Posted by akalata on July 27, 2012 at 9:08pm
At the kickoff meeting for this year's planning earlier in the month, it was suggested that we might want to have an overall theme for this year's DrupalCamp Chicago.
Some of the suggested topics were:
- distributions
- Drupal 8
- responsive design
- multilingual Drupal
In my mind, having an overall theme is a good idea for both potential presenters and attendees. The trick will be choosing the right one!
From the ones we have on the list, I'm liking Distributions for the following reasons:
- We can specifically target potential speakers.
- We can entice non-Drupalers with content relevant to their interests.
But, what does everybody else think? Yes/no? Other potential topics?
Comments
While I would be in favor of Drupal 8 as the topic ...
... I don't think that it lends itself to novice Drupal'rz and it's more of a "Con" or developer-centric topic. With that said, I think distributions is probably a good choice. My concerns about having distros be the main topic isn't the lack of content, but the plethora of distros that are out there to be covered. Would it be advantageous, if distros becomes the focused topic, to then split the tracks by use-case? EX: nonprofit, media, political/association, etc etc etc.
just my .02¢
-Erik
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Mobile please
I vote for more mobile-related stuff, such as:
Also, I'm with you on enticing non-Drupalers as well with some topics aimed at content managers and decisions makers. Perhaps:
Drupal makes your content do amazing things
(focus on strong examples of advanced content management and delivery, using the typical content-construction goodies)
Drupal: Easier, faster, safer and cheaper... and often prettier
(focus on use cases and demystifying Drupal)
@joseonate to add what you
@joseonate to add what you were saying about the decision makers, another cool topic to add onto for decision makers is Drupal as the backbone of your information (not as in IT but as in data) architecture. For those of me that know me you know I love talking about APIs, so you probably know where this is going, but it would be really cool to engage decision makers on how to build an SOA architecture using Drupal - ie You have your site with all kinds of data generated by users, and it exposes APIs for any client (read: mobile device, another website, a tv, a fridge) that can make requests be able to integrate with it. That's part of what Amazon and their web services so successful and efficient.
(sorry i'm a bit tired, so might be unclear :) Let me know if needed and I'll clarify)
mobile or distros?
The topic mobile of was a major thing point in Denver. Obviously, the discussion needs to continue but people are getting a lot of that from all angles these days.
One discussion I'd like to get into is the evolution of distros. When you look at content-editing-specific ones like Spark- you can see the trend in trying to empower content editors. This is also an attractive topic for non-Drupalers who want to get into the system and start using it immediately. So I think there is a lot to talk about with distros. Maybe not as much as mobile but the content is there.
As far as specific topics I'd also like to see in the camp:
DevOps - there's a devops track for Munich - its not extremely exciting for everyone - but some of us are very excited about DevOps.
There's a big data movement going on which coincides with LSD (large scale drupal) - all these topics would be interesting for keynotes/themes.
Another thing we should consider is that the D8 code freeze is going in effect about a month after the camp ends - so this would be a good thing to touch on too. Getting some of the core initiative leads involved would be clutch.
Focus on our strengths
I would love to see this year's DrupalCamp Chicago focus on the things that Chicago Drupal developers do well. Because Chicago is such a Rails town, I think the achievements of Chicago Drupal developers often get overshadowed, and a well-run, professional DrupalCamp is a great way to showcase them and get attention from folks outside our existing community.
Mobile-first and responsive design is definitely something we should be talking about, and I'd love to see some sessions that are design-focused, as Chicago has such a robust design community.
With Chicago's startup scene really kicking into high gear, I think it might be good to also offer some content that demonstrates how Drupal can be used to get a startup up and running off the ground quickly, while still offering opportunities for scalability (which is Rails' weakness).
Drupal's role in the enterprise is also an important topic; some sessions on the different ways that Drupal can be used for large-scale deployments across multiple Web properties could also be compelling.
And of course, we should certainly offer some opportunities for people to help get involved in Drupal 8. My understanding is that the tentative date for the camp is November 10, which is about a month before D8 feature freeze. Fortunately, a number of the D8 initiative leads are located in the Midwest and/or have ties to Chicago, so if this is planned well, we should be able to get a number of them to participate. The only caveat is that this is the week after BADCamp, so we might have some fatigue.
Do we need to take another step back?
