BarCampBankBC this weekend

Logo for BarCampBankBC

BarCamp, the “ad-hoc un-conference born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment” has been successfully applied to the inevitable geeky subject matter of Java and Mobile computing as well as the less obvious Wine (VinoCamp, which took place this past August) and now, the perhaps even more unlikely subject, if you think it’s only for the tech crowd: Banking.  If this un-conference follows true to form, it will include sessions presented by attendees, scheduled at the beginning of the day.

Sponsored by Vancity, Mount Lehman Credit Union, HSBC Direct, Member Direct and Currency Marketing, this first incarnation of what’s been called the Web 2.0 approach to conferences will be a first both to Vancouver, as well as Canada at large (There are other BarCampBanks planned throughout the world and Paris has seen 7 of them). BarCampBankBC takes place on Saturday, September 20th from 9AM to 5PM and Sunday, the 21st from 9AM to 1PM, at the BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour Street (close to the Granville Skytrain Station).

As to the official theme of the conference (or rather, the theme that participant/attendees will be following):

The aim of BarCampBank is to foster innovations and the creation of new business models in the world of banking and finance.

No matter what the theme, BarCamps prove the assertion that ‘Everyone is an expert in something.’ After the past week we’ve seen in World markets and the US financial panic, some expert knowledge will probably be something that the participants (as well as the rest of us) can appreciate.