Search for ‘link + bunch’ on Google and the first page will throw up at least five

Brain storm: A BarCamp in progress at IIT Bombay

results, mostly blogs, which review a web-based application called ‘LinkBunch’. Explore further, and you will learn that this application enables you to aggregate multiple web links into one short link, which makes it easier to share.

The creator is 28-year-old Aalaap Ghag, a web programmer with Mumbai-based Web 18 Software Services, who develops such applications as a hobby. LinkBunch, launched online in February, debuted in front of a live audience late in March at a BarCamp in Mumbai.

The term ‘BarCamp’ has nothing to do with alcohol, but everything to do with high spirits—a spirit of sharing ideas in a free and fun environment. A BarCamp, simply defined, is an informal forum created and used by technology enthusiasts and entrepreneurs to brainstorm on emerging technology (usually Internet-related) trends.

The concept, which originated in the Silicon Valley in 2005, eschews everything that has to do with traditional conferencing. Yet, it harnesses so-called Web 2.0 communications tools such as wikis, blogs and social networking to bring people together. You could liken BarCamps to grazing fields or watering holes that help reassure participants of the worth of their existence as entrepreneurs. And BarCamps seem like good places to foster a much-needed entrepreneurial culture in the country.

Ever since the first one in New Delhi in March 2006, there have been over 30 such camps across Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad and, even, Thiruvananthapuram. BarCamps have touched the lives of over 4,000 people—IT professionals, students, first-time entrepreneurs, folks like Ghag on the brink of entrepreneurship and academics. Indeed, BarCamps can take the credit for being among the chief catalysts of the second wave of technology entrepreneurship currently underway in India.

"This was my first presentation in front of an audience and that, in itself, was a unique experience," says Ghag. He does not know yet whether LinkBunch will lead to entrepreneurship, but getting it out into the open could be a first step. "I want to build a portfolio of products first and then see where it goes," he says.

Yet the primary purpose of BarCamps is not to launch new companies. Entrepreneurship, in fact, is a by-product. "Around the time we launched our company, we were looking for avenues where start-ups could connect. Platforms such as The Indus Entrepreneurs and Nasscom were not for us because you have to achieve a little scale to derive value from those platforms," says Amit Ranjan, who was one of the organisers of the first camp in Delhi. Ranjan heads the 12-member India operations of a product start-up, Uzanto Consulting.

On the other hand, Bangalore-based mobile search start-up Ziva Software saw BarCamp Bangalore 3 in March last year as the ‘ideal place’ to debut its flagship product Zook. "It created an immediate impact in terms of visibility for the product. The best thing about a BarCamp is that it enables real dialogue, not politically-correct exchanges," says founder Ajay Sethi.

Clearly, BarCamps mean different things to different people. But the common thread uniting Ghag, Ranjan and Sethi is entrepreneurial zeal. Yet, alluring as they may be, BarCamps have their limits. Take Ghag as an example. The recent BarCamp in Mumbai certainly helped him to test the market quickly for a new product, but it will not help him cross-over into full-time entrepreneurship. To get off the ground, he needs exposure to a more focused forum—such as Proto or Headstart, which are start-up showcase platforms that connect entrepreneurs with venture capitalists and customers, or even a TiE entrepreneur assistance programme.

The distinction in roles, between BarCamps and forums such as Proto and MoMo, is critical today when the former seems to be undergoing an identity crisis. The explosion in scale of attendance has pulled in corporate sponsorships and media attention, thereby enforcing a somewhat structured character to the events. "It is now a jamboree with lots of public relations, media and so on," says Sridhar G, Co-founder and CEO of Bangalore-based Yulop Websense Solutions, which runs a user-driven regional community networking portal. The other problem, some veteran BarCampers point out, is that there is not enough sharing of ideas.

It is unrealistic to expect that BarCamps will continue to exist in the current form, five years from now. Already, the Indian version is vastly different from the original Silicon Valley inspiration. That is a good thing and points to the adaptability of a platform that has changed the lives of technology enthusiasts and entrepreneurs.