Barcamp Nigeria is right on the move, I believe this event will be a huge success and will help shape the Nigeria technology industry for better.

Focus of the Event

· Creating local content for Nigeria web market

We will explore ways to put Nigeria on the internet and help other Nigerians get the local content they need to be competitive in the increasingly globalized world.

By the end of the event, we want to see participant fired up, create companies, network and form alliance to develop solutions.

Topics to address

This list in not exhaustive as we already know, everyone present at the event is free to discuss on technology they are passionate about;

· Web development

· Business Models

· Software development

· Mobile

· Social Media

· Web 2.0

· Open ID

· Google App Engine, Maps and Adwords

· Facebook Connect

· Collaboration

· Marketing 2.0

· Startups

· Funding

· Enterprise 2.0

· APIs

Just come prepared to learn or to present. You will have platform to share your passion!

As we continue planning, volunteers are needed to make excellent delivery possible. I just thought of these areas (you can add more);

Understanding Barcamps: responsible to research and blog about what barcamp is, how to market it successful, how to expand and translate event into actionable steps.

Sponsorship: Handle suitable and strategic sponsors for this event.

Media relations: this person(s) will help work out media support for this event to create enough buzz.

Event coverage: covering various events for online broadcast, I realized it cumbersome, hence not good to be handled by just one person. So we will need couple of people to cover the event live on twitter, Facebook, Youtube? And other social media outlets.

Video Editors: We will need people who can edit videos on ground so that everyone can leave the event with couple of videos. Also we will upload the videos online for others to watch.

On the sponsorship side, I have spoken with couple of companies and some have also requested to be part of it. I will update as soon as we finalize this.

I have also gotten leads on keynote speakers; will update soonest.

Event day will be 22^nd of May 2010 while venue will be CITS in University of Lagos. I am thinking and believing that we can hold this event twice this year, given the strategic importance of the industry in the economy and the growth we are experiencing.

Please indicate to join the volunteer by indicating below.

Plus indicate other areas who could cover in this year’s barcamp.

It’s really a big challenge getting Nigerian content online, we have some but to move to the next level, we need more of it! To this end, we have choosed the theme for this year to be: “Creating Local Content for Nigerian Web Market”.

As the structure of barcamp, everyone is both a speaker and participant, so we would like to make this year’s event as interactive as possible. Come with your ideas to share with other Nigerian technologists that will come to the event.

We are currently finalizing the venue and as soon as we are done, I will make the information available. Also we are looking at holding the event in May this year.

What do you have in mind? Come on, let’s talk!

Last year’s Barcamp Nigeria was organized in Lagos by the duo of Tim Akinbo and Ayodeji Adewunmi and other web community members, it was hugely successful! The event to a large extent created avenue for Nigerian web technologist to network . It was covered the event exclusively Webtrendsng.com, startupsnigeria.com, here and here.

This year, in the spirit of the event, webtrendsng.com has volunteered to spearhead the event. I believe, the community was very instrumental to the success of the event last year, and the same will be very crucial for this year’s.

Let’s set the ball rolling this year, let’s talk to make this year’s successful.

Kindly drop your comment, interest and insight as to what we should include in the agenda for this year. The event date shall be announced as we progress.

Thank you.

- POSSICON

Note: This blog was cross-posted on here too.

Hi Guys,

Today is Barcamp Nigeria and we’re waiting to recieve you at the event. It promises to be exciting. For those who want a clearer direction to the venue, this post is for you. The venue is at Tom Associates Training center, 5/7, Alade Lawal Street, Opposite Anthony Police Station, Lagos.

Here is a clear Google Image Map to the Tom Associates.

From wherever you are coming from, you get to Idiroko Bus Stop along Ikorodu Road (The long road linking Ojota - Maryland - Anthony - obanikoro - palmgrove - onipanu, jibowo etc).

From Idi Iroko bus stop, enter the Thomas Laniyan Street, which is a stone throw from the Bus Stop. From Thomas Laniyan, you turn into the Faramobi Ajike Street. Ade Lawal street is just off Faramobi Ajike Street, Tom Associates in opposite the ‘Anthony Police station’ on Ade Lawal.

Looking forward to seeing you there guys!

So excited, I can hardly type!

Our agenda has been deliberated on. Please visit the Agenda page for an idea. Our doors are open to everyone - we figure we might just be able to accommodate everyone. So do show up at 12 noon at TOM Associates 5/7, Alade Lawal Street, Opposite Anthony Police Station, Lagos, Nigeria. We just got some information that the environmental sanitation will not be holding due to the Eyo Festival taking place tomorrow. So if you can also show up earlier, great!

Please call the numbers on the contact page if you need any information. There’ll be Internet access if you need to live blog or tweet the event.

See you tomorrow!

