What I learnt from Wordcamp India

Wordcamp India happened to be the first blog/internet community related event that I ever attended. It feels special to be a part of such a community and be an audience to the excellent presentations. WCI was a remarkably informative and learning experience for me. Of all the things I learnt here’s the key ones I’d like to share with you.

• The readers on your blog are real-people:

  When I reached the place where this event was taking place, I found many a people who are regular readers of my blog. It is one thing to be on the other side of the screen and answer comments and emails but it’s totally a different thing to know, understand and interact with real-people. Moral of the story – the people who read,  your blog, subscribe to your feed and comment are real people. Take time out to interact them and answer their queries and concerns. As a second step make sure that even in the worst of cases you present yourself as a professional in case a visitor targets or attacks you.
  A blog is like a plain sheet of paper: Om put this in a very nice way – a blog is like a plain sheet of paper. You can make whatever you want out of it. It’s yours and it belongs to you. You have to choose what you want – be it money or be it a way of expression. At the end of the day it may take more or less time to find like-minded readers. So go out and blog.

• GPL or Open Source software doesn’t have to be free (monetarily):

  Technically speaking GPL distinguishes between “free speech” and “free beer”. What this means is that GPL grants you freedom under it’s license – you are even free to sell.

• You just can’t optimize adsense enough:

  Amit’s presentation included some very creative ways of optimising Adsense on your site. It can’t be stressed enough that there isn’t a best way of optimising Adsense. Not even Google can come up with the “perfect” Adsense optimization example. So experiment. And when you are done, experiment again; and again.

• Respect the licenses:

  Issues relating to intellectual property are becoming a serious concern as the number of blogs grow on the net. Laws are getting refined and bloggers are increasingly being held responsible for their work. It is thus imperative that bloggers understand the importance and legal implications of licences, copyrights, patents, trademarks and trade secrets. You want to have fun and (maybe) run a professional blog and while you do it the last thing you want to see happen is end up in a litigation.

• Get-togethers are a must to learn:

  The next thing to learning from the vast internet is the get-togethers. It is a distinct medium and what matters is the amount of information you absorb than the information that you read over the net. So take some time and go out and attend one of these events to learn what the great heads are upto – they don’t necessarily express such information over a blog.