Events come and go and only the memories remain. How could Blogcamp be different?

It threw no surprises. (Be sure that when one takes up a task, some will stand on sidelines and watch, some will participate in getting the task done, some will appreciate, some will enthuse people to work harder, some will congratulate and some will criticize. It was no different here.)

For me, it was a pleasant experience made so by the spirited team of Kiruba, Syed Nazir, Adel, Sathish, Sagaro, Ashwin and all. Hitesh Mehta, who has become a good friend in recent times, needs a special mention. He is the one behind the visual identity of BlogCamp (logo and all). I really liked his work. Kudos to all organizers and volunteers.

Having been on the conceptualizing and organizing side of some very big conferences, mega events and un-conferences; I realize the hard work and motivation it takes to take these events from start to finish.

Camp rocked for me for following reasons – interesting people, good coffee and food, media coverage, in that order.

I cherish the meeting with Rajesh Setty close to my heart. He is full of rich experience and carries a balanced head on his shoulders. Though it was my first meeting with him; but for me, he walks the talk.

Meeting with Amit Agarwal was no less inspiring. After all he is the one who leads the pack of bloggers based out of India. He is very soft-spoken and down to earth. His example clearly shows that with regular effort, perseverance and little bit of luck one can do wonders. Hats off to Amit.

Prayas Abhinav was one person I wanted to meet at BarCampMumbai during May 2006. For some reasons we could not meet then. I was happy to see him here. Prayas is currently working on a documentary film project titled “Bloggers in India”. He is also one of the main propagators of Creative Commons India.

I also met friends – Rajan and Atul Chitnis.

Rajan was busy vlogging on his Nokia cell phone during the entire event. In a gathering you can easily spot Atul for his sheer size and enthusiasm. He made a point to attend BlogCamp though he was traveling to Germany the very next day. He, along with some equally enthusiastic people, is one of the main forces behind forthcoming Foss.in.

Dina, Neha and Peter were game for fun at the camp. They were in action moderating, facilitating and speaking for entire two days of the event.

“Mobile Pundit” Veer was evangelizing the concept of mobility through his presentation and one to one interactions. It was nice to see his enthusiasm for the cause.

Rajan also introduced me to Aditya Mishra of TCS who is very excited about the concept of un-conferences. He has shown keen interest to extend support to BarCamp and Mobile Monday initiatives in India.

Met Shailaja Neelkantan of GigaOm, congratulated her on joining Gigaom and had some discussion about her days at Columbia back in early nineties and the sea change the admission process have seen since then.

Soft-speaking Gaurav Gombar from New Delhi shared his interest in the topic of personal development with me.

“Ouch My Toe” Jammy whom I met for the first time looked like a person with very good vibes. I also met Rahul Razdan of Kauntest fame. Rahul has created a very interesting web property which is worth checking out.

Towards the end of concluding day of Blogcamp I met Om Prakash, the SEO blogger and Jai Shankar of Chennaiist. It felt good because theme-based and city blogs provide the blogosphere much needed balance.

Rajat and I had to push off early. While leaving the venue, we met Veena and exchanged blog urls. Thus ended the two-day bonanza full of learning and fun.

Two special mentions – Rajat “Dream On” Gupta has captured and summarized the camp at his blog nicely and Jace’s has taken some really nice shots at his Flickr Stream. Both are must visit sites.