DrupalCamp Toronto 2010

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Anonymous's picture

Hey everyone,

The question about a DrupalCamp Toronto 2010 was raised at our March 29th meeting, with lots of good discussion around the subject. Points raised include:

  1. Hosting the event in October, close the Toronto Open Source Week dates.
  2. Securing a venue. UofT seemed to be a favourite again, but a few other venue options were mentioned.
  3. Size of attendance. I checked my archives and the 2008 event attendance was said to be around 150 people. We predicted a possible attendance size for this year to be around 250-300.
  4. Getting past organizers involved on some level for guidance, or more, if they wish. James & Andre, any thoughts on that?
  5. Dealing with logistics, such as food, swag, etc...
  6. Who will volunteer for the various require roles to make the event happen?

I can offer my organizational and social media marketing/advertising skills. I also don't mind taking on a lead role of some kind.

I believe the Twitter account was set up by James for the 2008 event. With his permission, we could use that account for the event: http://twitter.com/drupalcampTO. I've posted an update about the event, using the #dcto2010 hashtag: http://twitter.com/motionblur

I've also created a Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/DrupalCamp-Toronto/104288806277341

Regarding dates, my vote goes to October 15th & 16th. I'm unavailable during the previous weekend due to a photography gig for WordCamp Detroit 2010.

Let's make this year's DrupalCamp a huge success! Please chime in with your thoughts! :)

Cheers,
Chris
http://www.motionblurstudios.com

Comments

Count me in for the 15th &

_gramur's picture

Count me in for the 15th & 16th as well. I have never attended any of these functions so I'm willing in some way to make this work.

Is 5:30pm on April 26th (an

kevinwalsh's picture

Is 5:30pm on April 26th (an hour before the next DUG-TO meetup) a good time to meet to talk about this? I just added an extra hour to our room reservation at CSI for this purpose.

I can't make it to CSI until

motionblur's picture

I can't make it to CSI until 6:30pm on any night, so the discussion would have to be after the DUG-TO meeting.

I could come earlier, but as

Darko's picture

I could come earlier, but as Chris said we can also leave it for after the meeting, over a beer maybe?

I vote for "over a beer,

motionblur's picture

I vote for "over a beer, maybe". ;) Hopefully everyone is okay with discussing DrupalCamp after the DUG-TO meeting.

Just to clarify for myself and others regarding CSI policy: we're allowed to bring our own food and beverages of choice to these meetings?

Planning is better with beer

armourymedia's picture

I recommend we meet after at the Red Raven. Holding this after also gives us an opportunity to pick up additional voluteers from the meeting.

Red Room sounds good! :)

motionblur's picture

Red Room sounds good! :)

brainstorming drupalcampto 2010

kevinwalsh's picture

I thought a lot about DrupalCamp TO last week and scratched my event-planner itch by brainstorming ideas into a google docs spreadsheet:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Autj3tqs5MHTdGtIQzg2Tl94YXdteVpU...

You'll need to request access to the document with a google-enabled account, i'll grant it.

I figure it can be a stub for a DrupalCamp organizing agenda.

I think we need to figure out how big we want this, and for that we need to prioritize some goals. Who is our intended audience? What kind of outcome are we looking for? Are we looking for an event about the same size as 2008? Or are we looking to draw people in from beyond the GTA (DUG-TO already does that)? As Eric said to me the other day, there's no need to make this a big event just for the sake of it being big.

Once you have access, please feel free to update it with ideas about locations, sponsors, and other connections (note all the worksheet tabs). Having some leads about locations before we next meet will help that conversation.

Kevin

chickens and eggs

adixon's picture

One of the challenges with organizing DrupalCamps in the past is figuring out the order of what to do when. Past experience suggests that the venue is key to many other decisions and limited by reality, so a good order is:

  1. make sure you've got a core group of organizers who are going to follow through (at least 3).
  2. pick your dates (preferred and backups)
  3. pick your goal of attendees (we picked 150 in 2008, which was less that we thought we could get, but enough based on the complexities of organizing - when you get much over this number, organizing starts getting exponentially more complicated ...).
  4. find and reserve a venue
  5. start your sponsorship drive [recycle previous years' lists ..]
  6. catering, t-shirts
  7. program details

You might want to get a few program items nailed down to help with sponsorship, though I don't think we've done that before.

Thanks for posting the

motionblur's picture

Thanks for posting the spreadsheet Kevin and your thoughts Alan. They will provide good launching points for our next meeting. :)

There are some similar notes from our initial 2009 meetings that share several of the thoughts noted above. We had a great list of action items, sponsorship issues, swag ideas, marketing proposals and other thoughts that I'll collect and bring to this month's meeting.

Also, I heard from Andre (past organizer) about providing guidance for organizing this year's event. I've also been in touch with James about using the @drupalcampTO Twitter account for promotion and updates.

Sign me up

MiriamVerburg's picture

Hi all,

My name is Miriam I am a new member of the Toronto Drupal group, but an old hand at Drupal and also a good pal of Kevin's :)

I'm currently project managing at zinc Roe (http://www.zincroe.com) and working on some Drupal projects for them.

Anyways enough about me, the point is I'd like to throw my hat in the ring to help organize the next DrupalCamp.

I'll be at the next meeting and post-meeting brainstorm.

I am looking forward to meeting everyone.

cheers,
m

"I don't know much about Science, but I know what I like"

  • Martin Amis

Sounds good Miriam! Looking

motionblur's picture

Sounds good Miriam! Looking forward to your input. :)

Count Me In

Brandon_ST's picture

Like Miriam, I'm somewhat new with Drupal, but am working on numerous projects right now using it! Would love to see something local, and learn more/meet people who use it.

I would love to help out as much as I can.

Brandon

Hello everyone, I'm having

_gramur's picture

Hello everyone, I'm having trouble accessing the Google Doc can someone provide me with the updated link?

Thanks

You should be able to see it

motionblur's picture

You should be able to see it from the "Documents" link at the top left of your Gmail. Click that and, if Kevin's given you access, you should be able to see the shared spreadsheet.

I'm planning on vacationing

jacksinn's picture

I'm planning on vacationing in Toronto this October - specifically during this time frame since I can hit up both TFC and Leafs games - and it would be an added bonus if I got to attend at least part of the Drupal Camp. I am a Drupal consultant who currently lives in Augusta, GA but would love to get involved in this event.

Steven C Jackson
Owner, Rooted Logics
http://rootedlogics.com

AI/Drupal Toronto

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