Philip Trippenbach ¦ Just Another Meme Vector

UPDATE: I can’t keep track of all the blog posts, videos and bhotos that have been posted as a result of BeeBCamp2. Should have known that trying to manually catalogue the internet was futile. So there’s plenty below, but for anything posted after 23 Feb 2009, your best bet is here.

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: BEEBCAMP 2.

It’s the morning after another iteration of BeeBCamp. I’m still wiped.

This time our unconference gathered about 80 people from across the BBC at the corporation’s White City conference centre in London. It was a bigger event than last time, with more people and more sessions, including  a few people from outside the BBC to leaven the mix. (Or, in Charlie Beckett’s words, outsiders “thrown in as intellectual red meat to sate their voracious digital appetites.“)

Plenty of people told me they enjoyed the event, which makes it a success in my books.

Before I give my impressions of the sessions I attended, there’s a fair amount on the net already:

• Jason da Ponte has posted his session notes, and a radical idea on how the BBC could work differently.
• Charlie Beckett of the LSE has posted his notes about presentations on UGC at the BBC (his session), making open-source documentaries (session by Dan Gluckman and Dan Biddle), and Radio 4’s use of Twitter (session by Jem Stone).
• Chris Vallance has posted an interview with Eric Ulken of the LA Times.
• Kevin Anderson of Strange Attractor has posted his notes on data-driven journalism at the Los Angeles Times (session by Eric Ulken)
• Suw Charman-Anderson of Strange Attractor has also posted her excellent notes on: books and linear media, co-creating content with the BBC, does UGC add anything?, collaborative storytelling, collaboration and prototyping, and online books.
• Hugh Garry thought the day helped him become an expert.
• Rain Ashford has posted her pictures of the day.
• Steve Bowbrick has posted his pictures of the day.
• Ian Forrester has posted his pictures of the day.
• Ian Forrester has also posted much video: what should the BBC do with Twitter dot com slash BBC, UGC and editorial ordering (part 2)  and the closing remarks.

I’ll update as I find more. Do link your updates in the comments.

There were a few things that could be improved for next time. My main notes:

• Wifi, WiFi, WiFi! Why is it that one of the world’s leading multimedia corporations can’t provide WiFi in its main conference centre?
• Longer sessions. Our sessions were 20 mins. each, with 10 mins. between each session. Sessions routinely ran over, because people got caught up in their discussions. 30 mins per session would be better – and a big huge clock on the wall, counting down the seconds until you have to leave your table.
• Fewer tables in more rooms. We’d really packed them in, so we could have the most sessions possible, but this created a lot of noise in the main hall. It was hard to hear what was going on sometimes, as people got into their discussions and voices rose.
• More coffee. Lunch was great(if lacking in vegan options) – but next time we need caffeine delivery afterwards, too.

Thanks to everyone who attended, and thanks to David Hayward, the College of Journalism and BBC Backstage for making it all happen.

I’d love to hear your suggestions of what we could improve, too. Let us know!