BarCamp Nigeria ’09…My experience

I and Justin Hartmann

The BarCamp Nigeria 2009 experience (25/04/2009) was a “one in a million” one for me. It would probably be the best “technology networking” conference i have ever attended. It however had its own hiccups.

First, there was no early facebook event created to remind me of the program on time. I got wind of it through someone’s facebook status a day to the program! I had been looking forward to it and even though it fell on the “Eyo Festival”, there was no way i was going to miss it.

Yours truly

The Geeks

On the morning of the day, i had no idea of the location and time, but luckily i had added the event’s tweet on twitter. So i was able to get the info I needed. I found it difficult to locate the venue and when i did, was disappointed at first at the outward look…but when i entered the building (Tom Associates Training Center-www.tomassociatesng.com), i was awed by the exqusite interior design, arrangement and air conditioning (another proof that you should never judge a book by its cover).

All For Me...lol

I got to the event a bit late but met the lecture of justin hartmann of www.afrigator.com as it rounded up. Next, was a session on the potentials of the net in nigeria (not the original topic) which involved justin hartmann, gbenga sesan (www.gbengasesan.com), Loy (www.startupsnigeria.com) and one other professional. It was an interesting session but i was chatting most of the time to the brain behind Wazzap (www.wazaap.com), an upcoming web application to be launched in August.

The major point I got from this session was that its all about starting your idea, launching it out and been consistent with it. You can always improve on it, just act on it!

Then we had breakout sessions which were lovely and a lecture from a Microsoft Representative in between. I got a lot of contacts, learnt new insights into using tinyurl with twitter, learnt about www.roomatic.com …even met a twitter addict…lol. I also got a lot of contacts, which is something you hardly get in conferences that are supposed to be for networking. BarCamp Nigeria’s Organisers understood this….Kudos, guys. It was a lovely event and can’t wait for the next one. (I also plan on using the Hall for any programme I might have or suggest it to others).

BarCamp Nigeria 2009 was a lovely experience…and its a wrap y’all.