Here are few more Blogcamp Pune goodies for your blogs :)

<a href="http://barcamp.org/BlogCampPune2" ><img src="
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Si9wehKBb5I/AAAAAAAAEI4/cGP8oQA4Kbk/s800/badge-6.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://barcamp.org/BlogCampPune2" ><img src="
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Si9wfD9oquI/AAAAAAAAEI8/WRsvtCUJ4qk/s800/badge-5.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://barcamp.org/BlogCampPune2" ><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Si9wfhN7sTI/AAAAAAAAEJA/zp_fLnMzXeE/s800/badge-3.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://barcamp.org/BlogCampPune2" ><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Si9wfywRH5I/AAAAAAAAEJE/AkbFDcdEi9w/s800/badge-2.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://barcamp.org/BlogCampPune2" ><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Si-YHv0EPVI/AAAAAAAAEJg/cdvb5od8gFs/s800/logo-main-krity.jpg" /></a>

Blogcamp Pune Badges, now flash support for Blogcamp Pune on your blog

<a href="http://barcamp.org/BlogCampPune2" ><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Si8gXjvcdJI/AAAAAAAAEHQ/sOJd_k_m5Fc/s800/728x90.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://barcamp.org/BlogCampPune2" ><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Si8gYMqhwAI/AAAAAAAAEHU/qqi3OdFBuYQ/s800/728x90-2.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://barcamp.org/BlogCampPune2" ><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Si8gYlzG_1I/AAAAAAAAEHc/YZ-emvPPh9c/s800/250x250-1.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://barcamp.org/BlogCampPune2" ><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Si8gYbu8mhI/AAAAAAAAEHY/vF_wApVtWoQ/s800/250x250-2.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://barcamp.org/BlogCampPune2" ><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Si8gZOYAaaI/AAAAAAAAEHg/FZrytTydCHU/s800/170x300_1.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://barcamp.org/BlogCampPune2" ><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Si8gZn0s-CI/AAAAAAAAEHk/kRoOaz51doY/s800/170x300-2.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://barcamp.org/BlogCampPune2" ><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Si8gaDy_zvI/AAAAAAAAEHo/dcKE_THTzoc/s800/170x300-1.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://barcamp.org/BlogCampPune2" ><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Si8kDhTRFZI/AAAAAAAAEIE/EwIN4Fm4kuM/s800/125x125.jpg" /></a>

Bloggers Lunch Pune

The beautiful city of Pune makes me wonder why am I not staying there? Everytime I visit that place I find more reasons to love it. This time there were 15 more reasons, the 15 amazing bloggers I met at the Bloggers Lunch Pune. I knew I had to be in Pune this weekend so, I called up Rohit and asked him if we can meet over lunch and rest of the bloggers friends as well. The geek that he is, put up a wiki and set the scene. We decided that we should not spam whole of pune but tell about the lunch only to close friends and the bloggers that we met at the last meet. Priyank arranged the venue and we were all set.

The lunch was good and the high point was meeting everyone. Among them were some of the best bloggers of Pune. Though I got bit late, but was there on time for the lunch (gave another chance to Rohit for saying "Tarun is never late for the lunch").

Lets follow the rest of the events in the pics. As they say picture is worth thousand words and I have added few more.

Meetu, Sumit and Prasoon.

Jasleen and Bhavya

The bunch of bloggers at the lunch for bloggers.

