StartupCamp:About
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Startup Camp -- a.k.a The Unconference for the Startup Community
Startup Camp is an unconference-style event that's dedicated to bringing together the various members of the startup community for a face-to-face collaborative meetup where its the attendees that drive the agenda (in true unconference fashion). StartUp Camp 2 is a part of CommunityOne, a free and open conference sponsored by Sun Microsystems
Starting up? It's a jungle out there
Its not easy to start your own business. There are countless decisions to make from how you differentiate your product to how you support your customers and provide timely service. The choices you make today can have enormous implications down the road. Will you have the capacity to support a growing concern? Everyone uses PCs, but are you secure? Can you manage your business finances with the software you have installed? Has your company made it over the startup stage, but now faces the hurdles of efficiently managing growth? What about funding vs. financing? Finding the right people? Outsourcing versus insourcing?
Birds of a feather....
The good news is you are not alone. There are many other startups like yours just beginning the road to viability. Luckily, others have gone through some of the same challenges and might have insights that could prevent you from making costly mistakes.
Come. Contribute. Learn.
We are inviting you all to share your insights on May 7th at the Westin San Francisco Market Street (formerly the Argent Hotel) Startup Camp 2. Startup Camp is an unconference that makes use of the Open Space methodology -- an approach to events that takes the best parts of regular conferences like the coffee breaks, after-hours events, and the 5 minutes of Q&A after those long sleepy presentations -- and turns them into the event itself. Unconferences create an intimate atmosphere where all who attend are encouraged to both contribue and learn. At Startup Camp, it doesn't matter whether you are thinking of starting up, are in the throes of starting up, or started up a long time ago and now have hit a stride; all are welcome to share what they know or need to know with other startup concerns, and some that have successfully launched profitable businesses. The idea is for everyone to get something special out of it. And, just as importantly, to make new friends.
Basic Format
So, what are the basic implications of an unconference that uses the Open Space methodology? If you're preparing to come to a Startup Camp, what this means is that most of the event's agenda will be determined at event-time by the attendees themselves. In contrast to events whose agendas are often determined 6-12 months in advance by people who aren't very in touch with the information needs of the potential attendees, having the attendees determine the content at event time ensures the relevance, timeliness, and vibrancy of that content. Instead of typical conference sessions where speakers or panels present to large audiences (often with slide presentations behind them), Startup Camp involves leader-moderated discussions that everyone is free to contribute to. In advance of Startup Camp, attendees are encouraged to give other participants a heads up on the discussions they'd like to propose at event-time. To publish your ideas or view those that others will propose, see the Discussion Ideas page here, on the Startup Camp wiki.
Once you get to Camp, you can join any discussion that seems interesting, or propose a topic of your own choice. Spend two days with your peers and learn what has worked, and what hasn’t while contributing to a community of interest with the common goal of building the right solution for a successful startup.
