This weekend was Barcamp Oxford, and suffice it to say it was utterly fantastic. While a delicious ham cooks, I just thought I’d jot down some notes.

The day for me started early on Saturday with a walk into town (Oxford’s buses being resoundingly useless), still it was a lovely sunny day and I had some good tunes on my mp3 player so I didn’t mind working on my tan for a while.

Anywho, got to the Oxford Club in time for registration and for the slots to be put up… a dizzying array of very interesting possible discussions were soon put up.

Obviously I couldn’t go to all the sessions, but those I did go to were fantastically useful.

Highlights were a thought provoking, passionate and mature discussion of women in technology, and education in general. Additionally, met a bunch of very cool people who I hope to keep in touch with!

The beeper has just gone on my oven so I must tend to my food. Suffice it to say, I found the event both highly enjoyable, stimulating and very very useful.

Props to all the people who worked so hard to make this happen, you are all awesome!

Same time next year?

Image by Sylwia Presley

So, I’ve been a little bit quiet over the whole Barcamp transparency thing in recent months for one reason or another – but not because nothing has been happening!

As the UK enters into an election year, and with legislation such as the infamous Digital Economy Bill being rushed through parliament, and all parties promising to clean up politics, 2010 looks to be an exciting year for transparency related issues.

I am therefore delighted to confirm that Barcamp Transparency will be happening again later this year, with more speakers, more interesting conversations and more beer afterwards!

Transparency isn’t just a hot topic in the UK of course, so we are currently actively putting together plans for holding similar events elsewhere in the world.  If you would be interested in helping out, please get in touch!

Finally, it has come to light from the conversations that we have been having that there is a need for an online community space to help organise these events and let people from around the world discuss and collaborate on transparency related issues.

Therefore, I am delighted to say that we are currently putting this together and that Ben Werdmuller (of Elgg fame) has agreed to become our Community Manager!

Get in touch and let us know what you want to see in the future!

Yesterday, all the hard work we put in to getting Barcamp Transparency 2009 ready paid off, and I have to admit I am really pleased with how it went!

Judging by the feedback I’ve been getting throughout the day you guys enjoyed it as well, but please let me know if there’s anything that we could do better next year!

Of course the event wouldn’t have been possible without our sponsors… Google who were kind enough to cover the cost of the venue (and thanks to the Oxford Club for being so good to us on the day!). Thanks to our other sponsors – 1000 heads, Proactive, Outmap, Moo and TerminateTheRate.org as well.

Also, thanks to our media sponsors: Global voices, Mashable and JackFM.

Most of all, thanks to all of you who came!

There were plenty of interesting conversations had, and we’ve already spawned a couple of interesting projects – do write in and tell me about yours, we’d love to do a followup!

Check out our flick group, and if you have any photos feel free to upload them to the group pool.

Anyway, I’ve rambled on…see you next year!

I can barely contain my excitement, but we are now only a few hours away from the start of the Barcamp Transparency event weekend!

The weekend kicks off tonight at 7pm BST (6 GMT) with our virtual event – find us on Friendfeed!

Tomorrow, those of you who are coming down the night before are welcome to join us in the Gardener’s Arms from about 7pm for food, beers and a bit of socialising… look out for the group with Barcamp Transparency posters (thanks Ben Werdmuller for designing those!).

Don’t forget to @mapkyca on Twitter if you get lost!

Finally, the main Barcamp Transparency event kicks off at 10am on Sunday in the Oxford University Club on Mansfield road. Detailed instructions for getting there can be found on the Barcamp Transparency website!

See you there!

I am delighted to report that tickets for the Barcamp Transparency main event are now available.

This is a free event, but we need to get an idea of how many people are coming, and a rough list of contacts so that we can furnish you with things like Wifi keys etc.

Anyway, tickets are being served by Eventbrite like our virtual event, go get yours!