Outdoor Workshop in Barcamp Format?
So as I laid in bed last night exhausted from ensuring my wife had a terrific mother's day and chasing the kids around my mind started wondering toward thoughts of the outdoors (as it often does). I started thinking about the various outdoor shows I've been to where they have some big names in the outdoors come and talk to you about whatever it is they think is important while, of course, promoting the products of various sponsors. While this format seems to work, it's not flexible. It doesn't give me the chance to learn more about what *I* want to be better at and, instead, I'm subjected to the predictable talk from some out-of-stater on how to catch big bass or bag that trophy buck. Don't get me wrong, lots of the "pros" know their stuff but it's too rigid and doesn't allow me to ask questions.
Then I started having thoughts about BarCamps and their relatively loose structure and eye toward collaboration they had and I started wondering, why couldn't the BarCamp format work for people who love hunting, fishing and the outdoors? The one BarCamp I know of that was in my area wasn't wildly successful just because I think there were a limited number of IT-geeks in Des Moines willing to go (not so surprising) but there is no shortage of people who love the outdoors (even less surprising). I think I may be on to something here but before I get too excited about the possibilities I'd love to hear what other people think by providing answers to the questions below. I'm hopeful all this can turn into a fun social experiment!
- Fundamentally can the BarCamp format work for other interests besides the IT?
- What would be the obstacles in pulling such a thing off?
- Is there anything specific that would need changing to the traditional BarCamp format?
- Are there alternative formats to BarCamps that might be a better fit for this sort of thing?