It was pleasure to meet Rohit (partner in this crime like most other), Priyank (arranged for the venue and lunch, always enthusiastic about implementing the ideas), Meetu (great movie reviewer and always fun to talk to... Meetu remember that you have promised me a tea for the next time), Bhavya (great girl, loves to do a lot of things. Got to know that she is an excellent driver just like most other girls :)), Sumit (the best photographer and loves sharing his wisdom with others for example remove the lens cover before shooting.), Prasoon (got to meet him for the first time, nice guy), Sachin (met him for the first time but sounded like a very resourceful guy. If you are looking to go out for lunch or dinner contact him he can book a place for you anywhere is Pune), Pramila (met her first at the blogcamp pune last year she was with Purplenova then, now she is with ITVidya. Always a pleasure to meet her.), Harsha (this dude is amazing, walked for 40 mins to come to the meet not only talks but lives a green life. This was probably our last meeting in Pune as he will be leaving Pune soon.), Krishna (met him for the first time, nice guy), Amit (he is a php pro. It is always a pleasure to meet him), Ramana (one of the latest person to join the blogging bandwagon. Very enthusiastic and keen to learn, wish you good luck for your blog journey sir), Jasleen (works for Great foundation) , Krity (is the one who designed the blogcamp mumbai style logo, she is always ready to help us with designs. Very nice girl.) and Isha (met her for the first time, she is Krity's sister). Looking forward to more such fun meetings.

For rest of the pics please visit my picasa album.
Visit Priyank's blog for details about the meet.

Tarun Chandel
Barcamp Pune Team

Cross posted on iThink...

BlogCamp Mumbai Style

Over to BlogCamp Mumbai Style from now on.
Visit BlogCamp Mumbai Style blog for updates.
Visit BlogCamp Mumbai Stlye wiki for registration and event details.

See you at BlogCamp Mumbai Stlye.

Wait is about to get over...

BlogCampPune Pics

Finally I managed to upload Pics on Flickr. I havent been able to filter them though, request you all to see the pics and provide comments so that I can easily identify the pics that are not good and pat myself for the pics that are good.

BlogcampPune Pics

Note: The Camera is new and I am still exploring the functionalities, so pardon me if the photos are not clear.

Let's keep this platform alive... contd.

Here's the second thing.

In BlogCampPune, we had a discussion on old vs. new media. I think it was a very important as well as a relevant discussion. This blog can serve as an extended platform to continue such discussions on the impact of blogging on society, journalism, education, etc.

BlogCampPune had a very good mix of techies and journalists. I think both have a unique and an important perspective to blogging and it's implications.

I personally do not think blogging is a threat to traditional newspaper houses. Just like television did not kill the radio, blogging will not kill the newspaper. But blogging WILL have an impact on how newspaper houses deliver their news.

There is much that can be said and discussed. Those who wish to participate can do so here, or on their own blogs and simply mail the links on the newsgroup or put them up as comments to a relevant post.

Let's keep this platform alive... contd.

Yes let's keep this platform going. Two things come to mind.

In the kickout session of BlogCampPune, we had decided to have a workshop to help people start bogging and perhaps introduce advanced topics to those who already have their blogs. Can we make this blog as a focus point for the workshop, and perhaps even have the tutorial online as screencasts and audiocasts. This will make it accessible to people who do not reside in Pune, and will allow people to access the material asynchronously.

I will blog about the second point tomorrow :-)

Let's keep this platform alive

Blogcamp Pune was a really good event and got a lot of attention from good bloggers. I got some requests/queries regarding the future of this blog. I think this is a good platform and we can use this platform for some good discussions. If you are interested in being a part of this blog, please write a mail to me (tarunchandel AT gmail) and I will add you. Let's keep this blog alive and rocking!

Screencasting

Jon Udel, also known as the father of screencasting, recently answered some questions by Beth Kanter.

I have viewed Jon's screencasts, and they are really very well made, and so are his podcasts (Interviews with innovators) on ItConversations. Jon's got a great vision on the power of new media and blogging.

Those who are interested in screencasting will find the above post helpful, but along with information on screencasting, I also wanted to point out how two people communicated through their blogs and had a conversation that lead to learning. Beth wanted to know more about screencasting. She did some research, some work, and as a result had questions. She posted her experiences as well as her questions on her blog, and got a reply from Jon on his.

What a wonderful way to learn and share information. This is the real power of blogging and the read/write web.

A little writeup for BlogCampPune?

The folks at SCIT were very happy with the way BlogCampPune turned out. They have requested a little writeup about the event. I think what they want is roughly along these lines:

1. What is an unconference and why is it good?
2. What is the importance of blogging?
3. Why did we choose to have an unconference on blogging?
4. Proceedings of the event (what was discussed and who was there...)
5. Lessons learned
6. Future plans... more events?
   

