Barcamp Philly is an unconference somewhat modeled on Friends of O’Reilly (FOO Camp).  Tonight was the preparty sponsored by Zivtech and held in the Philadelphia building which has its obligatory front area art piece.

Most everyone there was a nerd with a profound level of obviousness whether it come from non-standard haircuts, shirts as references to pop culture phenomenon, or men intimidated by women with even a passing level of attractiveness.  I spoke with people and took pictures noting the free venue, the free booze, the free hats, the free shirts, the free glasses, the free notepads, the free food, and the free access to an otherwise locked down building.  Why?  Because we had won.

I want to tell every child with an inclination towards STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) the following:

“You are smart and driven but no one cares about that right now.  You may be alone, you may be angry, you may be underappreciated but if you can safely make it to 25 in one piece you will have won.  You’ll have an expertise, you’ll have some sort of grudging respect, and you’ll probably have a good paycheck because people will be afraid of you.  You know things that they don’t and that scares them.  They will give you what you want to stay safe. ”

This party was a victory celebration of those people.  Once I realized that I very much began to enjoy myself.