The first rule of BarCamp is that there are no rules.
Or, perhaps, that there aren’t many — and that’s just the point.
This Saturday, Gainesville will host its first-ever “unconference” known as BarCamp, an informal get-together of the city’s tech community.
The international conference has been bringing tech startups together for nearly a decade in cities across the globe. Now, it’s making its debut here thanks to an initiative from Grooveshark.
Unlike conventional conferences, BarCamp is free and loosely structured in order to allow guests to speak about their passions in any way they see fit, said Grooveshark director of quality assurance Julia Anderson.
“I’ve been to BarCamps before where some guy talked just about bacon and served samples of bacon,” Anderson said with a laugh.
There won’t be bacon at Gainesville’s event — or there might be, who knows? — but it does promise talks on yoga in the workplace, self defense, using Amazon as a resource and women in technology.
Sara Schuster, president of UF’s women in computer science engineering club, will be hosting a talk with fellow vice president Killian McCoy on women in the male-dominated field.
Schuster said her speech will help “people realize that when you walk into an engineering class, what it feels like to be the only woman in the room,” as well as give suggestions on how to improve the state of women in the engineering field. She said she is excited to hear from people outside the tech world too.
Guests will be able to circulate between four rooms from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Depot Building – 201 SE Depot Ave. — and listen in on talks. Registration to be a speaker opens at 9:30 a.m. and food trucks will be available for lunch starting at 1 p.m.
Anderson said Grooveshark has been planning the event with local organization StudioCo.de for about a month.
“One of the things I think makes BarCamp click is this is the perfect environment for Gainesville,” Anderson said. “Gainesville is the grassroots kind of town.”
Holly Marie Gibbs, one of the founders of StudioCo.de, said she has battled with the issue of networking herself while working at tech company Mobiquity Inc.
“This is a really good chance to start that conversation,” Gibbs said.
About 100 to 150 people are expected to attend and share a diverse set of ideas throughout the event, she said.
“I really hope people feel like they are a part of a bigger community,” Gibbs said. “And we are getting together to do something that really matters.”
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 11/7/2014]
