On 15th October we held the third barcamp in Blackpool at the Pleasure Beach. It. Was. Epic!!!!

I say we this year, as for the first time I had help! @biglesp was the man behind the scenes this year. He basically sorted the whole thing out. Sponsors, swag, equipment, promotion… Everything. This year I was just the loud voice on t’internet and at the venue. So massive thanks Les, you made it possible, even whilst I was on holiday/relocating/starting a new job all the two weeks before the event!!!

We had a fab turnout, around 140 attendees! The content was eclectic, with everything from “The History of Error Messages”, to “8 Bit Hama Bead Nintendo characters” to IT in education.

I love Barcamp Blackpool for many reasons:

The venue is gorgeous. The staff are friendly, helpful and can’t do enough to help. They make great food, the dividers turn a huge space into three soundproof rooms, the booths at the back make a great chillout spot. The theme in the Paradise Room is pink with pretty blue lights and it transforms in the evening into something quite special (integrated bar AND stage).

The people are very special to me. #bcblackpool has a very firm following. It’s Lancashire’s only barcamp, and us Lancastrians are very proud of it. People make a barcamp. The talks, the conversation, the afterparty, the connections, the ideas and knowledge share… So thank you for loving #bcblackpool as much as I do and for coming back year on year with more and more of your friends. Word of mouth is the best way for this event to continue to grow and become even more awesome.

The location is quite unique. There is no where quite like Blackpool. Being able to stay in a B&B for pocket money (£15 pppn inc. breakfast in some places!), go out on the friday night for cheap drinks in mind blowing pubs and clubs, saturday of barcamp at the world famous Pleasure Beach (you can see the Big One out of the window!) and Sunday to spend in Blackpool however you feel. Some people go on the rides (with a hangover!), others go for a photo walk or bike ride along the Golden Mile (Blackpool have spent a lot of money doing up the promenade and it really shows!) or just wander around the fabulously quirky, tacky and sometimes even god-awful shops and attractions along the pier.

I can enjoy myself! As the organiser you’d expect me to be running around like a headless chicken, those who know me know how much of a flapper I can be! But at Blackpool I can relax. I know the venue staff will make everything perfect, all the attendees are regulars and eager to help in any way they can, so all I have to do is enjoy myself! Everyone pulls together from creating the boards, to setting up the projectors, to repositioning the rooms and sorting out the evening entertainment. So I get to go along to talks that interest me, enjoy the evening party, socialise, catch up with old friends and enjoy the day as much as everyone else.

So thank you once again to the sponsors:

• Testled for your continued support in both the way of money, the world famous barcamp blackpool rock, being there and fabulous!
• The H for being another main sponsor and sending the lovely Chris along. People, you need to use this place for reading the latest Open Source and Hacker news!
• Indigo for the gorgeous t-shirts
• Microsoft Openeness for being awesome.
• Magma Digital for their continued support. Every year they help us out with projectors, the website and hosting, and this year we were given not only money for lunch, but also the awesome swag (the screen/spectacle cleaners were inspired!
• FTP Concepts, Sugru, Magic Missile, JMC Website Design, Tweetdig, Neterix, MediaBurst, Our Learning, FYCreatives and the Brooklyn Enterprise Fair.
• Click ‘n’ Mix for their last minute monies behind the bar!!!! Go buy sweeties now.