UBarCamp

The half hour or so James and I spent in Caffe Nero across from the MEN offices was vital... we supped mocha, made last minute adjustments to the slides and spent a few nervous moments in the toilet - not together I hasten to add!

The idea to get the talk done in the first slot proved to be a good game plan, it meant we could relax and enjoy the rest of the day! Were we nervous? You bet, did it show? You bet, did we enjoy it? You bet we did!

I sat out a couple of "talk slots" either fetching pizza or chatting with folk and chomping as much of the marvelous food provided by Sun as I could. The talks I did get to were really very good, 10 Mistakes not to make as a Startup, Web Accessibility and the North Crew one.

With two prizes up for grabs for the best talk (an X-Box 360 and some MS developer software), there were a few tense moments as the votes were counted... Paul finally stepped up to announce it was...

a draw...

between...

and...

the Drupal 6 talk (little ole us!)

What else was there to do but decide the overall winner with a clap/cheerometer! It was close but Dom's ability to singlehandedly generate the equivalent noise of a medium sized football crowd after a goal tipped it. Tsk, if only we'd worn hats!

One memorable thing was the look on peoples faces at the sight of four guys, each laden with six large pizza boxes as they made there way through the busy streets of Manchester on a Saturday afternoon... it clearly amused the average passer by.

So let's tip our caps, raise a glass and chant "here, here, here's to the next" to Paul Robinson and all involved in organising and sponsoring the very first BarCamp Manchester UK.