First I want to say thank you to everyone who put together and paid for Boston BarCamp 2. I know that it’s billed as “organized on the fly by attendees” and I know many people chipped in a few dollars, but a small group of generous and hard working folks shouldered most of the load.

This was my first BarCamp and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and I’d have to describe my experience as mixed, but positive overall.

I only attended the Saturday sessions. Sunday’s agenda had very little that appealled to me and I didn’t want to make the trip over to MIT. However, I could have stepped up and presented something, and chose not to. I’ve been to many a $800 conference with a dead day on the schedule and felt angry at the loss of my time, so I don’t actually count this against the unconference.

The quality of the sessions I attended on Saturday was mixed, but at BarCamp you can get up and walk to another session, which I did. Some were downright excellent. (Many of the sessions discussed financing startups. It would be interesting to see folks from the venture community show up at the next one and host a talk.)

There was lots of conversation in the hall and over coffee and lunch. I don’t know if that is a function of the event’s size, the nature of the attendees, or both.

So overall, it was a good experience. I’ll very likely be at the next one. I came away having learned more about some subjects than I expected, received pointers to interest and opportunities, and met (and re-met!) some new people. Not a bad return on a few dollars and a few hours!

(Aron attended both days and became a big star! He will be posting presently.)