Barcamp LA is an event that happens once a year usually and involves attendees to be the ones who give sessions. Topics can range greatly but usually are tied into technology, the Internet or social media in some way. There are many “Barcamps” such as Barcamp DC, Barcamp Chicago, Barcamp San Diego, and others around the world. If you want to read more about what a “Barcamp” usually entails, you can read it’s Wikipedia page here.

Barcamp usually lasts 2 days straight, however this year the venue aquired cannot accommodate this, so it begins around 9am-5pm Saturday and then Sunday again. Each session/demo is usually about 30 minutes – 60 minutes long with smaller ones in between.

Breakfast will be served in the morning, and beverages/snacks will be on hand throughout the day. Barcamp LA also plans to have a couple of food trucks during lunch time that will be arriving for a no-host choice of food!

If you decide to come, keep in mind this is an un-confrence, which is a volunteer-organized type of confrence. Myself, and a few other people all collaborated since November of last year. The team has been incredibely passionate and resource-helpful to make this happen. We promoted it though Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Groups and other social media online sites over the past few months. This year we’ve received sponsorships/donations from:

Guidance
Fortis
Microsoft
PickAnExcuse.com
BlogDowntown.com
CorporateEspionage.com
and others

Although this is the 8th Barcamp LA, it has not happened in the past 2 years because of the bad economy and lack of sponsorship so its been a challenge for sure to get it off its feet again.

Attendees who come are encouraged to bring something that might help such as:
Powerstrips
Extra Snacks/Soda
Your own water bottle
Internet Hotspot ability

Tickets are still available and can be purchased in advance on Eventbrite:
http://barcampla8.eventbrite.com/event/1234980861
Prices are now $55 for a normal ticket & $20 for a students.

If you enter in the promo code “ILOVEBARCAMP” you will get 50% off the normal ticket price

If you absolutely cannot pay the full amount PLEASE contact Barcamp LA to work something out for you, we really want everyone who wants to come to do so, as this is an open event.

Experiencing Barcamp LA is a unique and educational experience. People you meet there are always the most helpful and passionate with the topic they represent. I love to learn about technology, so to have an unconfrence right here in Los Angeles of people with the same like-minded passion for it is amazing to support. Past Barcamp session favorites of mine include Mac OSX, WordPress, Lucid Dreaming, Social Engineering, Hacking, Geocaching and iPhone Jailbreaking sessions. The tech oriented community is one of the most fascinating/interesting types of people and when they all come together, great things happen. I look forward to seeing you there!

These are very niche Mac OSX programs, but I thought I would spread the word about them as they’ve been pretty helpful to me. Even if some of them do nothing more than give my desktop some more eye candy. You might know of some of them, in which case great – the others I hope come in handy! So, in no particular order here they are.

Ecto - Download

A very small and lightweight app that lets you post to any blogging system you might be using. I use WordPress and this app fit my needs perfectly. Of course theres always MarsEdit as an alternative that WordPress announces on their site but I liked the very straight-forwardness of Ecto. To each his own. (Ecto is also cheaper)

These apps have found their way onto my Mac and have proven themselves worthy for my uses, I hope they do for you as well! If you have any suggestions for what apps should be in Part Two of my “Handy Mac OSX Programs” let me know in the comments!