East Bay is Pig Latin for Beast, a name that has all the power of bloggers in the SF Bay Area who are the eyes and ears of the East Bay community. In honor of all the East Bay bloggers, Spot.Us, Tech Liminal and BetterOakland are hosting their first BEAST Bloggers Camp on Saturday July 18, 2009 at TechLiminal in downtown Oakland.

A BarCamp is an international network of user generated conferences — open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants.

The day consists of sessions proposed by attendees and the schedule is created on site the morning of the event. BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn from each other in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants.

WHAT TO EXPECT AT BARCAMP:

The day will start at 8am with an hour of socializing over coffee and pastries.

At 9am sharp we will give directions on how to propose a topic and then we will create a schedule. We will be harvesting the minds and expertise of all the people in the room to come up with topics pertinent to blogging about the East bay. If you’d like to lead a session you’re going to want to speak up with your topic idea at 9am, when the schedule is being created.

If you’re an East Bay blogger or write about the East Bay please join us!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO BRING:

• Your own coffee mug.
• A beverage holding container for your day’s h2O (cup, water bottle, etc…)
• A head full of topic ideas Your laptop (free wi-fi provided.) If you are not so inclined to arrive with electronic note-taking items a simple notebook and pen will do.
• Lots of business cards. This is a great networking opportunity. You can get a quick turnaround from Zazzle.com, Moocards or PSPrint if you are in need of cards.

About the organizers

Kara Andrade (Spot.Us)  is a five-year veteran of multimedia journalism, print and online, who uses social media to bridge the world of newspapers, technologists and entrepreneurs to present relevant, accessible and edgy stories. She builds communities online and offline both through reporting and consulting work and organizes events in virtual worlds such as Second Life.

V. Smoothe (A Better Oakland) has created a vibrant (and cogent) discussion community at her online magazine, which covers issues of interest to citizens, and is read by politicians and regular folks alike.

Anca Mosoiu (Tech Liminal) is a technology entrepreneur who has created a physical space where regular people can come together and learn the skills needed to take advantage of the opportunities presented by improving technology and access.

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Please Note:  The cost for this event is on a sliding scale, and will be used to pay our rent, insurance, and refreshments, .  If you would like to register, but cannot afford the cost, you may pay as much as you can, or volunteer.  We can use some help with event registration, publicity, and more.  Contact us (info@techliminal.com) for more details.