When we planned for the first BarCamp in Kerala we faced a lot of trouble. We faced problems with the BarCamp name and the concept of an informal meeting.

In Kerala, anything that has got a BAR in its name immediately raises some eye brows. Think about us, calling up a college princi and asking him to send his students for a BAR….Camp !!!!!

Some were against the concept of an informal meeting and to my surprise I found out that every meeting that happens in our college, schools, and other organizations have strict written protocols. There are specific instructions as to who should preside over the meeting, who should be the chief guest, who should give the welcome speech etc.

For the first two BarCamps, a lot of effort had to be put in. Educating the community about BarCamps, finding a venue for the event, finding the right community and informing them all, it was a great team effort. For BarCamp 1, UST gave use a hall in Technopark, thanks to Renjith Ramachadran and for BarCamp 2 was hosted by CUSAT, thanks to Althaf and Anurag.

Then came the blogcamp, and this time it was really big with Kerala Tourism sponsoring a House Boat. The event got a lot of media attention and helped spread the concept of unconferences. Every reporter who called us, first wanted to know what an unconference is.

And this was the tipping point for BarCamp Culture in Kerala. When we decided to organize BarCamp Kerala 3, we got requests from a few institutions to conduct it in their campus. Barcamp 3 is in CUSAT and we already have IIMK ready to host BarCamp 4 in their Campus.

And the ultimate aim is to have local BarCamps, BarCamp Kottayam, BarCamp Kannur, BarCamp Alappuzha etc happening and local colleges hosting the event. Then we can say Gods own country is finally BarCamp Certified !!!