Hey! It’s happening in Lagos this Saturday! You’re right! BarCamp Nigeria ‘09. The very first BarCamp in Nigeria!

We hope you’re getting set and prepared for it. We thought we’ll just quickly give you a run down on all the latest updates.

Keynote Speaker #2

We’ve confirmed our second keynote speaker - Mrs. Victoria N’dee Uwadoka.

Victoria N’dee Uwadoka works with Microsoft Nigeria as the PR & Events Manager for Anglophone West Africa. She is charged with managing the company’s image agenda, media relationships, agency support and strategic events across the Anglophone West Africa region.

Before her current posting, Mrs. Uwadoka had worked with IAS Courier Services (now IAS TNT) as personal assistant to the Group Managing Director before quickly rising to the position of Manager, International Operations, coordinating IAS Courier’s relationship with FEDEX. From there, she joined the PR department of IKB Industries Limited, a beauty care products manufacturing and marketing company where she managed the company’s relationship with the media and communications agencies. Mrs. Uwadoka moved from IKB to Kent Rayners Merchants Limited, a healthcare products marketing company as Business Development Manager for West Africa.

She then had a spell in the Nigerian movie and TV industry, working as an actor and training as a TV producer/director before deciding to pursue a career in Public Relations. This led to a 2 year stint with Sesema PR where she sharpened her PR and Event Management skills by managing diverse accounts from FCMG to service providers.

Victoria is very happily married to Chris Uwadoka, Vice President of Answerbank Sales Academy, a sales force effectiveness consultancy.  Her passions include helping people achieve their potential, singing, reading and writing.

Victoria is a self-acclaimed non-techie and will be bringing an interesting different perspective to BarCamp Nigeria ‘09.

Hotels

We are really honored to have guests coming from all over Africa to attend BarCamp Nigeria ‘09 and we thought we’ll provide a quick guide on places to stay while in Lagos.

Sheraton Lagos Hotel
30 Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way P.O. Box 21189 Airport Road, Ikeja Lagos, · Nigeria Phone (234)(1) 2800100-300 · Fax (234)(1) 4970321-2
Starts from $600 per night
Website
7.96km/4.95miles from Central Lagos

Protea Hotel
42/44 Isaac John Street, GRA, Ikeja
+234 (1) 448 2000 · +234 (1) 448 2009
$380 - $945 per night
http://www.proteahotels.com/
Situated 15 minutes from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in the Government Residential Area of Ikeja. 35 minutes drive from Victoria Island/ Ikoyi which is the financial district of Lagos.

Eko Hotel
Eko Hotel & Suites, Kuramo Waters, Victoria Island, Lagos
Phone: +234 1 277 2700 · Fax: +234 1 270 4071
$348 - $2174 per night
http://www.ekohotels.com/

For more hotels, please visit the VeryLastMinute Nigeria web site and search for hotels in Lagos.

The venue for the event is closer to Bank Anthony then Ikeja, Victoria Island and other locations. This should help you in choosing where to stay.

The prices are as we got from our sources. They might vary - please contact the various hotels to confirm current prices.

Africa Gathering

Africa Gathering is a day for thinkers, supporters, sponsors, doers, geeks, dreamers - and everybody else to come and share, promote, highlight, progress and evolve issues related to ICT, social networking and technology in Africa and coincidentally, it will be taking place the same day as BarCamp Nigeria ‘09.

We’ve had discussions with Edward Scotcher of Africa Gathering and we’ll be having a link up session with them during the event.

Registrations

Finally! If you have been following us on Twitter, this is no news. We earlier sent out messages to people who RSVP’ed on our Facebook event to send in answers to a series of questions and such. Due to the limitation on the venue we’ll be using, we have to shortlist those who’ll be attending.

We’ve made this process simpler. Simply follow this link to register. You’ll fill in a series of fields and that’s it. We’ll be closing registration on Wednesday so hurry to register and tell your friends and colleagues to do so too.

We’re asking for where your location is so we know those who are coming in from other places apart from Lagos. This will help us in the logistics so please do make sure you fill that in.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday. Comments are welcome! If you need a direct line, please send us an email at barcampnigeria@gmail.com.

With 33 days left until the first ever BarCamp Nigeria, we can’t help being excited to see this finally approaching. So while you’re packing your bags getting ready to come for the event, we thought we’ll let you in on some of the latest updates.

First and foremost, one of our readers hinted us about the date the event has been scheduled to hold as being one of those environmental sanitation days - the implication being that we would not be able to start early in the morning. Hence, we’ve had to restructure the program and condense it as much as we can so that we don’t end up going home late at night. To that effect, we’re planning on having no more than two or three keynote speakers at the event. I must say, it was a difficult decision to take since we had already postponed the date of the event before and didn’t want to start messing with the schedules of our participants again. We’ll most likely be cutting down on a number of other possible things we could have done but we still promise to make it a memorable day.

