A few years ago, I had an idea to make the kind of conference I'd like to attend. Turns out the Art and Algorithms event in Titusville looked like a really great version, but I didn't get the chance to check it out. When I go to BarCamps and other similar events, I often advise people to decide on their mission, and who their audience is before they start a new project, so here is my shot at it:

This is something I have been trying to articulate since the first BarCamp Orlando almost 4 years ago. The whole idea behind FooCamp and its bastard offspring BarCamp was to use Open Space Technology to create order in chaos. Our events have had both order and chaos, but the order is not ordered toward much of anything productive. Some people have started new events to achieve this: I think our BarCamp can be better on its own, but these other purposeful events wouldn't be bad either.

I promised some folks from BarCamp I would link to my blog post where I talked about saving local bookstores. I will post some slides soon, but I want to include the bullet points (i.e. actually finish the slides) before they get posted to SlideShare.

Also, if anyone out there is looking for the mailing list for New Media Orlando, jump on there and join the discussion.

4 years ago, I had just been away from "home" for a year, having just graduated with my Digital Media degree, ready to go out and cause some riots -- but I had no employable skills, no professional network, and very little job experience. Moving away from my comfort zone was difficult, and I decided to move back within 50 miles of where I grew up.

John, Dan and Corey rock it out in the Rickshaw Boy studios.
http://rickshawboy.com/radiorickshaw