Lots of good ideas, though I'm wondering if we need to take a step back and decide who the intended audience is for this Camp? Is it by-devs-for-devs, or do we want to attract non-users? It would be great to do both, but since a contract has already been signed I'm not sure we'll have the space.
Seems to be more room than ever...
Anna, why don't you think we'll have the space? UChicago i-house should be the largest venue we have ever utilized for a DrupalCamp Chicago.
Our goal for 2012 is to sell 350-400 registrations, allocate 50 slots for sponsors, and leave room for an extra 50 slots. If we can actually get 400 people to show up, I'll be very impressed. One of the reasons we even had fairly large attendance in earlier years is because there was no other camps going on. Now we see all sorts of camps throughout the midwest.
I spoke with venue and we can still walk away at this point. However, we need to make a decision ASAP. Honestly...not sure why we would miss this opportunity?
Curious..what other venues are available this fall that can provide more attendance capacity within the same budget with fast Internet?
The number of bodies we can
The number of bodies we can fit into a space is less important than how effectively that space can be utilized. Now that you've posted which rooms we have reserved, we are able to think about how many presentation tracks and other activities we could support.
Assembly Hall - Keynote and what we anticipate to be the highest-attended track (assuming we do either). 360+ seats, auditorium-style rather than college lecture hall, so no desk space for laptops. We might also need to provide extension cords and power strips throughout the space. This is also the only space that we have that could fit all the attendees for lunch and breaks.
The Home Room and National Room could support 70+ people each, though I can't tell by the floor plan if these are accessible via elevators or just stairs? We could have additional sessions, space for BOFs/sprints, or serve lunch in one or both of these rooms.
The Coulter Lounge maxes out at 50 people; my thinking is that this would be a useful place for sponsor tables and snacks, and registration.
The Tiffin Boardroom looks like a beautiful space, but since it's dominated by one large table I'm not sure what it could be used for besides a 'green room' for presenters.
We'll also need to add into the budget for A/V presentation equipment for at least some of the rooms, since that's not included in the space rental.
Good points
Slurpee has some really good points here that have not yet been touched upon. There are some other issues at hand though besides space.
Location... will it be difficult for people to get to Hyde Park?
Transportation... if ppl are coming in via plane or bus, they might have difficulty getting to the campus via CTA. I know theres a Metra stop close by but we definitely need to educate the attendees about safety and how to get around on the south side.
Isn't class going to be in session during the camp? I've heard about events at this venue (which is a dorm, from what I've gathered) getting crashed by students looking to get free food, etc.
Rooms... looks like there is one very big room and all the other rooms are fairly small. Difficult for breakout sessions to happen.
Were these issues handled the last time there was a camp at UChicago? If so, what can we do to help alleviate this?
All that said - I think we need to weigh the pros and cons here. The venue should be large enough even if it doesn't promote too much growth from previous years.
It has some definite advantages. But do these advantages outweigh the problems associated mostly with its location in Hyde Park?
Anyone who has something to say definitely should be responding here. There are also the IRC meetings in #CDMUG on Monday nights. Last week it was just Matthew and I can't say I was terribly productive/helpful considering the minor role I'm playing in camp logistics. We mostly talked about concurrent events that will be happening around the same time as the camp.
We definitely need to come to a consensus soon before its too late.
I think the location and
I think the location and transportation concerns go hand-in-hand. Renting a trolley is great to get everyone from the venue to an after-party, but what about getting down to the campus to begin with, or getting back to the campus after the party for those who might have driven down? What parking options are available for those who have a car/bike/moped/etc?
And what about people who come in from out-of-town to attend? Yes, the camp is just one day, but if we want to welcome people into our city and our community, we should help people as much as possible. Maybe one or two recommended hotels that are close to each other, possibly a Camp-specific shuttle that runs to and from the campus so people won't need to shell out $20 for a cab or brave an unknown transit system? Just throwing out ideas.
Were these issues handled the
As one of the members of the organizing team of DrupalCamp Chicago 2010 , which was held at the University of Chicago Law School, I can help answer this. For reference, that camp was held during the summer (the end of June), when school was not in session.
We had pretty much full run of the school, including several large classrooms available for that event, plus the option of a large auditorium, which we decided not to exercise based on registration numbers.
