Vietnam: BarCamp and EduCamp Saigon 2010 · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Around 500 participants attended Barcamp Saigon 2010 last December 12 at RMIT International University in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Saigon Educamp was also held in the same venue.
Photo from the Facebook page of Hendrik Beck
BarCampers received this introductory message
Welcome to BarCamp Saigon 2010, where we take the pulse on today’s Vietnam and Saigon, where technology is constantly evolving such as smartphones, developments in social networking, the rise in e-commerce, developing e-government, and recruiting and training skilled staff as a pathway to success.
This year we will address technology as well as teaching and learning (included as SaigonEduCamp).
We hope you have all come prepared for a day full of exciting sessions
What exactly is an educamp?
SaigonEduCamp is a free, open “un-conference” for anyone involved in education to meet, share ideas and collaborate.
Use the hashtag #barcampsaigon to read the tweet messages sent by the participants about the event. barcampSaigon also has an official twitter account. Photos of the BarCamp are already posted on Facebook by Triet Ho and Hendrik Beck.
Some of the twitter posts about the BarCamp Saigon which give a glimpse of what transpired last December 12 and the reactions and impressions of the delegates
barcampSaigon In the end around 480 people attended in total at #barcampsaigon. Thanks all for coming, sharing and particpating. And see you next year!
Vietnam720 The #BarCampSaigon committee is toying with the idea of holding the next one 3 months later. I wish for it to b monthly :)
ncouture come to think of it, the most frustrating thing about #barcampsaigon was the language barrier. what can be done?
prateekdayal Never expected #barcampsaigon to be this big and this awesome. There is a pretty good tech community here. Even more tempted to move here
caligarn I think #barcampsaigon should be held more often so that the community can build faster and we can build more idea momentum
myhieu this year, #barcampsaigon is a little bit boring : /
athanhcong great #barcampSaigon, met & talked w many new friends, thanks for sharing your idea. Special thanks to the new organizers also! see ya
saigoneducamp Thanks to everyone who participated in SaigonEduCamp today, we had a great turn out and interesting day! #BarCampSaigon
ngocvm Back from #Barcampsaigon Tons of fun ….and food hahaha
newbiettn just back from #barcampsaigon, more than my expectation
megnesium I see people here eating alll the time! #toomuchfood #barcampsaigon
Photo from the Facebook page of Triet Ho
Ngụy Đức Thuận is impressed with how the event was organized
This is the first time I attended it and I think the event is great in general.
Organization: My first impression is that although the event is free and open, it is very professional. It even provided free breakfast and lunch as well as a T-shirt for registered participants.
Participants: there were more than 300 participants and the diversity of the participants guarantee that every talk would have enough audiences. This gives me more courage to have a talk next year.
Topics: a wide range of topics were introduced at the event, individually as well as in-group. I was especially impressed by SkunkWorks company. They are not only a sponsor, but also brought up many well-prepared talks.
Timing: Some presentations took longer than the registered time and therefore overlapped to the next one. This caused trouble to the next presenter as well as audiences in arranging their attending sessions.
Alkimie notes the enthusiasm of the BarCamp participants
It was impressive not only in terms of size but also in terms of enthusiasm of its predominantly young participants.  The RMIT campus itself was beautiful.
The sheer size of the barcamp was pretty impressive. Something close to 800 registered, and more than that attended.
I thoroughly enjoyed this barcamp and will come again, schedule permitting.  There were a few challenges (the wireless internet was rather spotty), and simply navigating the city was a bit more difficult than other places in South East Asia, but these are minor quibbles
Hendrik Beck commends the speakers
I have never been to a Barcamp before and had high hopes for this event. In 2010 I had many opportunities to dive into tech communities in Saigon through similar events and I realized over and over again how much passion and determination there is around. Vietnam not only produces lots of tech talent, it also provides a fruitful ground for entrepreneurial minds. Barcamp seemed to be the ideal platform to meet, to share, to learn, and to boost the momentum that is already there.
I was more than impressed to see my expectations exceeded. Around 480 participants brought a lot of passion and participation, excellent speakers and presentations, and a noteworthy focus on entrepreneurship and startups. I’m happy to have participated, I’m sad that it’s over, and I’m looking forward to BarcampSaigon 2011.
The Wild Wild East Dailies shares his observations about the event
What a mess. And that's what we like about it. “My PowerPoint fucked up.”. Okay. “Geez, people kept walking in and out of the room.” Yes, com se, com sa. Shit happens? But sometimes good shit happens. And BarcampSaigon is the place for it. I saw no other advertising agency people at this event. May describe the death of dinosaurs while they're still walking – slowly, through the old rubble they used to make a living out of…