Myanmar: Over 3,000 Attend Mandalay Barcamp 2011 · Global Voices
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The city of Mandalay in Myanmar held its first Barcamp from February 12 to 13. It took the organizers almost one year to prepare for this event.
According to Weekly Eleven, over 3,100 people attended the two-day event, and on Feb 12, the first day of Mandalay Barcamp, a total of 56 topics were discussed, and on the second day, 52 topics were discussed. A wide range of topics were discussed at the Barcamp, such as information technology, literature, language, society, economics, health and education.
At first, Mandalay Barcamp was supposed to be held at Innwa Hotel, but the location was later changed to Poppa Hotel, on 78th St.
Nyi Min San wrote in his blog about the location change and why it was so difficult to choose a spot in Mandalay:
“… Though we had initially chosen Innwa Hotel, we had to re-think about the location (of Mandalay Barcamp) because of certain problems we faced. We all discussed for  a possible solution, and the only solutions we were able to arrive at were to change the location or change the date. Changing the date is a very difficult task for it will not be good for the businesses who have sponsored our event, and also, we have already advertised the dates, and the costs of that are a lot. Therefore, we decided not to change the date, and just thought about changing the location.
Because Mandalay did not have an ICT Park like in Yangon, choosing the location was a really difficult problem for us. I do wish that there was an ICT Park in Mandalay.
For the location, we had to choose within available hotels, and had to find a hotel that meets with the budget we have. The location would also have to be a place with easy access.”
On the 12th, Nyi Min San and Ko Agga held a discussion about CMS Technology. Nyi Min San wrote about the discussions he planned to hold on the 13th:
“Today, MBS (Myanmar Blogger Society) would be holding a Panel Discussion. From Mandalay side, Ko MgHla, Ko Thakhingyi, Ko Ye Myat Thu and I will join. Others who are interested in this topic are also welcomed. …
Another topic that Ko MgHla, Ko Thakhyingyi and I are thinking of having is a discussion on Lightroom. We will all discuss about photo-retouching.”
MgHla, a blogger from Mandalay and PR Team Leader for Mandalay Barcamp, wrote in his blog:
“We were able to successfully hold Mandalay Barcamp 2011, the first barcamp for Mandalay, at Poppa Hotel from February 12-13. It was a barcamp where various topics were discussed, and not only IT-related topics. There were over 3100 attendees for the 2-day event. We were wrong to estimate that only a 1000 people will attend. Because we had to move to another location, the new location does not have big rooms, so that became a weakness. I would like to thank the main organizers Mandalay MCPA and MICA for their organizing efforts.”
Photos of the Barcamp event were also uploaded to Barcamp Mandalay page on Facebook. MandalayBloggers.org also wrote a photo post on Mandalay Barcamp.
Because of the big success of Mandalay Barcamp, there are plans underway to hold a Photo Camp in Mandalay.