Finally,I’m propelled to write about MozillaCampDelhi - Delhi’s First Unconference on Mozilla Firefox. http://www.barcamp.org/MozillaCamp
10th Feb,2009 will always be cherished and remembered for it is the day when Delhi finally had it’s share of Mozilla Love,meeting Mozilla Stalwarts - Arun Ranganathan(Standards Evangelist) http://www.arunranga.com & Seth Bindernagel(Director,Localization) http://blog.mozilla.com/seth/ at Indian Social Insitute.http://www.isidelhi.org.in
MozillaCampDelhi saw adrenaline rushing atmosphere,right from the word go.Volunteers turned up early,helping out with all getting Video Testimonials done,to the initial hiccups.
I took up anchoring,just for the sake of fun and had to jolt Audiences’ to break them from their Yawns (Though,Yawning is bad habit,but it’s an Honest Opinion)
Yep!! You caught the fish,MozillaCampDelhi started out on a Dull note,with Wifi Hassles,and stuff which easily shifted gears and had Participants scratching their foreheads.
We managed to squeeze in Presentations on SLIM Server (Courtesy Gaurav) and on,Web 2.0 (Courtesy Manu of Sapient).No wonder,Audiences’ were left pondering why was MozillaCampDelhi even happening ??
I had to intervene,and to keep up things live,I took up the Twitter SPY http://www.spy.appspot.com.It gathered a lot of criticism,but it was essential as it helped people to break the ice,and Tweets were the call of the Day.
Brainstorming Done -
(a) What is Mozilla ? Subcategory - Why do we actually Firefox ?(This query caught many offguard,and I had no hesitations in claiming that Firefox is mostly used on a Trial Basis,and then taken further)
(b) Favourite Addon - No wonder,Stumbleupon was echoed ( I just couldnt stop myself from stating that Adblock Plus,was infact the MOST downloaded Addon)
(c) Opera,Chrome or Firefox - Well,Nilanjan first raised the query as his style of browsing was quite suited on Opera.Heated Exchanges proceeded,not to mention we had to actually shift the focus.
(d) Gmail Squabbles - Since,Chrome was launched Gmail faced problems on Firefox,all & sundry attested the fact.
(e)ThunderBird - Someone remarked,as to why the Camp was only Firefox eccentric? Hence,Thunderbird came to picture.I raised a query as to why was the need of even using Thunderbird,when Gmail or Hotmail or Yahoo services were available? I don’t recollect getting a satiable reply.
— Missed Talks on Extensions,Themes & other Mozilla Services—
Blot from the Blue( lunch was also the ‘Unconference’ types,and hence wasn’t sponsored) Audiences’ were left only with Two Options - Canteen or IHC.
POST LUNCH Session :
Arun Ranganthan & Seth Bindernagel,entered through the main entry enquiring about me.I just was busy setting up the Skype call with Pascal Finette http://www.finette.co.uk
—FLASHBACK—
I had a talk with Pascal,the night before the camp about how Rhian suggested on having a Mozilla Labs session http://www.labs.mozilla.com,being introduced.
Pascal gleefully accepted,and 8am (GMT) was fixed.
—FLASHBACK OVER—
Arun Helped in Integrating the Skype Call from Pascal,and after Initial Technical Slags,we had our connection setup.
Pascal,Talked about Design Challenge & Concept Series http://www.labs.mozilla.com/projects/concept-series
Pascal called for Developers,to help in building up the Concept Series,His crisp talk,not only appealed but were thought provoking too.
OBSERVATIONS :
(a) Seth Bindernagel - Seth was the quiet type,but when He presented,he took the stage by storm.Seth’s primary talks were focussed upon L10n file development & localization effrots.To be precise,Seth counted Firefox being available in more than 64 local languages (Quite a Catch !!).He answered very patiently to each & every query and was more than open to suggestions.(Remember lipikar & blogvani)
‘HISTORY OF MOZILLA - PRESENTATION’
Before,Arun We ran a very special presentation about History of Mozilla,Courtesy Pictualize Team http://www.pictualize.com
Presentation was so self explanatory,that I actually dropped the mic,and was so engulfed with the work.
(b) Arun Ranganathan - Arun was the more excited bunch,perhaps able to converse in Hindi also,made him quite popular.His Killer Demo’s were very well recieved,and Audiences’ were left asking for more.His Involvement with Bespin was more than appreciated.http://labs.mozilla.com/2009/02/introducing-bespin/
After their Sessions,Arun & Seth were busy answering to queries from Audience.
Arun was particularly amazed with the Banners/Standees,No wonder He rushed to take some snaps,while Seth was busy photographing us.
BREAK@INDIAN HABITAT CENTRE (IHC)
After packing up things at Indian Social Insitute,KINSHUK SUNIL (Fellow Co-Organizer from OSSCube http://www.osscube.com Apparently The Sponsor for MozillaCampDelhi also) suggested a short break at IHC,so as to have a small Tete-a-Tete Session with both of them.
Delhities couldn’t have asked for more,What was more than appealing was Audience turning in Large Numbers,even on Tuesday (Working Day).
SPECIAL MENTION -
Mary Colvig,Asa Dotzler,Jay Patel & Rhian Baker deserves special mention,as though they were not available.Their Involvement with MozillaCampDelhi was indispensable,and hence required special mention.
RESOURCES -
Photos :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mozillacampdelhi
http://www.flickr.com/photos/osscube-solutions/sets/72157613607865731/
Videos : Videos are still in the process of Uploading.Though,for more Updates Refer to the wiki.
