An unconference, gathering of friends, sharing of experiences

Call it anything you want.

Startup Camp doesn't really mind. It doesn't mind that the schedule is hosted on a Wiki and then transferred onto sticky notes on a glass wall. It doesn't matter that the speakers are young, old, millionaires, unemployed or if they're from any race or religion. And it definitely doesn't mind if you just dropped in for a few minutes, or if you stayed the whole two days. You can even walk out of a session if you decide to do so, grab the microphone if you wanted to speak your mind and pitch your point to anyone who'll listen. Startup Camp doesn't charge either, so you can walk in for free.

So what does it do, actually?

Unsurprising to those who are already familiar to the concept, Startup Camp is a self-organizing conference. It is organized by the participants, for the participants. We get the venue, food, t-shirts. We do the marketing, evangelizing, planning. We put up the buntings, set up the place, register participants. We coordinate the sessions, speak, take photographs. And then we share, learn and network.

View 2008 Startup Camp Photos

On 22 and 23 November, this event attracted hundreds of people, mostly young entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. But it also intrigued seasoned entrepreneurs and inspired young students. Where did this energy and enthusiasm for entrepreneurship come from? Speakers included geeky technopreneurs, incubators, consultants and social entrepreneurs. We had the opportunity to listen to TeAM's Stephen Chia's journey, Premesh Chandran's rough beginnings in Malaysiakini and Richard Abas on 45 years of technopreneurs. We also had subject experts like Dr. Sivapalan, Azim Pawanchik and Roshan Thiran who shared their knowledge on what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, to create an innovative culture and to grow leaders. And it was also a pleasant surprise to many of us to see an amazing level of interest in social entrepreneurship, judging from the full sessions and hallway discussions. Many thanks to people like Devan Singaram, Ellyne Lamin and Susan Lim for their piece on how they're making the world a better place in sustainable and entrepreneurial ways.

As GEW drew to a close, Startup Camp was an excellent final event to a fantastic week of activities. Kudos to the Malaysia Entrepreneurs group and ringleader Daniel CerVentus. Kudos to the GEW Malaysia hosts Warisan Global and CEO Dash. And certainly kudos to everyone who participated and supported this amazing week. Senedi is happy and proud to have been a part of GEW and Startup Camp.