The recent blogcamp at Chennai turned out to be quite an exciting "unconference" that the organisers stylishly and shall I say rebelliously called it.
There was nothing rebellious about the blogcamp. To begin with it was very well organised, quite well structured, sponsored by big names such as Yahoo! India and Nokia (you cannot get more mainstream than that). More interestingly, "successful bloggers" elicited the loudest claps (as in a conference). Sunil Gavaskar was charming and not at all out of place in a place where I an under 40 thought mydself to be the oldest living being around!
Like elsewhere, the parallel track two was more interesting which was dedicated to the tools and rules of the game.
I was happy to observe some of the sharperst and keenest young and not so young minds in India are clearly dedicating some of their time (in this age when time is really money) and knowledge to a public good. Most of the participants, I found out held lucrative jobs or were students at premier institutions (one step away from lucrative jobs!).
My greatest discovery at the camp was however a book called India Smiles. Sulekha.com one of India's largest online properties ran an online contest on humourous stories, the best entries comprise this book. It is brilliant! there is no other word to describe. Each story is worth a read. The book is published by penguin and costs 135 rupees. Sadly, however, the book included in the "unconference kit" (there was also a delegate kit, if can not get more conferency than that!) reminded me of the still unchallenged power of the print media!
Let's have more of these camps!
My take: Who is a rebel? One who challenges a system to claim a his/her place in the system and then perpetrate it!
1 comment:
Hello Sir!
Was nice meeting you. Infact it is of the conversations at the smoking area that I'll carry the fondest memories of!
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