A large part of the open conference concept is participant driven content.  While we have lots of great talent stepping forward to do presentations at TechCamp Memphis, we would really appreciate knowing what you, the participants, would like to learn more about.

Please take a moment to complete a short SURVEY to let us know YOUR interests.  If you are interesting on doing a presentation, go to the Topics page and sign up.

TechCamp Memphis will direct its content toward a wide spectrum of technical interests:  developers, content producers and curators, and everyday users.  TechCamp is Saturday, May 12, for 8:30-4:30.

There will be 3 parallel tracks running throughout the day:

1.  Content Creators, Curators, and Consumers - Bloggers, website administrators, podcasters, musicians, film makers, photographers – those who create and those who sift through the infinite amount of content on the web and try to make sense of it all.

2.  Online Marketing - Across a wide spectrum of skill and experience levels, including the most popular social media platforms; geared to small business do-it-yourselfers, those managing online engagement for others, and  individuals wanting to learn more about social media and online marketing.

3.  Developers - for the true geeks, topics could include  sessions like: Data encryption, Developing against SQL injection and other hacks, Mobile payment development, jQuery primer, .Net, PHP, Native mobile apps, etc.

There will be a number of sessions within each track, so TechCamp participants will have plenty of  choices for the sessions most beneficial to them.

Everyone is welcome, so whether you are an expert or a newbie in any of these areas and want to learn more and interact with other techie folks, come to TechCamp Memphis!

Joe Spake is a Memphis Real Estate Broker, consultant, blogger,  photographer, and social media activist

Two days later, and we’re still sitting here exhausted from this weekend’s SocialCamp.

It’s a good exhaustion; we put our all into this weekend, and it was apparent from everyone we talked to that the presenters did, too. So it’s the exhaustion of accomplishment we’re feeling.

We had unending participation from attendees, from the stream of tweets coming in to the @socialcampmem account to the SocialCamp Posterous blog.

The sessions were great and varied, ranging from the irreverent, like “Don’t be a Social Media Douchebag” and “How I Screwed Up Using Social Media,” to the specific and business-focused, like “Facebook for Small Business,” “Advertising on Facebook (or YouTube) 101,” and “Social Media for Enterprise Collaboration.” No matter what your skill level, SocialCamp had something for you to learn.

But the best part, by far, was the attendees. The major draw of SocialCamp is meeting and hanging out with great people who are all interested in great ways to utilize the internet and new technologies.

If there was one single thread running through the minds of SocialCamp attendees, it was that they loved the presentations, but treasured the opportunity to speak with the presenters throughout the event.

Thanks again to all of our sponsors who are the ones who made SocialCamp possible:

• Social Media Expedition
• MPACT
• CustomXM
• South of Beale
• Buck Rogers/Buck Daddy Blog
• Resolute Games
• Kooky Canuck
• Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering
• Fanfare Media Services
• Pique Creative Agency

and hosts:

• LunaWeb
• LaunchMemphis

We’re extremely grateful to have had everyone we have had on board. If you enjoyed your ‘Camping’ experience, you don’t have to wait for the next SocialCamp; there’s all kinds of things happening all over the place if you want to keep involved.

Coming up over the course of the next few months, we have:

1. September 27-28 – WordCamp Birmingham
2. October 7 – Social Expedition (Breakfast)
3. October 17 – BarCamp Nashville
4. October 24 – RealCamp (as in tents, campfire etc…)
5. November 14 – BarCamp Memphis

Keep your eyes peeled for more information about each of these events, and we’ll see you in time for the next SocialCamp Memphis!