5 Tips to Planning a BarCamp

The Creative Space, the coworking space we operate out of, held BarCampTexas a few months ago. Travis Ward wore the shirt today and I sorta got to thinking about the process that unfolded as we planned our first BarCamp. I thought I’d post a few tips to sorta help those out there that might be planning a BarCamp for the first time.

1. Distribute the workload - Plain and simple, don’t do everything yourself. Let folks take on tasks and let them have ultimate responsibility. I think the understanding of “this is a group thing” will make people realize that they will be letting everyone down if they don’t get it done.
2. Promote, promote, promote - Living in Bryan/College Station, we knew we had to get out and really get the word out around the state. This meant taking a few trips to Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and talking with community leaders in those cities to ensure they energized the locals.
3. Get sponsors early - Before you choose a date, make sure you have a plan of attack ready for gathering sponsorship money. BarCamps can be done on a shoe-string budget, but if you have certain things in mind and a level of quality that may take some donated funds. Make sure you know the fiscal realities before you commit to a date.
4. Nice quality shirts - Spend the extra $250 for American Apparel. There’s nothing like a good shirt you’ll wear over and over again rather than a low-quality shirt you’ll just throw in a drawer and forget about. AA usually costs about $1-2 more than your average Hanes, but you’ll get so many more wears.
5. Access to alcohol - While not everyone drinks, make sure that there is at least access to alcohol towards the end of the night. Visitors will become more social and things will end on a good note. Besides, who doesn’t like a party?

If you have any other tips, just tweet them out using the hashtag #barcamptips. Or leave them in the comments section below. Thanks.