Here we tested the Wifi (and I found out about the proxy which I apologise for immensely!), set up the rooms and whiteboards and tried to get a custom-baked Twittercamp running on the plasma screen. Twittercamp gave an installation error so I ended up borrowing a friends laptop which I knew it would work on.

The t-shirts arrived around 2.30pm but when I got home I realised that the lanyards and badge holders weren’t with the t-shirts! Panic! I called Identity Gurus but the lad who had handled m order was away sick, they did their best though and managed to track the lanyards and badge holders to a particular courier whom the contacted and asked to deliver immediately. These arrived around 6.30pm (after I had dashed to my mum’s school to borrow some adaptors (mini-DVI/VGA to VGA.)

That night my dad printed out the name badges and we assembled the lanyard/badge combos. We did some final t-shirt checks and organising and then headed to bed.

On the day

I woke up at 5.30am. Lay in bed til about 6.10am and then decided to get up, get dressed and start cutting the session forms which we had forgotten to do the night before. Then I made some changes to my presentation which was followed by pacing. A lot of it. Until about 7.45 am when I left to go meet the security guards who were unlocking the venue.

The morning (up until 9.30) went really quickly as people started turning up to help set up. The list which I prepared for things that needed to be done was quickly sorted out and soon most people were just sitting around, waiting to begin. A great opportunity to set-up Wifi, meet people, get your mugshot taken and begin twittering.

9.30am rolled around and I was faced with the introductory speech, which I think went well. From here we had session registration and then everyone moved to their first session.

I’m not going to recount the entire day, there are people who were live blogging, an blogging afterward. Instead I’ll leave you with the photos taken on the day (and tagged correctly with “barcampauck07") and links to buzz around the net.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Buzz

• http://ijump.co.nz/join-the-conversation-about-social-media-in-new-zealand-on-a-plane/
• http://www.geekzone.co.nz/freitasm/4263
• http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/roc/archives/2007/12/barcamp_aucklan.html
• http://www.mandamonium.com/tag/barcampauck07/
• http://twoseven.co.nz/2007/12/15/barcamp-auckland-liveblogging/
• http://www.dontcom.com/2007/12/barcamp-auckland-07/
• http://www.kloss-familie.de/blog/article.php?story=20071216004925404
• http://www.jonbeattie.com/barcamp-auckland-2007/
• http://oneteachersview.blogspot.com/2007/12/barcamp-auckland.html
• http://simonyoung.co.nz/my-presentation-at-barcamp-auckland-2007/
• http://rob.coup.net.nz/2007/12/cool-data-in-browser-with-dojo.html
• VIDEO: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=BarCamp+Auckland&sitesearch=

Sorry if your post isn’t here, the is what I found from some quick Googling, please drop me a line or email barcampauckland {at} ludwignz {dot} com

Final thanks to our...

Sponsors

Thank you Shift, APN Finda, Microsoft and D-Link. The event would not have been as good as it was (materialistically) if it weren’t for you!

Presenters

Thank you to everyone who presented, the event would have sucked if it wasn’t for you, you really made the day worth it.

Bartenders and other Helpers

Thank you to everyone who helped out; Novia, Zak, Genie, Rebecca, Felix, Lisa, Heino, Mum, Dad, Tannie Shoneen (Aunt), Oom Eddie (Uncle) and my grandma for bringing the lanyards which I forgot at home. I really appreciate you giving up your Saturday (and in some cases your Friday also) to help out, you helped make the day run a lot smoother.

Right about now I’d like to thanks Helen Henry and Mary-Anne Auger for the food. It was good and beautifully presented. Thank you so much!

I’d also like to thank Mauricio and Karl for supporting me in terms of marketing the event and gaining sponsorship. Thanks guys!

And finally, Mata for the awesome shirt he designed.

The rest of you

Without you, presenters would have no-one to present to, Bartenders would have no-one to serve and sponsors would have no reason to sponsor. Please do come along again, tell our friends, and help us make the next one even bigger and better!