If you’re in the Omaha area this weekend (August 15-17, 2008), this is your chance to go to the best free conference of the year – BarCamp Omaha.

Nate and I first heard of these BarCamps last month (I guess they are now being hosted all over the country), and it was a bit weird trying to wrap our heads around the concept, but we listened, and we liked it. So much so that we’ve been helping out on the one in Omaha.

The idea is simple – a bunch of creatives (mostly programmers and designers) get together and decide in the morning what each of them wants to talk about. The day is then broken into thirty-minute speeches given by the attendees. It’s like going to see over a dozen people talk about their passion and projects while you speak about yours.

Nate and I will be giving the presentation we gave last month to AIGA Iowa about “Blogging, Podcasting + Design” and encouraging designers who attend to bring their portfolios (or at least a project) to share.

Bring camping gear and stay for the weekend, or just stop by for the speeches on Saturday. Meet creatives that you can relate to, it should be a blast. Registration is now online. And it’s free.