I opened iRestore (my brick & mortar Mac repair store) in 2007 when I was 20 years old. I have been running this business alone and nearly unaided (my parents help every now and again)  for the past 4 1/2 years. When I first opened I had no clue how to run a business,  how to market, or even how to run an e-commerce website. That first year I struggled constantly to keep up with every day business. I first heard about BarCamp Nashville just after it had happened that first year I was in business. I was pretty angry that I had missed all that free information so I made sure that I had time to attend the next year.

That following year I did attend and I was blown away by the awesomeness of it all. This free seminar has all the quality of the top dollar seminars. There were as many session topics as there were people willing to teach. I attended sessions ranging from an Intro to WordPress, how to use LinkedIn, to how to market your business online. Other classes offered ranged from how to use Ruby on Rails, how to code HTML, PHP, CSS, and so many other random topics that it is hard to remember them. All the “geeky” web based info I needed was at my fingertips. I came away from that first year with a list of improvements and general ideas for how to get my business moving even faster in the right direction.

The second year I attended I came better prepared with my Macbook in hand and a precise schedule. That year and each year since I have come away with a fount of knowledge that I would not have gotten anywhere else and the only thing it cost me was some time and what I paid for lunch. The knowledge aspect of BarCamp is undeniable and the social aspect is nearly unbeatable. With a ton of local business leaders, entrepreneurs, and bloggers attending, your chance to network and get to know like minded people is unparalleled in Nashville.

If you are interested in attending (and possibly dragging your co-workers/friends with you) just go to barcampnashville.org to sign up.

To check out yesterdays post on the BarCamp Nashville blog tour please visit Gina Parris’ Blog