Can we do this collaboratively? I would like to get everyone involved because it will give a more rounded perspective. Maybe we can just write blog posts, here or on personal blogs. I will collate everything and create a writeup for SCIT.

If you write something in response to this post, please be sure to comment here and give the post's URL.

Blogcamp Pune on Flickr

click to enlarge

Abdul Qabiz wasted no time in getting his photos from the
Camp uploaded the same night to Flickr, and they are very
nicely done, show your appreciation and leave a comment
on his photos !

Where are the others ? Any Media coverage ?

1..2...3...and here we go!

The first look of the venue:



Tarun talking to SCIT students in the Yoga hall (thats why they are sitting on the ground) about the "stuff" that is going rock there campus tomorrow.

Times of India getting impressed!

I Am At Blogcamp Pune (Virtually)

Just my way of sending greetings and good wishes to
all the organisers and bloggers attending the Camp...

Dear Blogcamp Pune attendees :
by taking part in this 'Unconference' today June 16th 2007,
you have created and become a part of Pune history. As I
send this message to you from Texas in the USA, I am of
course saddened that I could not be a part of this proud
moment in my hometown's development. But more, I am
overjoyed that the future of Indian blogging is in good shape.

Why ? Because you are mostly young, eager, ambitious,
brilliant and seeking to create a market for bloggers in a
country that has nowhere to go but forward.

I have no technical knowledge of what goes into the creation
and marketing of a successful blog even after two years of
steady blogging, but I do know that without readers a blog is
worthless, and the only way to get people to read your blog
is to give them the content they came for with a respectful,
accurate and consistent number of posts. Anything that your
mother wouldn't read in public is probably not worth writing
about. Edit and revise your posts because that is your
privilege as the blog owner. Offer comments on other blogs
and positive comments will find their way to you.

Perhaps some of you will become seasoned and respected
bloggers worldwide, while others may just move on to other
entrepreunerial things. But I sincerely believe none of you will
ever forget this day, so enjoy it, learn from it and may you be
blessed with success in all your life's undertakings.

Shukriya, Shabaash, and..... Go Pune !!

... in the meantime we were covered by Indian Express

I was at SCIT this weekend for some preparation work of Blogcamp Pune and as soon as I entered Ms. Kagal's room, she said, "oh you are all over the news these days". It was good to hear from a lady like her, she told me that Blogcamp pune was covered in the Indian Express.

Though I couldn't get a copy of the paper but here is the link to the post in Indian Express about the Blogcamp Pune.

Later in the day when I was at the printer's workshop, a lady told me (looking at out tshirt design), "blogging is getting hot, I read about a conf in today's newspaper. You guys should go to the conf if you are interested". Waaoow people are noticing, feels great!

Another Sponsor. GREAT!

Blogcamp Pune got another surprise sponsor at the last possible moment. We are proud to have Bollywood Blog as our Gold Sponsor.

To know our sponsors better, visit the BlogCamp Pune Sponsors page.
We have raised 105K (Waaoow!!) set out to raise 100K we exceed the target, feels great and reinforces the belief that if you have pure intent, you will surely hit the target.

Looking forward to meet all of you at the Blogcamp Pune, this Saturday.

Our most recent sponsor

Ekartha has also pledged support for BlogCampPune. This is going to be an awesome event guys!

Guess who just came in to support us?

Blogcamp Pune proudly presents our third Platinum Sponsor: Fropper. I have just received the confirmation from the Fropper team and they are very keen to be a part of the Blogcamp Pune.

To know our sponsors better, visit the BlogCamp Pune Sponsors page.

Now we have raised 90K (Hurray!!) and still need 10k more, there are still few deals in the pipeline but tomorrow is the last day of accepting Sponsorship Amount. If you are interested in sponsoring the Blogcamp Pune please take a look at our Sponsorship Guide, though the time is running out.

