The Internet was inevitable once ubiquitous computing became a reality. After all, the "Personal" in personal computing made for a lot of lonely computer users after Apple and Microsoft had put their operating systems into almost every first-world home. When consumers had mastered their PCs, they then wanted to share all the new ideas the nascent technology spawned. This caused a huge, unsatisfied demand for connectivity. Hello AOL.

Many in the academic community saw the Net as the manifestation of Teilard de Chardin's "Omega Point." In fact, from a less academic perspective, Wired Magazine escaped from the university and owes its genesis to the vague, innate yearning we harbour for a "wired consciousness." Whether inspired by a quasi-religious need to unite the globe or not, soon Internet users were changing the world - until their bubble burst. When that happened the euphoria died.

I have good news: it's back. How do I know? BarCamp is its Phoenix.

Talking with BarCamp champions Tara Hunt and Chris Messina, I was reminded that innovation is driven by an irresistible human need for recognition and community. In this case, it's the need to connect with people and learn from them without having to negotiate layers of bureaucracy. That's the human desire BarCamp thrives on.

We all know that markets are driven by unsatisfied needs and big markets generate a momentum all their own. In the last five years developers created easy-to-use, open-source, ubiquitous content management tools. New markets were bound to follow. For example, "Press" disintermediating bloggers, it turns out, have a lot they want to say to a global audience. In fact, they won't shut up no matter what the main stream media does to quiet them. Hello Web 2.0 and, by extension, BarCamp.

Tara and Chris are fun. Don't misunderstand that. They are not fun in a Micky Mouse day at the amusement park kind of way. They are fun because they are so damned energetic, articulate, and committed to the idea of open-source, self-maintaining and self-destructing communities. They live and breath this thing they've helped unleash - so much so that they tell me they get their share of critical comments from the community they are trying to represent.

Chris explained the roots of BarCamp. Unable to get access to Tim O'Reilly's Foo Camp, he and a few colleagues decides to host BarCamp - FooBar - get it? In six days they put up a BarCampWiki, raised $3,000, found a location, and assembled 300 or so attendees. BarCamp was born on August 19, 2005. It started something.

The next BC took place in Amsterdam a few weeks later. 70 people showed up along with one news agency - the BBC Worldwide. While the Net is great there's nothing like a hundred year old media institution with global audiences to get your message out. There was no going back. It seemed like everybody wanted the BarCamp experience.

Tara revealed that part of the power of BarCamp has a lot to do with the recognition of people in local communities. People in say, Mumbai, are quickly able to run with the BarCamp concept but they also fuse the experience with a unique local flavour. BarCamps are unmistakably BarCamps but there is enough anarchy allowed to let the unexpected happen. Thank the open source influence.

Who goes to BarCamps? From what I saw at the recent BarCampTdot, it can include geeky kids, academics, VCs, students, parents, scientists, women, men, people who might have escaped from a 90's "Burning Man" love-in, and even me. Oh, and on occasion Tara or Chris or both together. While in Toronto for the MESH Conference they'd also took part in our local incarnation. "While the Net is great," say Chris and Tara, "Face-to-Face connections give people new layers of trust."

They are planning a "BarCampEarth" gathering for the one year anniversary of BarCamp. Stay tuned for times and dates.