During DrupalCamp Chicago, a couple of "DrupalCamp Organizers" BoF sessions led to the decision that an updated and improved DrupalCamp Organizing Guide (DCOG) would serve the community well - providing aspiring user groups with valuble information about organizing their first camp, as well as providing experienced user groups with a structured place to share resources and lessons from their experiences.
I volunteered to take a first stab at the DCOG reorganization as I started out looking at the existing guide, I decided that instead of plowing forward with a rewrite, we needed a good outline for the document(s) as a first step.
With that in mind, I've created a new wiki page - DCOG Version 2 Outline. It contains an outline of the various topics that I think the document should contain. Clearly, this is a community project - there are a lot of Drupal community organizers smarter than myself, so I am looking to them for help in making sure the outline doesn't have any issues, gaps, or omissions.
Once we've chewed on this outline for a bit (I'm thinking about a week), I'll start the process of filling it out from various sources including the original DCOG, various DrupalCamp case studies, and my general knowledge. If you know of any case studies or additional sources of knowledge, please share them in the comments below. If anyone wants to help out with the narrative, please leave a comment below (feel free to claim a section!)
Clearly, this is going to be more than a one-page document. As things progress, we'll have to decide how best to break it up. As part of the narrative, I'm planning on linking to existing resources, case studies, and sample documents * again, if you know of anything that should be linked to, please include it in the comments below.
Feel free to update the outline - it is a wiki after all! Since wiki pages don't allow for comments, feel free to use this post for any comments, questions, or discussion items.
Comments
* Develp strategy and objectives for sessions and tracks
Thoughts for Session & Track planning
(not sure where to post this - not in the outline but I felt it needed explanation)
is there a better plan than beginner/intermediate/advanced that will help people feel less fragmented about selecting sessions? Can we give speakers clear guidelines about tracks and about making slides available in advance? Can we improve the advance information to give people better guidance? Can we make it easier to download presentations? Can we establish guidelines and perhaps a board for proposal evaluation and speaker selection? How can we motivate speakers to raise quality, preparedness and making meaningful material available in advance? Consider a survey (via this wiki?) to determine topics interest.
SIG/BOFs
I think Special Interest Groups/Birds of a Feather sessions can add real value and help people network with people of similar interests. But they need to be planned and scheduled in advance and there needs to be a set time that doesn't overlap with speakers. I'm in favor of fewer sessions (more competitive selection) with raised requirements for providing advance material to leave more time for networking on special topics.
Sessions, Speakers and Tracks
I might be able to help out on the content topics. As a frequent speaker at large conferences such as Semantic Technologies, DAMA and others I've picked up a few tips from the big guys about how to get the best speakers and get the best value from of them - the entire process from track and topic planning, proposal submission and evaluation, speaker coaching and motivation, advance material submission, speakers as conference marketers, follow-up, etc...
Sprints
Jennifer Hodgdon and I have been meaning to create a "how to host a docs sprint" guide for ages (never enough time!), which might be nice to include in this. Could be a good excuse to actually get it done. ;)
Fantastic!
This would be very helpful - I'm just starting the process of organising my first DrupalCamp here in Brighton, UK.
I have the space (we have a community coworking facility http://theskiff.org which is free for this sort of thing and have confirmed we can use the space), and a tentative date of end of June - I find out soon exactly which weekend.
I'm limiting it to around 120 people so small in terms of what I heard other people talking about in the BoF sessions at Chicago but any information is gratefully received!
Sounds good!
Sounds good! I organised a Drupalcamp in Manchester a couple of years ago. If you fancy a subdomain off drupalcamp.org.uk, let me know.
yes please!
That would be cool - was at drupal dev days brussels and talked to the other guy who organised manchester one, forget his name right now...
DrupalCon Chicago t-shirts
When estimating t-shirt sizes to pre-order, past Drupal events might be a good indicator of the size breakdown.
Raw data from DrupalCon Chicago on t-shirts ordered:
After the conference, there were many smalls and mediums left over, so these numbers may overestimate the level of fitness in the Drupal Community.
-mike
new section
I've just added a "What are the steps in organizing a basic camp?" section to the guide (http://groups.drupal.org/node/136494). I need some help adding some examples from various camps around the world in a few sections.
If you're a camp organizer, please take a few minutes (it'll be quick, I promise!) to add to the guide. The specific information I'm looking for is:
Once you see the guide, it'll be pretty obvious where the information should go.
Thanks,
-mike
Some links
Hi Mike! Thanks for picking this up again!
Some resources I recall/found again:
A wiki of camps http://groups.drupal.org/node/16819
And another wiki of noshow rates http://groups.drupal.org/node/95264 -- has some early Camps sizes, for your second question
thanks
Ben,
Thanks for the links - I'll definitely incorporate some of the data as well as link to those pages in the appropriate sections.
-mike
more homework
Another quick homework task for DrupalCamp Organizers - edit the new DrupalCamp Organizers Guide and add in a sentence or two about what tools your group uses to keep itself organized
Thanks,
-mike