Globalization of Blogging

DW-WORLD.DE is now poised to report on the upcoming
G8 Summit which sparked severe riots in Rostock a few
days ago. As the event nears, bloggers everywhere are even more
forceful and outspoken. Here's a link to some good blogging
news from Deutsche Welle entitled
From Africa to Germany, Blogs Reflect a Globalized World
More news in their newsletter at my Blog

And we have another Sponsor

Blogcamp Pune just got another sponsor. Techgoss, they had covered buildup to Blogcamp Pune 2 months back, will be our Gold Sponsor.


To know our sponsors better visit the BlogCamp Pune Sponsors page.

So now we have raised 70k and still need 30k more, there are still few deals in the pipeline and I am keeping my fingers crossed. If you are interested in sponsoring the Blogcamp Pune please take a look at our Sponsorship Guide.

Screencast on Delicious

Here's another very nice screencast by Jon Udell, on the social bookmarking service, Del.icio.us. Again not directly relevant to blogging, social bookmarking services are a great way to save links to useful pages, tag them, and share them with the community.

Very useful for keeping track of good blog posts and sharing them with the community.

Blogcamp Promotion Pics (Part 5)

Here is an interesting pic from Soham. Put it on your blog, or mail it to your friends to spread word about Blogcamp Pune in a fun manner.

More such interesting pics coming soon, thanks to generous photographers like Soham.

Promotional Pics for Blogcamp Pune Series:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Screencast on OpenId

I came accross a very good screencast on OpenId. You can check it out here.

Even though OpenId is not directly related to blogging, there are many uses of OpenId for bloggers. Using OpenId, bloggers can claim the comments they post on other's blogs. OpenId also helps blog authors to know that a comment did indeed come from the person who claims to be the commenter.

A good screencast for including in our BlogCamp.

... and here are the Sponsors

Blogcamp Pune feels proud to present our Sponsors (finalized so far).

Venue Sponsor:



Platinum Sponsors:



Gold Sponsors:



To know our sponsors better visit the BlogCamp Pune Sponsors page.

We need Rs 100,000 for the event and we have raised Rs 60,000 so far thanks to our sponsors. We are still looking for a few more sponsors to raise Rs 40,000 more. If you are interested in sponsoring the Blogcamp Pune please take a look at our Sponsorship Guide.

Blogcamp Promotion Pics (Part 4)

Here are some interesting pics from Stephanie. Put them on your blog, or mail them to your friends to spread word about Blogcamp Pune in a fun manner.




More such interesting pics coming soon, thanks to generous photographers like Stephanie.

Promotional Pics for Blogcamp Pune Series:
Part 1
Part 2
Part3

Ganesh on blogging

Swajana has captured Ganesh, one of our teammate for Blogcamp Pune, talking about blogs and blogosphere.

Click To Play

Thanks to Swajana, Hitesh and Freeman.

Blogcamp Promotion Pics (Part 3)

Here comes the Part 3 of our series of Promotional Pics for Blogcamp Pune. Here are some interesting pics from Sunand. Put them on your blog, or mail them to your friends to spread word about Blogcamp Pune in a fun manner.


More such interesting pics coming soon, thanks to generous photographers like Sunand.

Promotional Pics for Blogcamp Pune Series:
Part 1
Part 2

The ball is rolling

This is what I read today morning.


DNA (Mumbai) covered an intro about Blogcamp Pune, thanks to Riddhi Doshi of DNA for taking efforts to cover Blogcamp Pune.

Idea for Blogcamp Pune Contribution

Well, it looks like there's someone else besides Tarun here....me.
Just kidding ! I know everyone's in the heat of the Blogcamp buzz,
and that's obvious from the screencast and pics emerging slowly
but surely.

At the first mention of the Camp, my initial reaction was, I would
contribute by sending in a short post, which would then be read
to the Camp attendees by a blogger who is well-spoken (here
meaning clear enunciation and pronunciation). That idea still sounds
viable to me but only if there exists a blogger with nothing of his/her
own to say who is willing to mouth my words.

