I went to Barcamp Conway 2010 and loved it, so, I was super excited when I found out that Barcamp Conway 2012 was coming.
As expected, the leadership did an excellent job of getting great sponsors for the event. The event was held in the beautiful School of Business on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
The giveaways were pretty impressive.
One of the giveaways was a Kindle Fire (actually there were 2) of which I was very fortunate to win. I am told that Appcelerator was the company who purchased the Kindle Fires to give away, and I am grateful they chose to participate!
Even though I did not attend his presentation, I enjoyed lunch with David Barger who, apparently, is the “Digital Guru” in Memphis. We discussed mobile applications as well as optimizing websites for mobile platforms. He was very engaging and I learned a lot just talking to him over a sandwich from Cross Creek Sandwich shop from Conway!
Another person I met, who I also did not go to her presentation, was Jeannette Balleza. I actually met her at the Afterparty, which is another story altogether. Jeanette heads up an organization in Northwest Arkansas called the ARK Challenge that mentors tech startup companies. She was engaging, smart and witty. More than once did I notice several guys sitting around her talking to her. We discussed a lot of things including social media and Shama Kabani.
My favorite presentation was Open Forum Discussion: The Tools We Use & Why by Cade Collister. I love these kind of presentations because I get to learn what other freelance and business owners use. There was good feedback and Collister was great at pushing the discussion by talking about the tools he used.
The most fun presentation I went to was Drawing & Doodling to be a better designer by Michael Clanton. Clanton passed around paper and let us draw! How cool is that? This reignited a desire to doodle and do caricatures again. I haven’t done those since high school.
All in all, a fun, busy day in Conway.
The evening concluded with an afterparty on the rooftop at Michelangelo’s in downtown Conway. We were entertained by Bonnie Montgomery. She and her band was awesome playing country and folk music including a couple from an Arkansas legend, Johnny Cash.
Until next time. . . . .
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