A Friday Night at a BARcamp!

Excellent Event @barcampsj

I had the opportunity to go to my First Barcamp in San Juan Puerto Rico yesterday. A few days ago @mark_hayward someone I admire for the great job he does promoting his Guest House @PalmettoCulebra via the Social Media Channels asked me if I was going to the @barcampsj.

Before I continue please do me a favor even if you where not at @barcamp send @gcollazo, @jpadilla_ and the rest of the @barcampsj team tweets thanking them. On very few occasions I am really proud of a greatly organized event in Puerto Rico!

Given my previous experiences collaborating with a few people locally who their interests were purely self centered I had kept away from assisting any conferences this year 2010. I did go outside of the Island and was very successful establishing relationships in conferences like @chirp, @cmsummit, and the Inbound Marketing Summit.

Arriving at @barcampsj I was quickly surprised to see the level of organization and effort the organizers put into it.

The first presentations where made by the organizers a great way to break the ice and lead the way.

The first presentation was made by @gcollazo and it really caught my attention for the following reasons:

@gcollazo had the courage different to what most of us are taught in our culture to admit that he failed in a project but gave it a great spin on how he learned from it and how others have done so. Like @gcollazo one of my biggest failures (CIMA Job Board) led me into a new business model and new sources of income.
His presentation made you connect with him. He started describing himself as being the Human to Camila (his Labrador). I guess I can relate since I love my 4-legged son Juanga.
He has an innate talent for creating a great visual presentation. The images used in his presentation where unique and he also was able to connect his presentation with great presentation skills.

The next presentation that I really enjoyed was made by @shockeyk titled “What I’ve learned about mosquitoes”. He used great analogies, creativity, and his authenticity to give us a few unique business lessons. I really wanted to see more of his presentation.

I think the presentation that was closest to the Holiday feeling approaching (since we are already in November) was by @onedgepr with his title of “Como Llevar Una Parranda” which was related on his process to create the Vaya Broqui & Parranda App and how people need to execute their ideas. I was able to relate to his presentation because similar to my previous post (“Don’t Forget to Have Fun”) you can clearly see @onedegepr loves what he does and makes it look fun.

A presentation on the Creative Process of Designing a Web Site by @kolapse was also a great mix to other topics. It was filled useful tips which can really help in designing a website. I really appreciated him sharing his insight on how he uses Interior Design methods to help his clients understand the look and feel of a website.

I remember when I went to @chirp one of the things that would stand out was the small group of women at the conference. At @barcampsj there was a good representation in presence but @sallymo_ stood up and presented being the only women presenter. Hopefully in a future occasion we will have few more women presenting following @sallymo_’s example.

The last presentation ended by @wiltonv of @tecnetico where he gave tips on how to make a sales pitch. After his presentation he also gave the crowd a Glimpse on two mobile devices, which will be on available soon.

Photos of Raul Colon Web Developer Puerto Rico

@wiltonv giving his Sales Pitch Presentation.

Overall I had a great time, the people that where present where very full of energy and most of them have accomplished many things which I really admire. Most people presented and stayed till the end of the conference.

I had the opportunity to meet some awesome people who I highly recommend you to follow because I am sure in the near future all of them will hit a home run (in many cases another one) and you should be there to presence it (at least on twitter):

@mark_hayward

@gcollazo

@kolapse

@onedgepr

@sallymo_

@shockeyk

@jpadilla_

@jomajoma

Following @chrisbrogan’s advice at my previous conference Inbound Marketing Summit if you go to a conference and you don’t meet any people you really wasted your time. Thanks Chris.

One of my favorite tweeps @therealgabo went with me to @barcampsj and pointed out how we took a perfect Friday night in Condado Puerto Rico and instead of partying we had a great time-sharing ideas on things all of us might be very passionate about.

I might not agree with some of the presenters on many things but at least @gcollazo @jpadilla_ and the other organizers made me realize I have something in common with everyone that was at @barcampsj the passion they have for what they do.

How passionate are you about everything you do?

Would you be willing to spend a Friday Night talking about work related stuff until late hours of the morning?