Can such a blogger exist ? I believe so, but if you don't, Punekars,
try this: create a Post that you would like to be read in public by your
favourite speaker/actor. Read it aloud as they would. Do you like what
you hear ? If you do, then you have created something valuable that you
can share with others at Blogcamp Pune.

e-mail : frdmill.2005(at)blogger(dot)com

Blogcamp Promotion Pics (Part 2)

Going forward with our series of Promotional Pics for Blogcamp Pune. Here are some interesting pics from Veeresh Malik. Put them on your blog, or mail them to your friends to spread word about Blogcamp Pune in a fun manner.





More such interesting pics coming soon, thanks to generous photographers like Veeresh Malik.

Screencast on sense making in the blogosphere

I came accross a very good screencast by Jon Udel, on how he consumes his blog feeds and makes sense of all this information using social bookmarking.

I recommend adding this screencast to our playlist for BlogCampPune. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Blogcamp Pune Video

Freeman and Hitesh had come to the Kick Start meet of Blogcamp Pune. They shot a small video about the Blogcamp Pune.

Click To Play

Here is a video of Blogcamp Pune.
Thanks to Swajana, Techsutra, Ajay, Hitesh and Freeman.

Blogcamp Promotion Pics

Take a look at some of the promotional pics for Blogcamp Pune. You can put these on your Blog or mail them to your friends and this will help us in spreading word about the Blogcamp Pune.

Thanks to Yash for letting us use his photographs.







I will be posting more such interesting pics from more interesting and generous photographers like Yash. Keep a tab on this blog.

Intentention of Blogcamp Pune

I have had a good time while talking to prospective sponsors about the Blogcamp Pune. I rarely had to explain them what Blogcamp Pune is about as most of them already are aware of the concept of Unconferences, Barcamps and Open Spaces. But recently I was talking to one of the executive of an internet company and he asked me "what is your intention behind doing this?"

Let me try to explain the intention behind Blogcamp Pune and may be the readers will add their own views as well through comments. Intention of Blogcamp Pune is to be an unconference to the core. We want it to be a platform where a lot of Bloggers come together discuss, debate and networks which will lead to some positive actions. That's it nothing more and nothing less.

Some points that I think we should clarify and everyone should be aware of:

1. No one is making money out of Blogcamp Pune. NO ONE.
2. We are not seeking sponsors just for their money, we have made this clear from very start that sponsor us if it makes sense to your business not as a favor to us.
3. We will declare our all expenses. It's an open event.
4. We are NOT trying to guide Bloggers or Blogosphere, I think no one can. Community finds it's own path and we are part of the community.

Our focus is on having good discussions, learn things from fellow bloggers, share our experiences with them, get to know a lot more interesting people. All the other will get sorted out themselves, that's the power of unconf. So the people who really want to sponsor will come forward and sponsor, it's a chance for them to be associated with something of pure intent and I think that's a big ROI.

I have been to Big Conferences where companies keep pitching about their product at ever possible second, but how much of it all lead to real business or brand enhancement. I don't remember anyone saying I went to a "XYZ" conf so I am going for their solutions or products. Rather people complain about the constant annoying pitches they had to face. It's up to the sponsors to build their own ROI at unconfs and I think it tends to be much more than confs. Rest is upto the sponsors, we have made our intentions very clear.

The Kickstart!

So the kickstart meeting of BlogCamp Pune, which I was eagerly waiting, is done.Incidentally, it also happened to be the last meeting before the actual event on 16th June - so I have been informed. Who cares for physical meets, when you have Wiki's and mobiles and mobile blogs and web blogs?

I was looking forward to the kickstart meeting for 2 reasons - to meet some young minds and to be part of an exciting endeavor. Well - first is definitely satisfied. There were these great techies who also blogged. Second reason
that I would be able to be a part of an exciting affair is however still unquenched. The reason I am trying to tell myself is that 'It is a BarCamp, so you need not organise. Just be there.' It seems sounds interesting...It is a chance for me to experience a true UnConference in Pune.

To turn to basics and to blogging, the eternal question - Why do we blog?


-- Ganesh Kulkarni

Screencasts for BlogCampPune

Among other things, an interesting idea that emerged in the kickstart meeting was that we should have a projector running to display blogging related screencasts through the day.

