Sign up for the Drupalcon Chicago Sprint Bus!

We encourage users to post events happening in the community to the community events group on https://www.drupal.org.
dgorton's picture

It's been mentioned and discussed informally, but we finally have confirmed details for the Sprint-to-Drupalcon Bus. We're ready for signups and looking forward to an awesome journey with great people! Sign up or Sponsor to get your seat today (hurry though - space is limited to 54 seats).

Overview
The Twin Cities Drupal Community is organizing a bus to Drupalcon Chicago. The bus will be part Drupal Sprint (work on docs or modules or code or anything else that you think will help make Drupal better), part socializing (we'll have drinks, snacks and refreshments for all) and part fun! We also believe this to be the world's first mobile Drupal sprint - so jump on board today and you'll be able to tell your grandchildren about it.

Timing
In order to allow people to participate in pre-conference training and sprints the day after, the bus will leave for Chicago at noon on Sunday, March 6 and leave from Chicago at 10 am on Saturday, March 12.

Departure Locations
We will depart from the offices of Gorton Studios in Eagan and have cleared parking for up to 30 cars there. Depending on demand, we may also run a van from the Mall of America (convenient for mass transit) to the departure location. We will be going to Chicago via Madison and are coordinating a Madison pick-up as well.

Goodies
Drinks and snacks will be provided as well as an official Drupalcon Sprint Bus t-shirt. There are tables and AC power plugins throughout the bus and WiFi to support 50 people. We hope to have drawings for fun Drupal-related giveaways as well!

Spread the Word
Tell your colleagues and coworkers, we're @drupalbus (and #drupalbus) on Twitter. We do need sponsors, so please mention this to the right people in your organization if you think this may be a fit!

Cost
The round-trip cost is $75 per person or $50 for a one-way ticket.

Signing Up
In order to sign up, please do the following 4 things:
1. Leave a comment here (encouraged - not required)
2. Pay for your ticket via PayPal (go to PayPal.com, click 'Send Money' for 'Buying Something' to drupalbus@gortonstudios.com)
3. Receive your confirmation email from drupalbus@gortonstudios.com
4. Rejoice! (And retweet!)

Limited Space
There are only 54 seats and many will be reserved for sponsors who get multiple tickets (some of whom have already signed up). We just don't know how to judge demand, but seats may go quickly so you may want to act sooner rather than later. If we fill up, we'll post notice here right away.

Consider Sponsoring
With 54 seats maximum, ticket sales won't cover our costs. We wanted to keep the price low, however, and we really want to bring a full bus of great people. In order to cover the gap in funds, there are 4 levels of sponsorship available:

  • Individual Sponsors - $150 - includes one ticket, name on the t-shirts, twitter thanks and admiration of your peers
  • Silver Sponsors - $500 - includes two tickets, twitter thanks, logo on t-shirts, logo on in-bus signage, thanks and patronage of our community
  • Gold Sponsors - $1,000 - includes 4 tickets, twitter thanks, larger logo on t-shirts, larger logo on in-bus signage, thanks and patronage of our community, swag drop if desired (2 available)
  • Platinum Sponsor - $3,000 - includes 8 tickets, twitter thanks, largest logo on t-shirts, largest logo on in-bus signage, thanks and patronage of our community, swag drop if desired, bus naming rights if desired (1 available)

To Sponsor
Please contact drupalbus@gortonstudios.com for more info, request budget details or ask further questions. If by some chance we actually collect more funds than costs, those funds will go towards the upcoming May 20-21 Twin Cities Drupalcamp.

Comments

Signing up

minneapolisdan's picture

Signing up

Count me in!

mtift's picture

Count me in!

I'm all in!

wylbur's picture

Thanks for doing this!

Signing up

gormsby's picture

Looking forward to the ride!

Signing up

keithm's picture

Me too!

Question

dkroneb's picture

Where is it leaving from? and can you park a car for the week?

Parking = Yes

dgorton's picture

We still haven't finalized our departing location, but Plan B is to leave from the offices of Gorton Studios in Eagan. We've cleared parking for up to 30 vehicles with the building owners and know that that's a must-have for our departing location. We're still looking at other options and want to confer further with the bus line as well, but even Plan B will provide parking.

I'm on the bus

maryannking's picture

don't leave without me!

parking

maryannking's picture

I've paid and will need parking (coming from Monticello and HAVE to drive)

I'm in

raytiley's picture

Sounds like an awesome time.

Nerd at work

Don't forget about...

emjayess's picture

Fargo! heh.

This sounds like an awesome way to get to Drupalcon. I hope to get a spot on the bus, but I still need to secure my lodging for the week... anyone here/on the bus looking for roomshares to split expenses? Is everyone on the bus thus far staying in the tower?

cheers!

matt j. sorenson

--
matt j. sorenson, g.d.o., d.o.

I hope to be on the bus

skwashd's picture

I still need to work out if I'm coming to DrupalCon, but if I do, I'd love to be on the DrupalBus. By this time next week I should have some idea of how successful my buy a line fundraising effort has been. I think hacking code or writing docs on the highway during a mobile sprint is one of the best ways for me to honour my pledges.

Thanks Triangle Park Creative!

dgorton's picture

Triangle Park Creative has signed up to be our first Silver Sponsor! For those of you who don't know, Triangle Park Creative is a small graphic design shop intent on working with organizations and businesses engaged in economic, social, and environmental sustainability. They're located in the Twin Cities and will be on the bus as well. Bus Riders: be sure to thank them when you see them. Rest of the World: definitely consider them for your next Drupal project. They're great people doing great work, and we're honored to have them sponsor!
http://www.triangleparkcreative.com

Signed up

akay's picture

Save a seat for me.

