It’s been quite a while already, but a short report about the KnowledgeCamp 2009 and – far more important – a big “thank you!” and “well done!” to Karlheinz Pape and his team must not be missing here. The KnowledgeCamp 2009 took place in Karlsruhe, Germany on October 9th and 10th, 2009. It was the first time in my life I attended a BarCamp and I liked it right from the beginning. As a short introduction round, everybody had to say their name, the city they came from, and three tags indicating what they do or their areas of interest regarding KM. After that, those of us who wanted to hold a session were asked to come to the front and briefly explain the topic of the session planned. Then Karlheinz asked whether anyone of the group was interested in the topic proposed, hands went up (sometimes more, sometimes less) and the prospective presenter pinned a card with their session’s name on a large timetable. In no time, we had a program featuring five tracks with five sessions each ready. This was the greatest grass-roots democratic thing I’ve ever experienced! The sessions were absorbing, their subjects ranging between improvised rounds of talks, product presentations, and scientific research findings. Besides the collaboratively created program, there was also sufficient time for networking and informal discussions.
Those of you who are interested in the event, its program, and the participants can find more information directly at the knowledge camp.mixxt.org website. I strongly recommend a participation in 2010 
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There is also a website available listing upcoming BarCamps all over the world: Check barcamp.org and engage in the grass-roots-thing!
