(the Inaugural) DrupalCamp Pittsburgh

Posted by marktfrey on December 14, 2011 at 4:07am

Time to get this going!

We talked a bit about this at the meetup tonight, agreeing that pinning down a date and location/space will be key first steps. This is a thread to centralize our thinking on this, share ideas, and indicate interest.

Re: date, we want to make sure we have enough time to plan and line up quality speakers and sponsors, and that we're not overlapping with another DrupalCamp or con appealing to the same region. I think May 12th or 19th would make a good day. Pitt is out and CMU is in finals for the 12th, the marathon is on the 6th.

Location should have enough space for 3 or 4 concurrent sessions, one large central room that could host a keynote, good access to electric and wifi, central-ish location and adequate parking. Any of the local Universities would be a natural fit, though other spaces may work as well.

So... who's interested, who's interested in helping out, and who's got ideas for, connections to, or actual space we can use? Once we've got that pinned down we can start planning details.

Comments

I'm down to commit some

Posted by RobW on December 14, 2011 at 4:39am

I'm down to commit some serious time, especially if I can be split between more organizationally intensive and plug-and-play tasks. Let's do it.

Lin had the phenomenal idea to host the event in multiple locations downtown. Although it might be more logistically challenging, I think it would be a fantastic way to differentiate our camp, showcase and promote the actual city of Pittsburgh as opposed to the standard college neighborhood, and give the attendees a more rich, memorable experience. Some of the galleries could be excellent meeting spaces if they are friendly to alternative utilization (off the top of my head, Space gallery would be amazing). Lin, can you elaborate a bit more?

I'd be willing, as well.

Posted by visuaLatte on December 14, 2011 at 2:49pm

I agree about the date-- mid-to-late May sounds like a goal to shoot for.

I'd be willing to commit some time organizing and also on the website side. Coordinating with Mark's other post about the local users group website/distribution, I wonder if several of us who work on the design side (Rob?) might work together to design a Drupal Pittsburgh logo and coordinate the main (upcoming) Drupal Pittsburgh website (e.g. http://www.drupalpgh.org) with the camp's site (e.g. http://2012.drupalpgh.org).

I know this might seem like we're putting the cart ahead of the horse, but I think putting together a functional and nice-looking website, even if just a splash page or two at first, would help our credibility with possible sponsors and venue providers. Meanwhile, we may have at least a blueprint for what the User Groups distro would look like by then, and we could post progress on the website and present it at the camp we're planning.

There's definitely a lot of

Posted by RobW on December 14, 2011 at 8:01pm

There's a lot of possible interrelation between these two projects. I like the idea of reducing and polishing the drupalpgh.org site in the interim while the distro is worked on. A professional presentation will certainly influence the venues and sponsors we're going to be reaching out to for the camp.

I'm interested in working on a Drupal PGH identity, something more modern and forward looking while still being Drupal. Nate, myself... anyone else interested? Let's set up an exploratory meeting, get this do-ocracy in action.

Follow up post on Drupal PGH

Posted by RobW on December 17, 2011 at 2:37am

Follow up post on Drupal PGH branding here.

I'd like to help out too.I

Posted by eli-f on December 14, 2011 at 9:25pm

I'd like to help out too.I don't have many connections, but once we find some places to contact I can make calls, send emails, etc.

I can also contribute to developing the theme we'd need for the Drupal PGH site. I'm not too much of a designer, but I would love to translate what Nate, Rob, and whoever else puts together the design...

Help

Posted by nitrosx on December 15, 2011 at 7:10pm

Drupal-ists,
I'm not sure how much time I can devote, but I will be happy to land a hand.

I can take care of the admin side of the related site and some logistic...
anyway, I'm open to other task granted that I have the time.

Ciao
Max

I have some contacts at

Posted by linclark on December 15, 2011 at 10:13pm

I have some contacts at different potential venues, so I can help look for a venue. I can also help with the program (coming up with and contacting potential speakers) and I can help with organizing a hands-on contributor event.

Downtown, multi-venue
The idea that Rob alludes to above was to see if we could get a handful of cool buildings near each other downtown, like SPACE gallery, 937 Liberty, etc. Since the Cultural trust has a bunch of vacant buildings and they like to have events in them, this seems like a good fit. I mentioned it to my husband, who has been doing stuff at Wood Street and other PCT galleries lately, and he thought the PCT might be into it. He said if I drafted a message, he would talk to his contact there about it. I'll hope to have info to report on this by the next meeting.

