ArmeniaNow: BarCamp 2015: IT people hold another “unconference” in Yerevan

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http://armenianow.com/economy/it_and_telecom/63949/armenia_barcamp_unconference_yerevan_information_technologies

This year the seventh annual BarCamp unofficial conference was held in Armenia. It saw an unprecedented increase of participants as compared to previous years.

This year the event was held on May 30 and 31 at the American University of Armenia. Besides Armenian media sphere specialists four special guests arrived in Armenia – editor Alexander Polivanov from Meduza.io, head of Dozhd TV internet broadcasting department Elena Kiryushina, well-known media specialist Leslie Jin from the United States and Nino Macharashvili, a specialist who deals with data reporting, from Georgia.

BarCamp was first held in the Silicon Valley, USA, in 2005 and later became a recognized format around the world. Organizers call BarCamp an unconference.

“It is called an unconference because the event is held in an informal atmosphere, which provides open discussions and free exchange of opinions,” co-organizer of Yerevan 2015 BarCamp, information security specialist Samvel Martirosyan told reporters.

This format has operated in Armenia still since 2009 when the number of participants was only 200-300, and this year around 2,000 people registered for participation, which, according to organizers, is unprecedented.

This year the unconference gathered under one roof programmers, bloggers, engineers, reporters and representatives of social networks; they gained new knowledge passing from one auditorium to another.

BarCamp Yerevan (un)conference during its six years of existence hosted specialists of internationally renowned media companies, such as internet giant Google, Opera Software, BBC, etc.

Many also remember that in 2010 then Armenian Prime Minister, current Ambassador to the United States Tigran Sargsyan also participated in this event held in an informal atmosphere.