This is a belated announcement about Barcamp Manchester 2008, the free self-organizing tech conference spearheaded by uber-networkers and buddies Ian and Kelley Muir. It’s happening Dec 6th, 2008 at UNH Manchester at 400 Commercial Street. That’s thiscoming Saturday, starting at 9:30AM and finishing up at 5:00PM. Lunch is provided for registered attendees.

I’m not sure what to expect this time around, as I haven’t been involved at all with it this year. Nevertheless, this Saturday I’ll be breaking my hermitage to check out the local technology / internet / social media scene here in New Hampshire. There should be a few Barcamp Boston people there too. I’m looking forward to a mellow, informative time (and trying out my newish 50mm lens).

WHAT IS BARCAMP?

If you’re not familiar with the Barcamp concept, it’s a kind of informal gathering of people interested in the same topics. The organizers provide the venue and food, the costs are picked up by sponsors, and everyone else gets to attend for free. At the beginning of the conference, a big sheet of paper is put on the wall and people write in what they’d like to talk about during blocked-out times, and then people go to the ones that interest them. Usually there’s places to hang out and talk or do things, which is part of the great appeal of events like this.

WHO’S COMING & REGISTRATION

You can get an idea of who’s attending by looking at the Barcamp Manchester Registration Wiki Page. I see a bunch of web developers, some designers, a few senior technology people, and some bloggers right now. You can also check out the Upcoming.Org and Facebook Event Listing. Free lunch, meet a bunch of people in the area who are into creative and entrpreneurial uses of technology…not a bad way to spend a day.

Also, people from Massachusetts can take advantage of New Hampshire’s sales-tax free shopping :-)