In honor of the upcoming 4th BarCamp Manchester, some of us are making a list of 4 reasons we attend. Here are mine.

1. Cross-Pollination

I can meet with fellow developers at tech events or social media enthusiasts at Tweetups. I can even harass my friends at GY&K if I need to pick a marketer’s brain. However, BarCamp provides a great forum for these people to come together and share ideas.  The best sessions are always the ones that bring different types of people together to share different points of view.

2. Interaction

When I’ve presented and attended other conferences, there is very little interaction between the presenters and the audience. Most sessions have the obligatory 5 minute Q&A, but no real conversation.  Everybody tends to be much more approachable and willing to engage in conversation at a BarCamp.

3. It’s Free

This may seem like an obvious one, but making the conference free has several positive benefits that aren’t obvious. People are less focused on cramming as many sessions as possible into the day and are more willing to relax and network. Students and junior developers don’t have to convince their boss to pay, so there is a great variety of experience levels. Everybody is on a level playing field, there are no premium passes or VIP areas to separate people.

Also, free includes free food. You can learn a lot more about somebody over a slice of pizza than over a conference room table.

4.  BarCamp Builds Community

The connections made at BarCamp  help for long lasting relationships for both individuals and businesses. BarCampManchester has already led to many other events. Geek Lunch, WebNOB and several user groups have come together based on connections made at BarCamp.