{"id":24364,"date":"2025-09-05T11:15:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T10:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=24364"},"modified":"2025-09-05T11:16:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T10:16:07","slug":"barcamp-belfast-unconference-back-for-second-year-as-part-of-belfast-techweek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2025\/09\/barcamp-belfast-unconference-back-for-second-year-as-part-of-belfast-techweek\/","title":{"rendered":"BarCamp Belfast \u2018Unconference\u2019 Back For Second Year As Part Of Belfast TechWeek"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Bar.Camp_.Excalibur-01-v2-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-24365\" src=\"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Bar.Camp_.Excalibur-01-v2-1024x681.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Following a successful comeback last year, the organisers of BarCamp Belfast are bringing the popular &#8220;unconference&#8221; back to the city.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The event will be closing out Belfast Tech Week at the Oh Yeah Centre in Belfast&#8217;s Cathedral Quarter on 26th September from 10am-5pm.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last year, the unconventional open-environment conference saw over 15 sessions delivered to more than 300 attendees. This year promises even more, with 17 sessions and a diverse line-up of speakers from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and even one international voice joining via livestream from the USA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And this year will be no different with an eclectic lineup of individuals from all sectors, including founders, designers, developers, creatives, supporters and more to be announced over the coming weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Building on Andy McMillan\u2019s 2009 success, organisers Marty Neill (of AirPOS Pay &amp; Retro Rooms) and Jennie Wallace (Beyond Skin) have brought the captivating day to fruition alongside the event\u2019s headline sponsors Options Technologies, AirPOS Pay, Infinity 21, The Alchemists Forum, Morrow Communications and media partner Excalibur Press.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Speaking on the need for events such as this, Marty Neill stressed the importance of nurturing in-person learning and social communication.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Marty said: \u201cWith tech and entrepreneurial culture now very much shifting towards working from home we felt it was more important than ever to get the community together and Belfast Tech Week looked like the perfect time to do it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cBarCamps and Biz Camps thrived back in the day as places to meet, spaces to learn and as environments where the sparks of starting something were lit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe&#8217;re hoping that we&#8217;ll see some of the older heads from the original events rubbing shoulders with the new generation of makers and builders, transferring knowledge, making contacts and hopefully sharing some collective wisdom over a pint or two.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe\u2019ll also be helping the Oh Yeah Music Centre in their campaign to buy their building with all proceeds on the day being donated to The Dandelion Group\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not a wholly new concept, unconferences feature a lack of overt structure, with the non-hierarchical arrangement enabling attendees to deliver volunteered talks on a subject of their choosing, rather than specific speakers being hand-picked.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The event on September 26 will move away from traditional conference models to bring a dynamic, community-driven experience unlike anything else in the city.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Co-organiser Jennie Wallace added: \u201cBarCamp is about creating a space where anyone can contribute, learn and share. This year, we\u2019re covering everything from \u2018<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How to Retire in 10 Years\u2019<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to \u2018<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">AI Disasters in PR\u2019<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe want to ignite ideas in all kinds of creatives. AI is a big theme this year because that\u2019s what people are talking about, but the variety means there\u2019s something for everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cFor us, it\u2019s about learning, collaboration and fun. We want people to meet new contacts, strengthen networks and be inspired in an informal and accessible way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This year\u2019s BarCamp will feature 17 sessions across two stages, covering topics as diverse as how to retire in ten years, using AI in PR, accessibility in design, generative coding, neurodiversity and email marketing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Admission is free of charge and with its fully accessible venue, on-site bar and catering by Oui Poutine, attendees are encouraged to drop in and out throughout the day, listen to talks, or even step up and deliver one themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Anyone registered for the event is granted the opportunity to freely discuss topics in front of an audience, granting exposure to otherwise unspoken subjects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>For more information about #BelfastBarCamp2025 and to register interest for the September 26 event, go to <\/i><\/b><a href=\"http:\/\/barcampbelfast.com\"><b><i>barcampbelfast.com<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following a successful comeback last year, the organisers of BarCamp Belfast are bringing the popular &#8220;unconference&#8221; back to the city. The event will be closing out Belfast Tech Week at the Oh Yeah Centre in Belfast&#8217;s Cathedral Quarter on 26th September from 10am-5pm. Last year, the unconventional open-environment conference saw over 15 sessions delivered to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2025\/09\/barcamp-belfast-unconference-back-for-second-year-as-part-of-belfast-techweek\/\">Continued<\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[1750,1894,1895],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24364"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24364"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24367,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24364\/revisions\/24367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}