DrupalCampBelfast 09
Start:
2009-09-26 09:00 - 2009-09-27 16:00 Europe/Dublin at drupalcampgalway we offered to host a camp in belfast, so ...
DrupalCampBelfast 09 will be hosted on 26 & 27th September 2009 at www.nicva.org
Camp website at http://belfast.drupalcampireland.org
Register and choose sessions and/or add your own
Organizers:
Groups:
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we should deffo pencil in a
we should deffo pencil in a cupcake session.
any of you guys coming to DrupalCon?
i would like to crack the drupal-curious conundrum: a beginner attends a camp, expecting to get 'training'... what can we offer them in the context of a drupal camp?... while still making the event useful for advanced users?
everyone wants to do something hands-on, but we have limited time/space. can we try something creative/different? small groups, pair work, give people a puzzle/task, work together, etc.
there's alot of feedback from the last event, i don't know if you might have a chance to talk to stephane, ooo, he's gone now! or if you can talk to alan maybe?
catering for beginners
absolutely right Heather.
we've been chatting about this issue and haven't come to a clear conclusion yet. In addition, our guess is that the majority of people that will attend from NI will be beginners/curious.
We're thinking that a showcase track should go some way to demonstrate drupal's flexibility and capability and may spark beginners to explore drupal further. I'm aware that some public sector organisations in the North are considering drupal - this is a perfect opportunity to give them more information.
For people that have been dabbling we could maybe have a "drupal surgery" room and/or sessions. Attendees could post what areas they want help with on the site prior to the event and we could structure sessions around those to try and help them? It would need to be facilitated to keep a handle on priorities but could work.
I'm willing to present.
I'm willing to present. For advanced users I can present on the new Migrate module, which I've been using extensively. I could also present on the large project I'm working on which should be live by then. Also happy to help out in the beginners track. Basically just let me know what you need and I'll do my bestest to help.
I think the feedback from the last camp was good overall. One of the main points was that there was nothing for intermediate users, but beginners and advanced users were catered for, though we didn't have enough presenters for the advanced track and not all suggested topics could be covered. Will the website have a way to suggest topics, and possibly vote on them?
We also didn't really have a Q&A session which was requested by a few people so they could ask about all the issues they'd run into in the past and how best to deal with them.
Depending on which site building group you were in on the Sunday in Galway also resulted in different reactions. Some people found themselves doing the same thing they always had been doing and not learning anything new, while others (mainly newbies) were given simple, but repetitive tasks, so they got bored and would have liked to have tried out other things. I like Heather's idea of many small groups, or perhaps doing just one website - not two. I still think hands on training is the best way. More mentors definitely needed.
excellent Stella, i'll be
excellent Stella, i'll be going to your session - I'm really keen to hear about the migrate module.
re: the advanced track - yes, we'll be adding a suggest a session and voting capability on the camp site. I'm hoping that we'll be able to have some handle on who is delivering what and when.
maybe the Q&A could be an ongoing surgery room facilitated to gather people's requests and try and find answers?
surgery room, yay!
oooh i like the idea of an ongoing surgery room. We could combine it (well use the same room) with the Docs Sprint that I'm sure Addie will want to run again.
survey participants beforehand
polls/voting is good. but how about a survey... it's better- before the event.
the show of hands ("who's X, who's Y") gleans some information, which is quickly lost. surveying participants before an event is a boon to organisers and presenters. (was to me last time I gave a workshop!) can i plug a sligo company's service: http://group-surveys.com/ - it's nice because it spits out handy reports. (they are the polldaddy ppl)
we could use results to plan a surgery or break out sessions?
We do have as part of the
We do have as part of the registration a quick survey as to their level of Drupal knowledge etc, but yeah, a survey could would provide a lot more info, I just don't know if there is enough time to draft something together?
doesn't need to be long
Well I'm not sure what you're already asking on the registration form, but some general questions would be good. Text areas are good so people can add their own comments, but can be harder to analyse. For example:
Then of course, you could ask if they're interested in evening social activities? I'm sure Heather can come up with lots of better suggestions.
However I still think a voting mechanism on sessions proposed would be good. Drupalcon have used it for at least the last 3 cons with great success.
Thanks Stella, we'll look at
Thanks Stella, we'll look at adding these in
Heather, as Steve says we're
Heather,
as Steve says we're asking a few questions during registration. We might be able to add in a few more questions that worked well for your last workshop.
currently we're asking;
-Real Name
-Company/Organisation Name
-Bio
-Website/Blog address
-Twitter name
-Drupal Experience level
-What you hope to get from drupalcampbelfast
-Special Requirements
-Days you can attend
anyone think of any others?
i'm keen that we don't make the registration too onerous but agree that the more info we have the better we can plan.
It would be fair to keep
It would be fair to keep registration questions to a minimum, and then offer a more comprehensive "survey" prior to the event.
One word of advice: use a ticketing system of some sort. Make registration mandatory.
In addition to Stella's questions.. I'd add:
- What is the one main burning question you need answered about Drupal?
- Link to a current Drupal project you're working on
- Link to a website you have completed in Drupal (maybe the Drupal.ie project will be underway then, and these links can be added in?)
Stella's Qs:
makes good sense in terms of
makes good sense
in terms of timing how about we have a survey ready for around 19 September? - a week before event.
In the meantime I'll have a look at group-surveys as you suggested and get a draft version setup for review.
Registration going well for DC Belfast
Hi
Just a quick note to say that registrations are going well for DC Belfast in September 2009...BUT...we are always looking to increase the numbers at the event.
Find out more details at http://belfast.drupalcampireland.org and remember, even if you cant make it, someone you know may want to so please also pass this information as as widely as possible.
Thanks a lot
Adam
Two sessions for new users at DrupalCamp Belfast
Submitted two more sessions:
I was looking at the sessions listed, and decided to submit two
1) For beginners on WYSIWYG
http://belfast.drupalcampireland.org/session/text-editing-input-wysiwyg-...
2) For anyone to help with Drupal 7 UX, and learning user-testing.
http://belfast.drupalcampireland.org/session/drupal-7-ux-sprint-listenin...
For the 2nd one, I wanted to do something where participants can make a contribution to the current D7 efforts. I have spoken with the Drupal Usability Team organisers about this, and they are very very keen to see any videos from new users especially. It's a crucial stage in D7 development.
Keen to do some testing with D7.
Anyone interested in doing a code sprint as a session?
Yeah, I'd been keen to see
Yeah, I'd been keen to see some usability testing with D7. I've done screen recorded testing (using camtasia) in the past and found some very valuable insights to site design.
I've also witnessed inexperienced drupal users struggling with basic concepts in D6 which hopefully will be addressed in D7.
t-shirts, pins, stickers bumpf!
I have t-shirts, pins, stickers and bumpf from DrupalCon.
I thought we could share them on the day; and have spot-prizes for some of the t-shirts & stuff at the end of the conference.
Whaddya think?
Can't make it up
I won't be able to make it all the way up from Cork unfortunately, Shame because I could do with bouncing Drupal ideas off some other Drupal types in person. Have a good week all up there, I must try and get to the next event!