Hey you guys, I’m here at DevFest HCMC.

First, the Internet connection is very slow. Looks like someone is downloading videos or films using DevFestHCMC’s line.

All documents for DevFest HCMC are available for access here; Twitter tag for this DevFest is *#devfesthcmc“; and if you’re a developer, join DevFest live chat here.

The topics are about: Shindig, OpenSocial, Hi5, Friendster, Google App Engine,…  Check it out here for more information.

But the topics just came after a long long time waiting. Jason won the first point when he points out that it’s b/c of Vietnamese time. “Cao su” or something, right? Anyway, I, Kevin and Thomas did have a great time preparing BarCamp marketing airforce.

Our airforce haha. Thanks Rick for your papers :

I look silly with Thomas glasses. Taken by his MacAir. How jealous!!!!!

I see many interesting people here. Jason Costa, technical developers managers from Google, Pamela and Vinoaj from Google too. And ofcourse Jason Vu, our beloved co-ordinator of this DevFest. Ah did I forget Pattrick Chanezon, his job must be the best job in the world, Google evangelist or OpenSocial Avocate, right? (Please correct if I’m wrong).

Pattrick

Pamela under Vietnamese star

Quang Nguyen and Jason Costa

Google is hiring. ©Dlead

This one should be interesting.

©Dlead

Guys from eXo Platform: Jeremi Joslin and Tungdual Benjamin Mestrallet. Everyone is speaking French accent here. They are talking about eXo WebOS and eXoSocial.

Benjamin is talking about eXoSocia.

Live from eXo in Hanoi

Guys from Friendster. They promised us a lot of money.

©Dlead

Guys from Garag3 in Singapore BJorn Lee and Justin. They did a nice presentation about Garag3 at the end of DevFest. If only we had some kinds of funds like that in Vietnam

Bjorn and Justin. Tony is quiet behind :)

Bjorn with his Apple jacket

Guys from Asaleo: Duc Ban, Nam Tien, Van Nhan, Si Nguyen and Nghia.

Tiến, Ban and Nghĩa

BarCamp people: Kevin, Thomas, Rick, Timen (he already left), Tony (sorry b/c you’re sitting a bit far away haha), Anh Hung, Duy Le and ofcourse me (@chipro at Twitter)

Rick, Anh Hung, Duy Le and Kevin. Wow, is Kevin sleeping?

Hung and Pamela. © Dlead

Quang Nguyen from Vina Consulting.

He just pretends to sleep

We have a nice buffet here but I forgot to take some pics. KhanhLNQ should be sorry b/c he left too early.

Buffet ©Dlead

©Dlead

They talked about Google Map API after that. As Kevin said: “They save the best presentation for the last”.

Google Maps Coverage in Vietnam. ©Dlead

And ofcourse we have DevFest T-shirts.

Fighting for T-shirts? ©Dlead

Put your name here if you’re at DevFest.

Thanks Duy Le for all the pics.

My comment: Well, even though both Jasons (Costa and Vu) seem to be quite happy about this DevFest, I personally think that it’s not as successful as they expected. Restricted registration, then many developers who registered didn’t show up. There were 300 ppl supposed to be there but less than 200 ppl were. That’s Vietnamese style. An important point to be noticed for our upcoming BarCamp.

Moreover, I guess most attendees yesterday couldn’t understand thoroughly the whole story, including me. Vietnamese developers’ English skills are not that good.

Anyway, it’s just my random thought. And everything else was very good. Congrats you guys, you really did a good job.

Tags: devfest, devfesthcmc, Google

Update 1: Good news for you guys in Hanoi: Open Knowledge Event is coming… in Vietnamese.

One of the things I like most about Saigon is its exciting life. There are so many interesting activities here, esp. for geeks. So if you are a technology enthusiasist, don’t miss it!

Nov 4: Google DevFest Tour, a.k.a Google Hackathons.

I’m coming, ofcourse. Tell me if you’re coming too. Looking forward to seeing you guys there.

What: Google will be holding a DevFest in Ho Chi Minh City. Join us for a day of coding and fun, where we’ll cover topics ranging from OpenSocial & App Engine to YouTube & the Google Maps API.

Who: You! We’ll provide space, power, and refreshments. You just need to bring your own laptop, ideas and enthusiasm to complete the mix.

When: Tuesday November 4th, 2008 1:00PM-10PM

Where: A5 conference room, University of Technology. 268 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Ward 14, District 10, HCMC

(Well, in case your driver can’t speak English: Phòng hội thảo A5, Đại học Bách Khoa, 268 Lý Thường Kiệt, Phường 14, Quận 10, Hồ Chí Minh)

(Source: http://code.google.com/events/hackathons/devfest/devfest-saigon.html )

Nov 15: BarCamp Saigon

No need to explain why it’s my favourite event, at least until now haha, ‘cos I’m helping organizing it with really really amazing guys. Check out at http://barcampsaigon.org to see how we are doing. Everyone is invited but make sure you’re really involved.  Please check it out :x

For you guys in Hanoi: Don’t be jealous of us or cry for your bad luck hahaa. Why don’t you try to hold your own event

Update 1:

Nov 8: Open Knowledge Day - WikiDay in Hanoi

Hosted by Wikipedia Vietnam and co-organized by VLOS (Vietnamese Library of Science), BaamBoo Dictionary , this event is to promote the idea of “Open Knowledge” for everyone in Vietnam. Well, it sounds interesting esp. when Copyright Violation is one of the hottest topic in Vietnam at the moment.

Click here to check it out.

Go social, go open source!

Tags: barcamp, devfest, Google, wikiday