The Randomness of Randomness

The first BarCamp here in Kolkata

// January 2nd, 2009 // 3 Comments » // BarCamps, Events

Although officially WiCampKolkata was the first BarCamp-based unconference in Kolkata, but I didn’t really think it was as unconferency. I would call that the first WiCamp in Kolkata, being a part of a series of them being held by Pavan throughout India.

Now, what we have tomorrow is the first BarCampKolkata. There is a nice percentage of people coming from IIT Kharagpur and quite a lot of regular BarCampers and startups from Kolkata and other cities are joining in.

The concept has pulled off for the first time in Kolkata and I am really excited about the BarCamp happening in my own city, thanks to the extensive efforts of a second year IIT-Kh student, Ramkumar.

I am really looking forward to have some fun and enjoy the fun and networking in the camp. Hope to see you there folks. To register, you visit the wiki on http://www.barcampkolkata.org/

OCC-Kol became OCC kAdda 2.x, I joined my first job, etc…

// September 20th, 2008 // No Comments » // BarCamps, Events, Gadgets, Life, Open Coffee Club, iPhone

The blog-lethargy is back..

There’s been a lot since I last blogged.

Now, I just got 1-month old at my first job at Convonix and I am enjoying it like anything. I find the environment much better and more flexible than those conglomerates around. Convonix has just grown out of the startup phase a short time back and is now over 4 years old. The learning curve is definitely going to be steeper and more diverse than what it would have been had I been with one of those biggies. Although there are some aspects I will miss out on, viz. large-teamwork and exposure to systems & operations of a company that is huge, but the diversity that I am in for here at Convonix clearly covers up for what I am going to miss.

Pulling off Open Coffee Club in Kolkata, which is now OCC kAdda 2.x, was a great experience in itself and it is really gratifying to see the shape that it is taking in Kolkata. Even more gratifying are the efforts of Amitabh right out of Bangalore, towards co-ordination of the kAddas.

The next kAdda is supposed to be held at the Oxford Bookstore, Park Street tomorrow(21st Sept 2008) at 12 PM. To be there check http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1103922/ and to join the Google Group you may visit http://groups.google.com/group/occ-kolkata.

Meanwhile, my desperation for the iPhone has been killed by the helpless Airtel & Vodafone. They have still not got their 3G licenses and they might have to pay premiums to acquire them. So, they priced the iPhone 3G as high as you must be already knowing, also banking on the Indian market trends of initial sky-high prices.

While my want for the iPhone 3G was already turned down, I evaluated my options, and zeroed in on the HTC Touch, but ended up buying the Nokia E61i after the Touch that was ordered for me by The Mobile Store guys had some issues with its packaging PLUS my friend recommended not to go for the Touch, because of his confirmed reports of service issues(he is a Dopod user). So, now my new 20-day young E61i is something that I am intrigued to use after having used Nokia 3315 for 2 years and LG RD3330(Reliance) for another 2 years.

With regards to events, here in Mumbai, we have been meeting up every week to plan the next BarCampMumbai4 which is happening on the 4th & 5th of October. The next meeting is tomorrow in IIT. For more about BarCamps & BCM4, check http://barcampmumbai.org

WiCampKolkata was cool! Kolkata is now alive!!

// July 20th, 2008 // No Comments » // BarCamps, Entrepreneurship, Events, Technology

The start wasn’t that very pleasant for me though. I was asked to submit my camera in the security counter. Have never seen that happen in a BarCamp. It could have been mentioned on the wiki that we cannot carry x,y & z and could save some time and hassles.

Anyways, there were better differences than that to be written about. Firstly, it did not follow the conventional method of dynamic barcamp scheduling(as I would call it ). Pavan Soni, the lead planner who has successfully conducted WiCamps in other cities earlier and is also conducting WiCampKochi in the week to come, was anchoring throughout the camp, discussing various facets of innovation and inviting the session-takers.

The attendance was much more than I had expected at the WiCampKolkata. When I had registered on its wiki, there were only 13 people on it and that was only 5 days before the camp. The day the camp was held, the wiki had 96 registrations, and almost 100-110 people turned up.

Like I said, there was no wiki on the spot to register sessions. The few sessions that were registered on the online wiki were the only ones that were taken apart from a session by Myshkin about his entrepreneurial venture Anaemedia, a pathbreaking product to curb the number of anaemia-triggered deaths in India. He had started in 2005 and the product is still under development.

A notable session was Ram NK’s, about his experience of leaving a really cushy-comfy position in the UK and starting up RangDe, a non-profit peer-to-peer MFI he started with his wife earlier this year.

Overall the camp was cool, the attendees were diverse and a good boost to open communities in Kolkata. I am looking forward to a lot of action out here.

I will be attending WiCampKolkata

// July 14th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // BarCamps, Events, Life, Technology

The BarCamp scenario in this metropolitian has not really been happening till now.

I’m not sure but I guess that there have been more than one BarCamp in Kolkata in the past, but the fire still does not seem to have alighted.

A few folks from Wipro have got together and un-planned three Wipro Innovation Camps within this month of July. The first was in Gurgaon: WiCampGurgaon two days back on July 11, i.e. 2 days back. I will be attending the next one, WiCampKolkata on July 18. And the last one follows in Kochi: WiCampKochi on July 24.

I’m attending this one after seeking special permission from my doctor, since I have jaundice. It feels good to be able to catch on to atleast some action after being in a house arrest since the last 30 days and missing out on two Mumbai Startup Saturdays & most likely to miss the BarCampAhmedabad.

BarCampAhmedabad is back!!!

// July 12th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // BarCamps, Entrepreneurship, Events, Technology

It was an experience to be at BarCamp Ahmedabad in January this year.

After a long time the folks have got together to initiate the BarCampAhmedabad Monsoon Edition to be held on the 3rd of August, 2007 again in the IIM-A campus.

I’m very very eager to attend the BarCamp and catch on to some action after missing two Mumbai versions of Startup Saturday, but I’m most likely not to be able to attend it. I would definitely miss on some real action, but for now, I found a way to stay involved. I designed a logo for BCA.

Register now for the BarCamp