In the months since we successfully pulled off the first Philly Area DrupalCamp (PADCamp) we have had some discussions (most recently at DrupalCon) about whether we should focus on throwing another PADCamp, or whether we should try to work with our neighbors to the North and South of Philly to create a Mid-Atlantic DrupalCamp (MADCamp). I don't have the specific numbers, but at the PADCamp there were tons of people from New York City, Washington DC, Harrisburg, and lots of places in between, so to some degree it was already a MADCamp. What I'd like to try to see for this Camp is a little more regional cooperation and outreach, so I'm curious to know whether anyone from the DC, Maryland, Central PA, NJ, or NYC groups would be interested in helping to make this a reality.
I am proposing that we have the first MADCamp in Philly, due to it's central location on the East Coast and the fact that the Philly group is trying to move the idea forward. However, I'm personally open to hearing ideas for hosting it in other cities, and one of the bigger goals I would have for the Camp is to get more regional cooperation and coordination amongst the groups. I attend NYC DrupalCamps and DC BarCamps (don't think there's been a DC DrupalCamp- has there?), and I've seen many of the same faces at many of these events.
So, if we're going to move forward with this idea, here are some things that need to be decided:
When should it happen?
I think that an early June camp would be great, as most people will not yet be on vacation. July and August are probably not good months due to vacations, but we might be able to secure a cheaper conference space.
How big should we push for?
We had around 100 people at PADCamp with only a few weeks of lead time, so I'm guessing we could attract anywhere from 200-300 people.
Will it cost money?
I think that we should charge people a fee, since that's the best guarantee of people attending after they sign up, but we should attempt to offset the costs with sponsorships.
Who will organize it and solicit sponsors?
I can help organize the event, but given work obligations and the fact that I'm the administer the Google Summer of Code for Drupal I don't think I can realistically take the lead. Nate Gasser did a phenomenal job organizing PADCamp, but we'd need to assemble a team to carry off an event of this size/scope.
What should the topic be? What should be our target audience
This isn't really up to me, but I would like to propose that we use this Camp as an opportunity to reach beyond the Drupal Development world, to those who are merely "Drupal Curious". The groups that I would personally like us to target are Designers (both UI and Web designer), and I'd love to try and get the javascript, web design, Flash, and Flex communities involved (I've already talked to the Philly Flash and Flex groups, and they are very interested). I know there's been talk of doing a "Design for Drupal" track at DrupalCon, so maybe we could use this as a launching pad for that?
Anyway, enough of what I think: What do you think?
Comments
not really into it
I would rather see three smaller more localized events in Philadelphia, New York and DC than try to put on one much more complicated and stressful regional event.
Good Idea
I like the idea. Philly's easy to get to from where I am (NYC), and it's always a good excuse to visit friends... I don't think the organizational effort would be much greater than just creating a local event--you just need to broadcast the plans to a few additional g.d.o groups and such.
Could we organize a Drupal excursion to the Mutter Museum while in town?
(http://www.collphyphil.org/mutter.asp)
Also, do you think any of the local universities would be willing to offer space for free or at-cost? With Penn, Drexel, Temple and all the others, somebody's got to be into open source.
I like it
I'd love to come down to Philly for a Drupalcamp! Hopefully it will be a 2 day camp so those coming from farther away can stay overnight?
Did you guys seriously get 100 for your PADcamp? Wasn't that during the week? Amazing.
The basic questions remain of course - do you have a local venue to support it (that won't be too much of a hassle to work with), and do you have local folks to volunteer to make the logistics happen.
I'll be happy to volunteer to lead a session I'm qualified for and help out day of event in whatever needed way assuming it is a weekend I can make it.
I think it's an excellent
I think it's an excellent idea and I agree, it doesn't seem like it would take all that much more effort to make it a Mid-Atlantic event rather than a Philly event. The big issue, of course, will be the venue and price associated with that venue.
I'd love to help out in getting this organized! I think June does seem like an optimal time and gives us enough notice to sort out the details and spread the word. Should we start talking about setting up a preliminary meeting?
If it was a one day event maybe we could do a code/docs sprint on the following day?
I think gearing sessions towards developers/designers that are Drupal curious could be a welcomed introduction.
If it's not too early to talk about session ideas, I'd love to speak on getting information into/out of Drupal using ActionScript 3 via XML and/or Services. I even have some classes I could share that do some of the setup for you.
Also on that note, I've recently done some work with posting from/updating pages asynchronously using jQuery (of course). There are probably people more experienced with this stuff than I, but I'd be happy to give an intro session on jQuery in Drupal (how Drupal.settings/Drupal.behaviors/Drupal.theme()/Drupal.t() work in Drupal 6+, getting data via drupal_json, etc).
Wireframing Session Idea
I've been using OpenOffice Draw to create wireframes and IA flow diagrams. At a previous NYC camp, we had a session where this came up, and it was discussed a bit. Now I'd like to try running a full session / BOF or similar to share my approach and see what other folks are using for their wireframing and diagramming. (Especially open source options, of course.) Someday I'd like to develop a library of vector graphic components for website design that can be distributed as an extension for OpenOffice...
some more on my concerns
my primary concern about the idea is that in many ways, I see it as contrary to what seemed to be the consensus about Drupal Camp/un-conference organizing best-practices that came out of the DC DrupalCon panel on the topic.
1: Keep it simple
2: small and more frequent is better than large and less frequent
3: if at all possible, keep it free
4: less complicated == less stress on organizers == a better event
5: in general, one day events are better/more successful
But, that being said, I guess that the only way to really know if a regional camp event is a good idea or worth the effort is to try it once and see how it goes.