Wonderfull idea.

I have started searching for some introductory screencasts which can show people how to create a simple blog with freely available tools, how to aggregate feeds, how to make comments, etc.

If you come accross a relevant screencast, please add it as a comment. Can I make a request please... do not recommend a screencast without actually viewing and evaluating it. The net is full of screencast links. I am hoping that the screencasts that get listed here are verified by the poster, so that we do not have to recheck them.

Invitation Accepted

Dear Tarun :
Happy Mother's Day !

thank you for inviting me to contribute to this Blog.
It will be my pleasure to offer my thoughts on
occasion, although my background is of a literary
nature and not technical. In fact, I am not in the least
bit technically schooled, and every bit of my computer
knowledge is a happy accident.

You are probably aware that I have volunteered my
services to Blogcamp Pune via the Wiki, even though
I am based in Texas, USA. So what can one offer that might
enhance the overall Blogcamp experience when one is so far
removed physically ? Certainly not a progress report
from the city where said Blogcamp is about to occur.
Photos, perhaps ? I tried that by posting an invitation to
the wonderful Pune FlickrBugs Group to which I received no
response. Why are people so apathetic in posting and
commenting in the Blogsphere ?
Questions like these have arisen in my mind since I first
learnt of the camp, but I have been too busy laboring
over my own Blog called Virtual Poona.

I posted a couple of comments here regarding the lack of
updates for those who came searching for the Camp news
and then realized that there are some brilliant individuals
involved in the organization of the Camp who also happen to
be persons who have to utilize that brilliance full-time in the
service of their employers, leaving little time for personal
blogging activities. Nevertheless, to leave a blog frequently
unattended is, in my opinion a reflection of the Blog Owner's
lack of commitment to the Blog AND its readers.

Google and Blogger claim to offer 'Push-Button Publishing'.
Well, here's something for the Blogcamp Pune to work on and
present to the Blogsphere.. If time does not permit new posts, there
needs to be a universal 'away on vacation' or 'under construction'
Blog app/ option that can be acessed by the blogger via a single
click. Nothing radically new, something that already exists in e-mail
apps like Yahoo. All we are offered is a 'Delete this Blog ?' option
here.

Until this suggestion becomes a reality or until someone
sends in a link to show that it already exists, may I offer
something simple along these lines that you should religiously
Cut and Paste (as a New Post) into your Blogs :

>Thanks for visiting, and sincere apologies for the tardy
updates. We'll be back real soon ! >

There. Now you've shown respect for your readers and done it
with class ! Don't you feel better ?

Fred
frdmill.2005(at)blogger(dot)com

Blogging in academics

I came accross a very good blog, on blogging and Social Media for teachers and students. Christopher Sessum, the author has some very good posts on the role of social media for teacher education.


In one of his posts, he has asked for teacher's responses on how they use blogging. Here is a link to post and the responses. Definetely a very worthwhile read.

BlogCamp Pune Logo and Badges

<img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/RhKD0myIqTI/AAAAAAAAACM/dk93r0FYmqw/s320/blogcamp_pune_200.gif" />

<img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/RhKD0myIqUI/AAAAAAAAACU/tPh4B9Agvk4/s320/blogcamp_pune_300.gif" />

<img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/RhKD02yIqVI/AAAAAAAAACc/BalPtXd5Nbc/s320/blogcamp_pune_400.gif" />

<img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/RhKD02yIqWI/AAAAAAAAACk/AD4X5ZI-6_Q/s320/blogcamp_pune_468x60.gif" />

<img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/RhKD0myIqTI/AAAAAAAAACM/dk93r0FYmqw/s320/blogcamp_pune_200.gif" />

<img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Rg_172yIqPI/AAAAAAAAABs/y0izigK2Vlk/s320/blogcamp_pune_80x15.gif" />

<img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Rg_18GyIqQI/AAAAAAAAAB0/K8gVmWcpsWY/s320/blogcamp_pune_100.gif" />

<img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/Rg_18GyIqRI/AAAAAAAAAB8/PEjqfFLa8yI/s320/blogcamp_pune_112x30.gif" />

<img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GeXmnVoQB9M/RhVYBhxmiJI/AAAAAAAAAC8/ou9WvekoAn4/s320/blogcamp_pune_125x125.gif" />

Why I blog

Sometime back I had written a peice on blogging for an "audience of one". Well, today I came accross someone else who also blogs primarily for himself.