Facets of this project

Posted by visuaLatte on December 18, 2011 at 4:37pm

I was thinking about the facets of the Drupal Camp that we need to tackle. Different ones of us can work on these:

Finding and securing a venue: Lin has had some ideas about this. Let's pursue. We were also discussing finding something at CMU, possibly.

Securing sponsors: Did the Drupal Camp Ohio folks give any tips on this?

Outlining sessions and finding presenters for them: One idea I have along these lines is mobile/responsive design in general, and also how it relates specifically to Drupal. I'd be willing to explore the possibility of presenting on this issue, as by May I will have launched several responsive websites that I currently have in-the-works.

Identity and website: Rob and I will begin working on this and report back to the community as soon as we have something to share. As I previously said, I'd suggest having a multisite setup so that we can advertise Drupal Camp(s) as subdomains of the main DrupalPGH website.

Getting Started

Posted by davidtrainer on January 2, 2012 at 10:32pm

I'm prepared to commit some time and resources to make this camp happen. I'm primarily equipped to work on the implementation and support of the website, but I'm also here to contribute to planning and organizing the venue and sponsors, and I'd be interested in presenting a session. Here are my thoughts so far on some of the major initiatives:

Date: I'm concerned that 5/12 or 5/19 won't give us enough time. DC Ohio was put together in around six months. That was an unusually short lead time for a DrupalCamp, and the organizers indicated that it felt like a tight timeline within which to work.

Venue: I like the suggestions so far. Just want to mention that Google has a strong physical presence here in Pittsburgh's East End. And Google looooves Drupal. If their space in Bakery Square is suitable for a Camp, I think they should be near the top of the list of possibilities to check into.

Sponsors: I talked with some of the organizers at DC Ohio at length about this. One thing they identified as crucial to their success is that they had a Platinum sponsor commit very early in the process. This took a substantial amount of the pressure out of fundraising and made it easier to get additional sponsors on board. If we can induce one of the big possible sponsors we've heard suggested (U. of Pittsburgh, CMU, Google) it would be a huge win.

Website: My company, Minimal Media, will offer to donate Managed Hosting services for the Pittsburgh DrupalCamp website. I've built a site on COD that I will share with everyone on this thread. I would love to present this in detail and answer questions about it at the next meetup, but unfortunately I'll be out of town next week. This brings me to...

Meta: Our monthly meetups and g.d.o. are important points of interaction, but I don't think they are sufficient for us to really get this project off the ground. I suggest that we, the organizers, start a regular planning call to communicate progress on these initiatives and keep ourselves, well, organized. Just to throw it out there, how about a biweekly call, on Skype, starting Monday 1/9 at 9pm.

Any movement on this?

Posted by marktfrey on January 9, 2012 at 7:29pm

I'm available for a call tonight, or another time if folks are into it.

I'm in agreement that the May dates may be too soon without a venue and one or more sponsors lined up already. If we need to choose another date, so be it, but I don't want to lose momentum on getting a camp together.

We'll certainly talk about this a bit tomorrow at the meetup, but if you can't be there David, maybe we can get a series of calls started.

Oasis Coffee Center

Posted by Gregsim on January 9, 2012 at 8:43pm

The VIP room at Panera's on Blvd of Allies would be great, but it is booked tomorrow. I asked about second Tuesday in February - also booked. Panera's takes reservations a year in advance. There are other Panera's. They all have free wifi.

My church in Carrick has a suitable facility and it should be clearing out at 7 pm from the afternoon activities. We have wifi and a coffee bar and some light snack stuff. Pastor Dan Cramer said it would be fine if you want to use it. It is in the South Hills on Brownsville Road on other side of Mt. Oliver from Pittsburgh. Easily accessible from Rt 51.

Oasis Coffee Center
(412) 882-2833
1912 Brownsville Rd
Pittsburgh, PA 15210

Greg
iPhone: 412-980-4657

I'm out of town.

Posted by davidtrainer on January 10, 2012 at 2:53pm

So I can't make the meetup, unfortunately. Let me know if/when you set up a call.

reading this late but very

Posted by btopro on February 14, 2012 at 4:37am

reading this late but very interested in helping out / submitting presentations / getting people to come down from PSU. Any details or an address yet for this?

Ex Uno Plures
http://elmsln.org/
http://btopro.com/
http://drupal.psu.edu/