Assessing barcamps: Incentives for participation in ad-hoc conferences and the role of social media

Sebastian Dennerlein, Robert Gutounig, Peter Kraker, Rene Kaiser, Romana Rauter, Julian Ausserhofer

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Barcamps are informal conferences whose content is not defined in advance, often referred to as ad-hoc conferences or un-conferences. Therefore, the outcomes of a barcamp are largely unknown before the event. This raises the question of the participants' motivations to attend and contribute. To answer this question, we conducted an exploratory empirical study at Barcamp Graz 2012. We applied a mixed-method approach: first we used a socio-demographic questionnaire (n=99) which allowed us to characterize the 'typical barcamper'. Second, we conducted qualitative interviews (n=10) to get a deeper understanding of the participants' motivations to attend, expectations, and the use of social media in that context. We identified three concepts, which could be deducted from the interviews: people, format and topics. We found that the motivation to attend and even a common identity is quite strongly based on these three factors. Furthermore, the results indicate that participants share a set of activities and methods by following the barcamp's inherent rules and make extensive use of social media.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationi-KNOW 2013
Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of the 13th International Conference on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Technologies
EditorsStefanie Lindstaedt, Michael Granitzer
Place of PublicationNew York, NY
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Number of pages8
ISBN (Print)978-1-4503-2300-0
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013
Externally publishedYes
Event13th International Conference on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Technologies, i-KNOW 2013 - Graz, Austria
Duration: 4 Sep 20136 Sep 2013
Conference number: 13

Publication series

NameACM International Conference Proceeding Series
PublisherACM

Conference

Conference13th International Conference on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Technologies, i-KNOW 2013
Abbreviated titlei-KNOW 2013
Country/TerritoryAustria
CityGraz
Period4/09/136/09/13

Keywords

  • Barcamp
  • Communities of Practice
  • Knowledge Exchange
  • Motivation
  • Self Organization
  • Social Media

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