I also did a quick google search on "why I blog", and it seems that many people have shared their reasons for blogging. Here are some of the posts:

1. Here's why Edward Mills blogs
2. Here's why Steve Olson blogs
3. Here'a another good post

There are many more. Instead of linking to all of them (which would actually be impossible), I would like to encourage you to add your own links in the comments section.

A wiki book on unconferences

The more I think about the concept of unconferences, the more I like it. Unconferences are the most fertile ground for learning. Maybe not traditional learning, but what I call kickstart learning. A learner gets a kickstart onto concepts which he may want to explore in-depth later. And off course no one prevents users from having in-depth discussions in an unconference either.

It's an awesome way to do a conference because no one can monopolize it. If participants do not find a speaker engaging, they can simply move on to another track. Most important, everyone can (and must) contribute. If you have something nice to share with the world, well ... you can just go ahead and talk about it at a barcamp. You do not have to get invited to speak.

So I am really glad that someone has come up with the idea of writing a book on unconferences in the true spirit of the word. The book will be a wiki book... written by many contributing authors over a period of some months. I will definetely contribute the best I can.

Take Blogcamp to Blogosphere

We have just come up with the first Blogcamp Pune widget. You can add Blogcamp Pune Feeds in to your blog, by just copy pasting 2 lines of code in your sidebar area. This will help us spread word about Blogcamp Pune and more people in Blogosphere will be able to know about it.


Keep looking for the Blogcamp Pune Widgets section on the sidebar as we will be rolling out few more widgets in coming time.

16th June 2007 The Blogger's Day!!!

We have the date YES!!! Blogcamp Pune will be held on 16th June 2007 at SCIT (Symbiosis Center for IT) Pune. Make you plan for the event in advance and be there to celebrate the Blogger's Day (just another marketing buzz word, to attract all of you).

Updates:
1. We had a meeting with the Director of SCIT and the date for the event was finalized. She was very enthusiastic about having this event at SCIT.
2. First meeting of the unorganizers, at Crosswords, S.B Road Pune. People present were Ajay (itvidya), Paraga Shah, Tushar Gandotra (latest addition) & Tarun Chandel. Discussed the future plan and few ideas.
3. Now the focus will be on getting the sponsors and spreading word about the Blogcamp Pune.
4. We still need a designer for logos and banners.
5. Contacted organizers of Bacamps in Mumbai, Pune and Chennai. There are few who have agreed to help us organizing this event. We were supposed to meet Narain (Barcamp Chennai) and Kiran Thakkar (Bapcamp Pune) but due to shortage of time couldn't meet. They will be interacting using mails and phone.
Added:
6. Mohit Pawar (Barcamp Mumbai) has also agreed to help us. Received a mail from him and will be meeting him sometime soon.

I have a hunch that, this is going to be really good event. Be there!!!

We have a Venue, SCIT

It's a great news for Blogcamp Pune. We have a venue, SCIT (Symbiosis Center for Information Technology) will be hosting the Blogcamp Pune.

A very special thanks to Ms. Shaila Kagal, Director SCIT, for her support.

Complete Address:
Symbiosis Center for Information Technology (SCIT)
Plot 15, Rajiv Gandhi InfoTech Park, Hinjawadi,
Pune - 411057. Maharashtra. India.

Website: www.scit.edu

You can take a look at our venue on wikimapia.

Now that the venue is finalized, we need to start working on getting good sponsors for the event. We still need a designer to design a logo for us. I have been talking to few people but still to find a designer who is ready to design a logo for us.

There is another great news for Blogcamp Pune, we have Swajana team who will be shooting a video for us. That too at SCIT, this is a great start!

