Inside Out

BarCamp for women, Munich, 30.08.2008

It could have been “Chicken Camp”, “CoffeeandCookies Camp” or “Bitching Camp” but it turned out to be exactly what we were hoping for a BarCamp for Women. Or was it even THE BarCamp for Women? I´m pretty sure it was the first one in Germany addressed to Women. Does anybody have informations about Women´s BarCamps in the rest of the world?

Starting the session planning it was obvious that we had a lack of routine. My take is that less than 15% of the girls have been to a BarCamp before. But a hint of chaos didn’t effect the quality of the sessions. We had a lot to share, discuss, learn, eat and laugh.

The question why we needed the woman´s BarCamp and what was different to a “normal” BarCamp remains. I´ll try to gibe some answers to that here.

first thing:

- Me and my “has never been state of the art Siemens Amilo Laptop” didn’t feel out of place. Actually Apple products were kind of rare. At least compared to the average BarCamp. Women of cause love tech gadgets too and some of us were very well equipped, but women somehow tend to buy a “reasonable” car etc. You get the point, right?

- So one big difference is the 99,7% Macbook/ iPhone rate. Which is not meant to scare the women without off, but still it does…

- That might be one of the reasons why women like to get familiar with the concept of BarCamps first and that is easier in a more relaxed environment.

- I´m pretty sure that none of the girls was scared of the guys at BarCamps or thought they would be mean or so. It´s more about getting familiar with the atmosphere, getting to know what to expect, learning how the “knowledge level” of the others is, just getting beyond some insecurities. It´s just easier to get over your inhibitions when you are among other girls.

- Anita Pleschko, who I met during the camp answered the “why a BarCamp especially for women” in her Blog. The article is in German but to quote one thing: “women prefer a - men free - environment to experiment with new possibilities and ideas”

- A very important thing about this BarCamp: It wasn’t “against men” but “for women”. Personally I very skeptic when it comes to “only for …” events. But until we (the women) are a recognizable percentage at BarCamps we might need these “get familiar, training events”. When we are finally familiar with everything we still might keep that just because its a lot of fun.

- And yes there was a very female aspect about the women´s BarCamp - delivered by men. The guys responsible for the catering took very good care of us and had a very female selection of food and drinks (Chai latte, yoghurt with honey and walnuts, …). The party after the Camp took place at the restaurant which was also responsible for the catering “Kater Mikesch” and instead of a serious amount of beer the girls mainly stuck to white wine.

Great Camp, great people, great ideas, great everthing - thanks to everybody involved.