So, then my questions are about what makes a regional event different, and in general if this is a good use of people's time and the best idea for the larger Drupal ecosystem/community.
What other than the name makes this different from another Philly Drupal Camp?
How do we coordinate in a way that gives the possibility for input and participation in organizing to people from NYC, DC, Pittsburgh, etc., as such input is necessary to create an event that is regional in more than just name.
Is there a low cost space big enough to allow for a diverse regional representation of people. A real regional event would probably need to provide for 300-500 seats.
What is the impact on other local events in the works?
what is the impact on the environment caused by the longer distance of travel?
what is the impact on the make-up/diversity of those attending when a day of travel and a night at a hotel might be involved?
My preference = Philly DrupalCamp
My personal preference, following some discussion at a MADcamp BOF at DCDC is to stick with calling it Philly DrupalCamp #2. We can and should promote it regionally, and if people from NY or DC want to assist in planning that's cool too. But we risk confusion by having regional camps overlaying city camps. Would all of us putting our energy into a MADcamp imply we're not doing a Philly DrupalCamp? Or are we now committing to two different kinds of events? How would casual people know which to attend? We also risk alienating people from those cities if we don't have 100% buy-in and start proclaiming that our event covers their region. On the other hand, holding our own event and inviting them is totally cool.
different strokes
I think we have room to define camps loosely. Lots of people like the 5 bullet points that you have provided...but other people like other styles of camps. I don't think we should limit them based on these criteria.
The only thing that really defines a Drupalcamp, in my mind, is that a group of people who like Drupal get together to talk about Drupal.
But if someone wants to host an event that has a cost, and is 400 people, and gets planned in advance, are we going to say they can't call it a camp?
--
Growing Venture Solutions | Drupal Dashboard | Learn more about Drupal - buy a Drupal Book
knaddison blog | Morris Animal Foundation
I like the idea and willing
I like the idea and willing to be part of this great camp. Alex if you remember we met at NJ meetup in Princeton University.
I can arrange the space for camp for free at my university plus i can get sponsorship. So if you can tell me exactly what date you are planning I may get back to you whether on that day the conference hall is free or not. Since its summer many summer programs are run in university.
Why Rutgers?
It is centrally located. The Busch campus is near to New Brunswick station. And we have our college Buses running throughout the day.
Thanks
Chetan
UPenn Participation
Hi Guys,
I would also add that I can host a Drupal Camp here at UPenn (www.upenn.edu) for free or very close to it. While I'm new at Drupal we have a growing and enthusiastic group of users and developers here at Penn who would definitely be willing to help with the planning and promotion. And as Philly is centrally located and a large enough city to accommodate large groups for camps/conferences and the like I think it would be an ideal location for the MidAtlantic or Philly event.
I'm open to any thoughts or suggestions on this.
Thanks,
Reggie Garrison
DAR IT Services & Support
University of Pennsylvania
Drupal MAD Camp or Drupal Philly Camp
Hi,
I am somewhat anxious to hear about a decision concerning this mega camp. Have any decisions been made offline?
Sabree
I vote for Rutgers
At the risk of being biased, I vote for an event at Rutgers. Easy access to Philly, North Jersey, and NYC.
Yea from Drexel
Breathing some life into this topic after a month, have any new decisions been made? Drexel's iSchool was a contender to host last year's and I'm thinking we'd be able to host either ourselves or even partner up with Penn (if that's something you'd be into, Reggie).
Either way, I thought PADCamp 2008 was a huge success and definitely needs to happen again.
talking with Penn about space right now
kat3, I think Penn is really interested in hosting a Philly camp -- I've been talking with them and hopefully will have some options to present shortly.
Glad to see you're on this
I've been too swamped lately to even chime in.
/me will be more helpful in the future.
--
d.o: canarymason
twitter @canarymason
--
d.o: canarymason
twitter @canarymason
W00t!
Sorry for letting this slide on my end- UPenn or Drexel would be awesome. Any idea what the dates might be?
Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg
ZivTech: Illuminating Technology
Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg
ZivTech: Illuminating Technology
dates?
What dates are we looking at for this? Are we still shooting for summer or closer to the fall, like after DrupalCon Paris, a la DrupalCamp NYC?
I'm still thinking summer
How do people feel about late spring, early summer-ish? True some people have vacations, but there will always be some kind of conflict. Many businesses slow a little over the summer which may give people more latitude for a day out of the office.
Um, late spring is like now :)
Assuming you need to give a few weeks notice for people to sign up and plan to attend early summer will be the best you'll do!
I'd be up for a July date (depends on the weekend).
Other meetings etc
Another thing to keep in mind is that several technology conferences and symposiums are taking place in July that may preclude people from coming who otherwise would.
August might be good if we're shooting for summer, as people might be done with their vacations by then. Also, November worked well for Philly DrupalCamp '08, so might we want to reconsider holding it in the fall (though maybe something like October instead)?
Summer?
Would like to see Philly in Late July. I know in planning, we would already have to have found a space about like now - or very soon in order for this to happen. I think most Drupal people would skip some "other" tech conference for a more centralized discussion.
There is also a Baltimore BarCamp June 20th - in which I would actually like to start a discussion about "Theming for Frameworks" if anybody is interested.
yup yup
Sorry, didn't mean to denigrate PADCamp! Think that it's more important than quite a few of these other conferences that seem to be taking place in July this year (and there are a lot of them), however some developers are still professionally obligated to go to one over the other and could then miss out. :(
Nate, please also let me know if you'd like to talk to Drexel folk in addition to those at Penn, as there's definite interest in hosting or at least lending a hand with this year.
Philly in late summer
I'm down for Philly in late summer. Either late summer or sometime during August would be great.