I remember when it was announced - I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. It was announced in a smallish room, maybe about 25 people. At BarCamp, if I remember how it worked, everyone who showed up was required to talk about a subject. It was as community-driven an event as any I've ever been to. Lots of amateur presenters.

There was a guy there that John Resig had shown jQuery to the night before, and the guy was just raving about it. And when John showed off jQuery, it just was damn impressive.

Wish I could remember more, its a bit of a hazy memory now! :)