Lots of really good news in the house. We’ve sealed deals to get souvenirs that will be made available during the event: T-shirts, stationery and so on. Also we’ve gotten a number of interests for keynote speeches and we’re still brainstorming on the last one of two keynote speakers. Like was mentioned in our earlier post, Justin Hartman of Afrigator has been confirmed as one of our keynote speakers for the event.

We’ve secured the venue we’ll be using for the event and it’s the Tom Associates Management Development Centre located at 5/7, Alade Lawal Street, Opposite Anthony Police Station, Lagos, Nigeria. It’s got six conference, lecture and meeting rooms and will be perfect for holding a BarCamp. In order to make it easy for you to locate the venue, you’ll find a map below of the area. From Maryland, (which is where you can see OAS Helicopters and Planet One) you can easily trace the location. A more descriptive text on how to locate the venue will be posted soon.

Map directions for Tom Associates Management Development Centre

We’ve been getting a lot of support from individuals and companies alike and not too surprising, one of the most commonest questions we’ve been asked is “I want to volunteer, how can I help?” So we’re working on some sort of FAQ on this so you know precisely how you can help. Watch this space for a post on that soon.

We’re calling on all Nigerians and lovers of Nigerians to help promote this event through their blogs, tweets and other social media. Help get the word out. We might not be able to accomodate everyone, but everyone will be able to at the very least, participate online. Our Facebook events page is buzzing with activity; lots of people signing up to attend and giving encouraging comments. We believe this event is going to make a huge impact in the Nigerian IT industry and we are really excited just thinking about it. You have a role to play in making this a huge success. We enjoin you to ask questions, make comments and we’ll be glad to respond to all of them.

Great news people! We’ve created an event on Facebook for BarCamp Nigeria ‘09. Please visit the page and RSVP. Also, we just confirmed one of our keynote speakers for BarCamp Nigeria ‘09. He is the person of Justin Hartman.

Justin Hartman is the MD and co-founder of Afrigator - Africa’s largest social media aggregator and blog directory. Afrigator is a startup he co-founded in April 2007. It grew steadily to a point where a stake was sold to MIH Print Africa.

Before moving to Cape Town (Afrigator’s home town), he was the Digital Innovation Manager of Avusa’s online and mobile excellence unit. There, he managed a team of web 2.0 gurus. Avusa was formerly known as Johncom.

Justin Hartman has really cut his teeth in web 2.0 having run a web development and hosting company for just over three years, he has also been involved in a number of Internet and media companies which include Media24, CareerJunction, True Love and FinWeek.

It’s a great honor to have Justin on board.

Hello and welcome to this maiden edition of the BarCamp Nigeria update. A lot has happened in the past and a lot is still happening.

First of all, we’ll really like to apologise for not being able to hold BarCamp Nigeria on our previously announced date - February 13th, 2009. We were unable to hold the event on this date mainly due to problems we had with our logistics. We’ve done away with most of the issues we had and have scheduled a new date.

The new date is Saturday April 25th, 2009. The venue has been tentatively fixed at the Tom Associates Training Center and Conference Hall (pending confirmation on availability) and the theme of this year’s Barcamp is “Web 2.0 opportunities and role in driving innovation.”

For those n00bs out there who don’t know a thing about BarCamps, A BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering of people to share and learn from each other in an open environment. Because of it’s nature, it’s hardly strictly formal. There’s only one rule every BarCamp participant needs to abide by - contribute! It’s that simple.

So what to expect?
You’ll get to listen to keynote presentations by seasoned experts in the tech industry, discussions, networking sessions and my favorite - breakout sessions. If you’ve attended any seminar or conference, all these activities should be well known, probably except for breakout sessions.

In breakout sessions, participants volunteer to lead a discussion on a certain topic. Depending on the number of topics and rooms available, some sessions may be merged or not taken at all. During the breakout sessions, other participants get to choose which breakout session they’ll be interested in attending. It’s really during the breakout sessions that you get to discuss a particular technology, topic, method or whatever as the case may be with others. You can read up more about BarCamps at the BarCamp website.

So what do you do?
Soon enough, when we’ve tidied a number of aspects concerning the event, we’ll be opening up registrations for the event. Please bear in mind that the facility we have can only take so many people so we have limited spaces available.

In the meantime however, you can tell your friends, colleagues and acquaintances about the event. It’s really going to be big and we are having talks with interesting personalities that will be coming for the event (updates will be published on our Twitter profile and on this blog).

If you will like to sponsor or volunteer, we welcome your input and can contact us by writing to barcampnigeria@gmail.com.

Welcome to the new BarCamp Nigeria website. I apologise on behalf of the organisers for the late website, as I was only asked to build this 2 weeks ago and did my best to get it done quickly even with an extremely tight schedule.

I hope everyone (or almost everyone) likes the site.