DrupalCamp NJ Follow-up Report

On Feb 4, 2012 the first DrupalCamp NJ was held on the campus of Princeton University. The camp received a community cultivation grant from the Drupal Association which was used as seed money. We had 4 sessions in parallel in 5 times slots - 19 sessions total (one was a double-length Hello Drupal training).

All volunteers and organizers were invited to a meeting on Feb 22nd, 2012 to review the event. We spent about 1.5 hours reviewing the feedback submitted online and talking through the event. We came up with a list if items to potentially change, as well as a list of things that worked well that are important to repeat.

We had 241 registrants (paid or sponsor tickets) and based on unclaimed badges, looks like 218 of those attended (> 90%!). The online feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Of the 60 feedback forms submitted online answering the question "Overall, how did you feel about the camp?" and rating for the camp from 1 to 5 got the following:

There was strong consensus to run such a camp again next year. In terms of what to change and what worked well:

CHANGE:

• Formally schedule time between sessions.
• Have speakers test their laptops at breakfast or lunch - define a speaker check-in process to reduce A/V snafus.
• Experts Table.
• More coffee. 3x the order of coffee.
• BoFs – with ability to schedule in advance.
• Last hour – more structured somehow.
• Move lunch tables into lobby area, not tucked back toward vending machines.
• Consider defining a theme for the camp.
• Many more people came earlier than expected – right around 9am. Change anything?
• More detailed transportation information.
• More sponsor outreach (sponsor committee).
• Form various committees sooner. Day-of volunteers, sponsorship, site/registration
• Start planning earlier - 2x meetings per month Sept, Oct, Nov, then move to weekly.
• DA as fiscal agent

WORKED WELL:

• Name tags (punched on lanyard, with maps, schedule, and all info)
• Location at Friend Center
• Breakfast in Convocation Room.
• Serving lunch in lobby
• Grab and go boxed lunch
• Reserving the EQuad café for overflow lunch seating.
• Ivy Inn after party
• Having a Building Services staff member present throughout day – Roger was fantastic.
• Had a good “vibe” and community feeling.
• Timing - weekend before the start of classes. Aim for Feb 2, 2013.

Budgeting notes:

Printing was done in-house at IAS and Princeton Univ, but may need to pay for some of that next year.

The biggest single cost was lunch, about $3300 for the boxed lunches.

300 blank laynards (200 blue for participants, 100 orange for volunteers and speakers) were only $127.20 from Lanyardsnow (Namify)