Mashup Camp opened this morning, with dozens of mashers, both developers and vendors with APIs, stepping up to propose sessions on everything from mobile mashups and creating mashups for corporate use to API pricing models and voice-enabling mashups. My partner on Between the Lines, David Berlind (left), is the host and co-founder of this 'open space unconference.
Mashup Camp opened this morning, with dozens of mashers, both developers and vendors with APIs, stepping up to propose sessions on everything from mobile mashups and creating mashups for corporate use to API pricing models and voice-enabling mashups. My partner on Between the Lines, David Berlind (left), is the host and co-founder of this 'open space unconference.' This is the second Mashup Camp (the first was held in February)--no formal agenda, just people stepping up to propose sessions and placing them in a time slot on a huge board. It's a good brainstorming model for any kind of organization--rather than top down, all participants can have a voice. The approach can sometimes lead to chaos, but so far there isn't the usual fluff, vendor spiel or tedious collection of self-promoters.
Mashup Camp is governed by a few essential principles: * Whoever comes are the right people. * Whatever happens is the only thing that could have. * Whenever it starts is the right time. * When it is over, it is over. * Document your session on the wiki. There is also the Law of Two Feet: If durring the course of the gathering, any person finds themselves in a situation where they are neither learning nor contributing, the must use their two feet and go to some more productive place.
