An American Peyote Scribble

BarCamp Berlin 3 was, as can be best described in the popular vernacular of an MTV generation, “Off the Fucking Hook.” It was a barcamp by which future barcamps will be measured, it will always exist as a whisper in the internet night, lingering in the back of blogger minds until the apocalypse. As an American living in Zurich who happens to know a few people from the city, my view is that if you’re attending a cool party around Zurich, it’s probably being hosted by someone from Berlin. Expectations were high as I landed at Tegel Flughafen, and they were fulfilled in every tech geekiness sense.

Good bloggers go to San Fransico, Bad bloggers go to BarCamp Berlin 3. At least, I’m hoping that’s what will be written on the BarCamp Berlin 3 T-shirts. BarCamp Berlin 3.0 is setting up to be the coolest blogging event of 2008, and probably one the best held so far in the history of the BarCamp. Paris has flair, Zurich beauty, and Detroit has true grit. But Berlin is one of those unique cities with an excellent mix of history, tech, art, design, and badassness. I could easily spend a month there, but this is the wrong attitude. If you spend a month anywhere you run the risk of getting comfortable. Better to enter and leave the environment as harshly as possible, keep the mind alert and the senses hightened, otherwise you’ll miss what you came for. It’s all the more interesting when you have to push youself for a few days with little rest.