AboutMashupCamp
From MashupCamp
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Mashup Camp
a.k.a "The Unconference for the Uncomputer" is an unconference-style event that's dedicated to bringing together the Internet software mashup community for a face-to-face collaborative meetup where new relationships are formed, old relationships are nurtured, ideas are shared, mutiple balls are moved forward, and innovation happens in real-time.
What is a Mashup?
Ask 10 self-proclaimed mashup developers what a mashup is and you just might get 10 different answers. That said, mashups (be they software or content-oriented) are most often characterized by the way they draw upon functionality and/or content from two or more sources (at least one of which is third-party to the developer) to produce a new creative work. For example, if a birdwatcher "mashed up" her own database of birdsightings (by GPS coordinates) with the functionality and content of Google Maps, the resulting visual presentation where the locations of birdsightings are interactively overlayed on top of a map within the context of a Web browser could be considered a mashup.
Mashups could easily involve the merging of multiple sources, none of which the developer had a hand in developing (and, in fact, this is probably the most common form of mashup). In some cases, a mashup gives its visitors an opportunity to add their own data to it. An example of such an approach might be a mashup where cell phone users can plot the location of any not-spots they find (locations where their cell phones have no signal). The result is essentially a customer-developed coverage map that could be more trustworthy than the coverage maps provided by the various wireless carriers. A great index that includes all types of mashups is maintained by John Musser at ProgrammableWeb.com.
To facilitate the use of their content and functionality, many Web site operators provide application programming interfaces (APIs) to make that content and functionality more easily accessible to developers who often use Javascript and a technique known as AJAX to build their mashups. In addition to keeping an index of those APIs, John Musser also charts their popularity based on the number of mashups that use each one.
Who should come to a Mashup Camp
Are you a developer with a strong interest in taking something like Yahoo Maps and mashing it together with your Salesforce.com data to come up with some cool new innovative Web-based application? Or, are you thinking of building something unique and interesting on top of the application programming interfaces (APIs) from Amazon.com and Eventful.com?
Or, do you have a cool mashup that you think can win Mashup Camp's Best Mashup Award? Or,perhaps you're a non-developer member of the mashup community that wants to contribute to the elephant-in-the-room discussion about the business models behind mashups or one of the many other sessions that typically take place at a Mashup Camp. To get an idea of what sorts of issues get discussed and who'd they appeal to, take a look at the discussion grid from the first Mashup Camp.
In addition to developers, many other members of the mashup community come to Mashup Camp to network, contribute, and rub shoulders with each others. Camp is a great place for the various mashup API and technology providers to meet face-to-face with the developers they attract as well as each other to share ideas about how to best serve the mashup community. Mashup Camp has also proven to be fertile ground for VC that are looking to invest in what Camp co-organizer David Berlind believes will be the largest developer ecosystem ever. Likewise, there are many innovative mashup developers and startup API providers seeking funding for the businesses they hope to build around the mashup ecosystem. Or, maybe your just one of the many mashup-curious: onlookers that could be members of the press or eventual members of the mashup community that just want to come to see what it's all about.
If any of this rings true with you, then Mashup Camp is for you. It's the only event where mashup developers get to rub shoulders with API providers, mashup enablers – for example, Adobe – and other mashup developers in a way that can only accelerate the evolution and pace of innovation in the just now-emerging mashup ecosystem.
What is an unconference?
We need to spend more time editing this section since no two unconferences are exactly alike. The unconference-style of Mashup Camp was inspired by several other events that pioneered the style in the technology industry (unconference-style events have actually been taking place outside the technology industry for some time). These events include but are not limited to FooCamp, BarCamp, and BloggerCon whose unconference format is well described here by Dave Winer. Speaking of Dave, Mashup Camp's format was also inspired by other thought leaders as well. These include Ward Cunningham (inventor of the wiki), Kaliya Hamlin, and Harrison Owen who originated the idea of Open Space Technology in the 1980s.
So, what are the basic implications of an unconference that uses the Open Space methodology? If you're preparing to come to a Mashup Camp, what this means is that most of the event's agenda will be determined at event-time by the attendees themselves. In contrast to events whose agendas are often determined 6-12 months in advance by people who aren't very in touch with the information needs of the potential attendees, having the attendees determine the content at event time ensures both the relevance, timeliness, and vibrancy of that content. Instead of typical conference sessions where speakers or panels present to large audiences (often with PowerPoint presentations behind them), Mashup Camp involves leader-moderated discussions that everyone is free to contribute to. In advance of Mashup Camp 2, attendees are encouraged to give other paticipants a heads up on the discussions they'd like to propose at event-time. To publish your ideas or view those that others will proposing, see the Discussion Ideas page. To get an idea of how this worked at Mashup Camp 1, check out the original discussion ideas page for that event and then, the final list of discussion that actually took place.
Check back with this page soon because we want to update this section with more information about how the unconference-style and Open Space methodologies are being applied to Mashup Camp.
History of Mashup Camp
As sort of a proof point that the most interesting things happening at any event happen during the coffee breaks and after-hours meetups, Mashup Camp was initially inspired by a discussion that took place between Camp co-founder David Berlind and Yahoo! Developer Network's Eleanor Kruszewski during Pluck's after hours event on Dec 12, 2006 at IDG World Expo's December 2005 edition of its Syndicate Conference. As Eleanor spoke of the many API's that Yahoo! was making available to mashup developers, it became evidently clear that as important as syndication APIs like RSS and ATOM (the focus of the Syndicate Conference) were, the larger pool of APIs that included RSS, ATOM as well as all the other APIs being published by companies like Yahoo!, Google, A9 (Amazon), eBay, Microsoft, EVDB, and others was the big picture -- a big picture that would need an event that was far broader in scope than Syndicate if a member of the press like David were to satisfy his appetite for information regarding all of the Web's programmable interfaces in one place.
A quick scan of the event landscape turned up nothing in the way of such an event -- one that wasn't vendor specific (as many developer events are) and one that was technical in nature where the root discussions were developer-esque in nature and worked there way up from there. Also, one that was free for developers and other attendees to attend and that was very community focused. In contrast, most other events including many of the so-called Web 2.0 events were either top-down events (they started with the big picture of what it all means and worked there way down through the interesting and thorny issues) or, mashup and AJAX-based development weren't even remotely the focus of the event. Even worse, the fees to attend these events are often exhorbitant.
So, after running the idea by a few more learned people, David asked his long-time friend and event pro Doug Gold who was just exiting IDG World Expos if he'd be interested in co-organizing Mashup Camp. Doug said yes and on December 22, 2005, just 10 days after the original light bulb went off, the first Mashup Camp -- a two day event that eventually took place on February 20-21 2006 -- was announced. Today, after two incredibly successful Mashup Camps (both of which took place at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, we're focused on making the third Mashup Camp -- currently code-named Mashup Camp 3 -- as successful as the first.
To signup for Mashup Camp 3, go to the Mashup Camp registration page.
- Please revisit this page soon. We're rewriting it to be not so specific to one instance of Mashup Camp (in other words, we have more Mashup Camps in the works).
Too broke to make the event?
Maybe someone will Pay it Forward
Are you a poor starving mashup developer who can't afford the trip? Hopefully, all is not lost. Signup on our Pay it Forward page in hopes of getting your travel sponsored by a good Samaritan. You could also save some money by hotel sharing during the event. Click here for more information.