Blogging for an audience of 'one'

Sometimes when I talk to people about blogging, a very common question I am asked is:

but there is so much stuff on the Internet anyways... who will read my blog?

and my answer usually is, even if no one reads your blog, it will still have an audience of at least one person - you. Think about it, when you make notes in a class, do you do it because someone else is going to read those notes? No... they are for yourself. When you write a journal, or just some thoughts on a peice of paper, do you write for anyone else to read? No... they are again for yourself. So why should anyone get discouraged from blogging because they do not yet have an audience?

Your thoughts, ideas, and perspectives are part of your creative output, which needs to get expressed. Different people express their creativity in different ways: writing, painting, making, music... and blogging is one of the several ways for your creativity to manifest.

And you never know... you just might get an audience...

Before I conclude this post, I must say one thing: do not feel compelled to blog because it's the in thing, or you somehow feel that you have to blog because your friends are blogging. It's more of a calling... if you feel the calling you will start to create and share.

Get blogging!

So, the question that comes up very often in any individual's mind who has heard of blogging is that why should people be blogging? Why should I write, I am not a writer? or Look, blogging is all about making yourself famous over the web, I dont want to be famous, this whole Web 2.0 stuff is bull shit!(this was the response of one of the managers at my company whom I was trying to convince for blogging).

Well, people should be blogging because if they feal concerned about anything thats happening around and no one seem to be listening to them, than a blog is the best way for expressing and creating an audiance.
Or, if you think your life is interesting and worth sharing...just blog,believe me its better way, pardon your freinds who are tired of hearing your same old story .. they will be happy by following it via your blog :)
Or just blog for the sake of blogging... atleast read blog... this is the most interesting thing on the web!
I am sure there 1000 better way to answer the questions... but the point is just Blog!

My question: what should bloggers be discussing in BlogCamp Pune?

Ranjan's experience at a Blogging Unconference

Ranjan Jha wrote about his experience at Global Voices meet at New Delhi

The meeting sarted with a brief intro about GV by the founders Ethan Zuckerman and Rebecca MacKinnon, the primary aim of GV is to make the world listen to what is happening the world except America and western Europe. So were the participants, bloggers from Maldives, Tunisia, Brazil, China, Uganda, kenya, France, combodia, Poland, Germany, Taiwan and only few from India were present. Well the most unusual gathering where the first question people ask " Are you a blogger?" answer: "yes" next question " What do you write?" answer" hmmm.., some tech, some biz and mostly crap".

A good post to know about what to expect at an unconference, though Blogcamp Pune will be little different as it's not been organized by any organization like GV.

Parag on Unconferences and open spaces

Parag wrote about Unconferences and Open Spaces:

Open spaces has a huge potential for learning and education. We are living in a time when technology is changing very rapidly and people have different learning requirements for the same technology. .....

What we need is an environment where people can pursue their learning needs at a speed and depth of their choice. I think open spaces offers one way to create such a personalized learning environment.

Do go through it to know more about unconferences.

What is a Blogcamp?

BlogCamp is a free unconference focusing exclusively on blogging, organized by bloggers for bloggers. It‘s built upon the principles of the famous BarCamp (ad-hoc unconference) focussed on sharing, learning and new ideas.

Let's start with Unconference: No it's not a spelling mistake, it is unconference and as you might have guessed it just opposite of a conference. So there is no audience to start with and you cant give a speech. Wait a minute there is no audience and no speech then what do people do?? There is no audience there are only participants and they don't give speeches they share their knowledge. The environment is very informal and leads a lot of discussions.

Barcamp is an ad-hoc unconference where you don't have a predefined theme and topics of discussion. People use wiki to post their likings and what they will be sharing. Then on the day of camp campers share their knowledge, they give demos of their work and discuss with other campers.

Blogcamp is an unconference focusing exclusively on Blogging. I think this line makes much more sense now. So Blogcamp is all of the above but limited to blogs and bloggers.

I hope I have made the idea of Bogcamp a little clearer.

It's ON

Planning for BlogCampPune has started. Though nothing is finalized yet, other than that it will be held in Pune in the month of June 2007.

Do visit:
Blogcamp Pune wiki.