Day 1 of BCM2 is at a close, and I can’t help but share some thoughts and experiences. First off, it was really nice to run into an old friend. After a somewhat rocky start (things really didn’t kick off until almost 11, then there was a lengthy introduction process, and followed up by a less than timely arrival of lunch) the proposed sessions were posted, and overall things looked promising.

Tracy and I even decided to present a topic — Program Like It’s 1999. We hoped that it would be a satirical look at how web design has changed in the last 10 years. Originally the plan was to create a horrific table-based template to distribute to the participants and create something that we could all laugh at. UNFORTUNATELY the wireless kept dropping out and we were unable to make much headway. Because of this things turned more into a discussion of standards-based design and sharing CSS tips.

Beyond the sessions and networking, I managed to improve my personal website. Recently I learned about object-oriented PHP and discovered the value of implementing scalable solutions. After a bit of trial-and-error, I created a class specifically for connecting to MySQL databases and returning resources or boolean values. Hopefully as things progress I will be able to add to and refine the object.

After dinner, there were a few more sessions but I opted not to stay for the overnight.

This weekend I am attending the second annual BarCampMilwaukee. From the name, you may think it has something to do with drinking, or serving drinks, or tents. In fact, the goal (according to the faq) is to host an impromptu conference that is organized and presented by its participants.

“A 32 hour anti-conference about the intersection of art technology and culture.”

I don’t think I can express enough how insanely great an idea this is. In practice, it might end up being a complete and total disorganized disaster, but I genuinely hope not. Imagine it — mac and windows and linux users, php and asp.net and java developers, meeting to discuss common interests and share resources.

The programs listed on the site for examples seem varied in their goals and aspirations. What I’d like to take away from this experience would be increasing my network, learning about new technologies and techniques, and maybe even presenting a program. If I feel brave.