BarCampCHS a Great Success (UPDATED)

Participants at BarCampCHS listen to opening remarks from event organizers.

BarCampCHS is officially underway, and we’ll be here all day giving you live updates (follow @CyrusBuffum or @ChasWaterkeeper).  What is BarCamp, you ask?  We’re glad you asked.  Here’s a description taken from their website:

BarCamp is an ad-hoc, user generated “unconference” where participation, not observation is key.  It’s a day where people gather to share and learn in an open environment.

250 attendees spend all day learning about everything from “Building Stronger Communities with Social Media” to “Photojournalism as an Art.”  The presenters are the attendees, and the attendees are the presenters.

Charleston Waterkeeper is specifically interested in this “un-conference” because of its focus on open-sourced means of sharing information.  Our organization’s mission is to improve the quality of Charleston’s waterways.  In order to be successful at implementing this goal, we must engage an entire community and educate our citizens.  And so, it is absolutely essential to share information, spread awareness and involve the public.  Luckily, over the past few years many tools have emerged that have made this easier and more possible.

Harnessing tools like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. is essential (if done correctly) in effectively implementing our mission, and we intend to keep the public engaged and informed to the best of our ability about the issues influencing the health of our waterways.  Hopefully we’ll return from this conference with some heavy artillery and new ideas to better serve you and our natural resources.

Update: Here’s a great video from our friend @geofftech: