It’s safe to say BarCamp ‘08 was a rip-roaring success - Flickr is already filling up quite nicely with photos, and with any luck videos and presentation files will be online and available over the next few days. So with the madness behind us I figured it was time to reflect on some lessons learnt, and potential improvements to running the next BarCamp Belfast.

• Registration, and the process surrounding getting guests registered and speakers scheduled needed a bit more thought in advance. Introducing a self-registering process in the foyer seems like a better idea, and means we don’t need to be running out of talks every time someone new arrives (thanks again, Phil). More formal name badges might be a nice touch next time too.
• Schedule, and people running over time was a slight problem. Next year, finding out before hand how long people want to talk for then making sure they stick to it will be a definite priority. Syncing the rooms up using this method should be a little tighter than the experimental just-wait-til-they’re-done approach.
• Internet, and the state of the wifi on the day probably couldn’t have been helped, but planning and testing that a little more in advance should be something to consider next year. Thanks again so much to everyone - especially Matt Johnston - for bringing routers and attempting to configure them around the various security problems.
• Assistance, and specifically getting people to do the dirty work is something I’ll need to potentially bribe people into next year. I overheard a bunch of conversations at lunch I would have loved to have been involved in - but I was too busy making sure everyone was full of pizza. Definitely didn’t network enough, but thats the price you pay for being the organiser!
• Publicity, I think, was fine this year - numbers weren’t too far from hitting triple figures, and every possible avenue was explored in making sure people knew it was happening. Next time, more of a focus on getting students in - especially if we remain at Queen’s - and getting the press down to at least take a few snaps.

I already have so many ideas on how to tackle these issues and make the next BarCamp even better, planning has already begun in the deepest reaches of my mind and it’s only a matter of time until those ideas meet paper, screen and conversation. Thanks again to everyone who attended, everyone who talked and everyone who pitched in!

How about you, any suggestions on how the next unconference might be improved?