We definitely saw depressed attendance at the 2010 event (about 100 less than the previous year), particularly from out-of-towners. That was likely due to a combination of several factors:
We shouldn't have to worry about #3 this year, as I'm not aware of any other major Drupal events planned for the weekend of November 10, and the weather in Chicago is usually lousy that time of year. ;-)
So that just leaves #1 and #2 as our only issues. #1 is in our control given enough sponsors and a smartly-planned budget, leaving only #2. If we are going to attract out-of-towners, we need to have good accommodations available and good transportation options to/from Hyde Park from downtown and/or the airports. This in turn could increase our budget, making #1 potentially a problem again.
Parking is also an open question. In the summer, that wasn't an issue, but I don't know what it will be like when school is in session.
I do have concerns about the room configuration, particularly given that the main auditorium is so much larger than any of the other rooms. This means we can basically run a single-track event, with some smaller breakout sessions, but it's unlikely we'll be able to offer any really strong content offerings opposite each other (e.g., a really strong theming session at the same time as a really strong session on backend code).
Slurpee thinks we'll get less than 400 attendees, and based on the venue location, configuration and other factors, I think that's correct. Honestly, I'm not sure we could handle more than that with this venue.
It seems like my larger
It seems like my larger question has gotten lost while discussing the details of the venue: Why are we putting on this camp? What is our key goal, and who do we want to come to this conference?
Without having these specified and agreed upon, we're just working from our internal assumptions on everything from cost, sponsors, venue, catering, content, concurrent activities, after-party, etc.
I don't have a clear answer, so right now my wheels are spinning from lack of context in which to make decisions or suggestions.
Agreed - let's not bikeshed this.
The process that's worked best in my experience is to first decide what kind of camp we want to have (bar camp, "mini-con", etc.), what kind of people we want to attend (developers, designers, business folk, etc.), and whether we want this to be a primarily local/regionally-oriented event or one that will draw in folks from around the country. The answers to those questions then drive things like venue selection, dates, etc.
The position we're currently in is that we've been told we have a particular venue and date already booked, and the question I think we're trying to explore now is what kind of event best fits into that space. So instead of content/format driving logistics, logistics are driving content/format.
This is of course complicated by the fact that information about those logistical decisions that has already been made has been difficult to come by.
I think my question would be what assumptions and expectations Matthew had when he booked the University of Chicago space and what kind of event he envisions for November 10.
From an outsider
From an outsider to Drupal event planning,
I’ve always thought of the Drupal Camp as a mini Con in my local city. Perhaps I’ve been expecting the wrong thing about the Camps all along, but given that this is the main local yearly event, and that we already have some more tech-oriented Chicago events (Drupal and otherwise,) I’d like to see the Camp continue to grow in the direction of the mini Con.
I am definitely biased and sheltered in this regard, but Drupal is developing good roots in the business community here in Chicago, and Con-like events help develop those roots. IMBO the Chicago Drupal Camp should embrace all the users, namely: designers, developers, non-tech decision makers, at all levels of experience.
I know this is a tall order, but I think the recipe is already there if you follow the Con model: Make sure that there are enough presentations/events for each track (design/ux, dev, business,) along with sufficient space for organic social participation (BOFs / open rooms.)
On size
If the direction becomes that of the serious mini Con, I think you’ll find that it will stop being mini very soon. Chicago is a hub for America’s heartland, and the word alone is synonymous with cornerstone. If you build it, they will come. I know that Drupal Con aims to target a new city every year, but I see no reason Chicago couldn’t be the permanent home for something just like it – it is actually the ideal location for North America as a whole.
</end of wild dreams>Extra point: Argument for more BOFs
I don’t know if others have had the same experience, but for me, after the Chicago Con, I wouldn’t mind the extreme of doing-away with so many presentations and having more rooms available to BOFs – or smaller planned presentations that take place in a BOF setting. Nothing built connections, knowledge and Drupal growth like giving people a no-rules room to come together about the topics that they truly care about. Every BOF I attended last year ran well and uniquely, from slide presentations to round-table format, some had packed rooms with standing attendance, others only 4 people who got to really develop a topic.
Anecdote: One of the BOFs was a UX meeting packed to the walls. You could really feel the passion that some designers have for cleaning up Core’s html. I stood in the back afraid someone would find out I know PHP. You can’t get that kind of experience from a lecture setting.