On October 19th and 20th, long running open source event OggCamp will have its next outing in Manchester, UK. OggCamp is named for the file format Ogg Vorbis, reflecting roots in the podcasting community and the open source communities, especially the Linux community. OggCamp is very nearly an unconference; it has a main track of scheduled talks and then two tracks that are scheduled on a just-in-time basis from the talks suggested by the attendees present at the event. If you’ve been to a BarCamp then this is a very similar system! This means that it’s difficult to accurately advertise the event in advance but that you will almost definitely learn something that you didn’t expect.
OggCamp is a place for hackers, community activists, coders and other members of our open society to gather. There is a technical slant but the talks can be about anything, and often veer wildly in different directions: from politics to plumbing and everything in between. As well as traditional talks (or at least, scheduled slots of time in rooms, we do have lots of panel discussions and other formats), there are other activities going on. There are podcasts being recorded with live crowds during the weekend. On Saturday, there is a kids’ track which is a dedicated space set aside for content we hope will appeal to children and teenagers. On Sunday, there is a track dedicated to a security event called FlawCon which has joined forces with OggCamp for the first time this year. If organised sessions isn’t your thing, there’s plenty of room for the hallway track and there’s also the OggJam: an effort to harness the talents of the people available to solve problems and contribute to the public good.
It’s the 10th anniversary edition of OggCamp this year and we’re hoping to make it a good one. The event has been held in different locations around the UK and Manchester is a location we haven’t been to before, but with good transport links and past events held in Liverpool and Sheffield, we’re well placed for people to reach us and we hope that you might be one of those people! We’re a very friendly crowd and we love to meet interesting folk of all kinds, so do consider joining in the fun.
Tickets are pay-what-you-want and are available at https://oggcamp.org where you will also find lots of other information about the event. See you there!