Individual sponsorship

lisabu's picture

I'll need pick-up from Madison. Look forward to meeting all of you.

Arriving early

skwashd's picture

I have a bit of horror trip with flights. I will be arriving into MSP at around noon on the 5th. Can someone recommend a decent place close to the bus pickup point for me to stay?

Absolutely - we'll take care of you

dgorton's picture

Send me your flight info. We'll take care of you after that. (Safe travels!)

I'm in!

laziegler's picture

I'm in from WPR here in Madison! I finally got my registration all worked out. I'm hard to miss, I'll be the hugely pregnant one! :)

Seats Still Available + One-Way Ticket price

dgorton's picture

The DrupalBus planning is in full swing and only three weeks remain before we will be heading out! Since many of our wonderful sponsors are not in need of seats, we still have open seats and we want to fill them. If you know of anyone who may be interested in taking the bus there, please take a moment to reach out and ask them to join us.

We've also heard from a few people that they'd only want to take the bus one-way. In order to encourage those folks onto the bus, we'd like to offer a one-way price of $50. This will of course apply to all riders, so if you're signed up and only planning on taking the bus one-way as well - let us know and we'll straighten that out.

This means we have the following pricing for individuals:
$50 for an individual one-way ticket
$75 for an individual two-way ticket
$150 for an individual sponsor

Thanks again for all those of you who have signed up as Sponsors - your support is appreciated! So far, we have the following Sponsors on board:

Individual Sponsors: Chad Fennell, MaryAnn King, Alovar Technology Solutions, Wilbur Ince & Lisa Bu

Silver Sponsors:
Acquia (http://acquia.com/),
Triangle Park Creative (http://www.triangleparkcreative.com/),
Phase II Technology (http://www.phase2technology.com/),
TreeHouse Agency (http://treehouseagency.com/),
Volacci (http://www.volacci.com/),
Advantage Labs (http://www.advantagelabs.com/),
Minnesota Public Radio (http://minnesota.publicradio.org/)

Platinum Sponsor: Gorton Studios (http://www.gortonstudios.com/)

Finally, our overall budget is still short by about two thousand dollars. Gorton Studios has offered to cover the difference, but further individual or organizational sponsors are still welcome. Most important, however, is spreading the word and filling the bus!

Chicago to Madison leg

Sheldon Rampton's picture

I'll be flying straight from New York to Chicago to attend DrupalCon, but after the conference is over, I'm interested in riding the bus back from Chicago to Madison. Do you know what time the bus will be leaving for the return trip back?

Sheldon Rampton
Senior web developer, New York State Senate
http://www.nysenate.gov
http://drupal.org/user/13085

10 am on Saturday, March 12

dgorton's picture

We leave from Chicago at 10 am on Saturday, March 12, which should put us into Madison around 1 pm. Happy to have you join - just let us know!

Departure from Madison

xjm's picture

Where and when will the Madison pickup be on Mar. 6? Thanks!

4pm at East Town Mall off of Exit 135B

dgorton's picture

We are leaving at noon on Sunday from the offices of Gorton Studios in Eagan, MN. It's about a 4-hour trip to Madison, so the plan is to stop at the East Town Mall off of Exit 135B at 4pm. We will be picking up by the JCPenney doors. We have the cell phones of the people riding from Madison, however, and plan to call as we're getting close to confirm timing. You're welcome to join - we'd love to have you - just let us know!

East Towne is perfect!

xjm's picture

I signed up this morning.

Drupal Bus site is live

dgorton's picture

Ray Tiley took the lead and got the www.DrupalBus.com website up and running. (Thanks Ray!) Everyone can now sign in, declare tasks and create lightning talks. Further news and announcements will be posted there as well. Take a moment to get yourself signed in today and this will help us all arrive ready and organized to do some good.
If you're not sure what to work on during the Sprint there will be lots of other friendly people on the bus who'll be glad to say what they're doing and show you how to help. Based on last weeks' TC Drupal User Group Meeting, I know many people are planning to work on Drupal documentation, others are doing module upgrades and a few are working on plans for the May DrupalCamp.
Just a few days away - I'm getting excited - looking forward to seeing everyone on the bus soon!

I'm in!

nihiliad's picture

Looking forward to seeing old friends, and making new ones.

I'm in tooo!

emjayess's picture

and boy am I getting excited!...

question for everyone on the bus... my roommate is potentially not arriving until Monday, so I'm wondering if anyone has or needs sunday night accommodation capacity? If so, plz LMK ASAP, thxu.

--
matt j. sorenson, g.d.o., d.o.

Carpool to the bus

jasonsamuels's picture

If anyone is interested in carpooling to Gorton Studios office to catch the bus on Sunday, I can fit three others in my car. Four other people plus bags would be cozy, but maybe do-able. I'll be driving from South Minneapolis (Whittier Neighborhood).

It's worth noting that I'm flying back on Thursday, so cannot provide a ride back when the bus returns. I'd also be interested in riding along with someone to the bus if you'd rather drive instead.

Still have room?

gormsby's picture

I'd be game for carpooling - I'm in Kingfield, near 38th and Nicollet. Still have room?

Wisconsin

Group organizers

Group notifications

This group offers an RSS feed. Or subscribe to these personalized, sitewide feeds:

Hot content this week