this one time? at bar camp?

I just heard back that I’m going to BarCamp L.A. this weekend! I’m so excited! This is really rhe sort of information sharing I’m fascinated with, the Internet as social catalyst. I’ve always loved the Internet because it totally shifts how we think about communication, information, and interaction. And I’m enthralled with technology in general, because technology changes society, and that, in turn, makes history. Therefore, the chance to go and speak with – and learn from – as many intelligent, forward thinking people as will be at BarCamp – that’s really exciting to me.

I’m also glad I wrote in and applied to present. I don’t think, if I had stayed “home”, I would have applied to go to BarCamp Vancouver. I think I would have dismissed it as something for people who are smarter and more dedicated and more connected in the “blogosphere” than I am. Neither can I see myself writing for Metroblogging Vancouver, because I never inhabited Vancouver, never reached out beyond myself, like I do Los Angeles.

Since I came to L.A., I’ve started asking myself, every time I think I can’t do something, or don’t belong somewhere, “why not”? Why shouldn’t I be part of the kind of information sharing that BarCamp represents? I’m really really good at some aspects of interactive marketing, and I am just as qualified to share that as a programmer is to share their developments. I may not have the next killer app – but I might have the next killer campaign.

So I’m going to BarCamp! As are some very bright people. I’m very much looking forward to this. When I first discovered the Internet, at sixteen, it was a way to communicate with like minded people off the Island. At twenty-seven, it still is – only I don’t have to go as far from home to do it.