Seeing as Chacha threw out the gauntlet I thought I'd pick it up :)
I helped organize the rather successful Florida DrupalCamp 2010 (and helped a little with the 2009 one) and would love to help organize one up here; truth be told I was going to throw the idea on the table at the next local meetup, but I guess someone beat me to it ;-)
So, where do we start? We need a venue, an idea of how many people we should plan for, sponsors, sessions, someone to do a keynote, and unless someone's bored and loves to do paperwork I suggest partnering with a local non-profit organization to handle / help-with the legal & financial aspects.
[update] FYI I think we should do some initial brainstorming first before getting into planning out the details:
- How big should we aim for the first year?
- Should we do one set of sessions or have multiple tracks?
- Should all tracks be planning out in advance or should at least part of it be unconference-style?
- Is there anyone local who could do a good keynote or should we ask someone to travel?
- Should it be a completely free event or have a nominal fee?
I'm sure there are lots of other basic questions we need to ask first.
Comments
logo
My wife joked that when having a DrupalCamp in Minnesota in the Winter kind of fit because Druplicon was already blue.. so maybe we should play on that for the logo & marketing materials? =)
Venue idea brainstorm
Venue ideas:
Digital Technology Center at the UofM Super Computing Institute.
Good Samaritan UMC I would be able to get (probably free as good.org is Drupal). Capacity up to 180. Many breakouts available.
CPC in Edina, capacity to 300 with many breakouts available (cost under $300).
Plus Corporate sites (I have done Target and Blue Cross recently). 3M has really cool digs and can take 200 at their place. You need someone onsite that believes in you to run interference.
Library. HCLib.org has good digs when you can find a slot.
Chach, Samir and I have
Chach, Samir and I have brainstormed about this a bunch in the past. I will dig up my notes and bring them to the next happy hour. I remember coming up with things along the same lines that DamienMcKenna outlined.
Thanks for kicking this off
Thanks for kicking this off Damien! I'm really interested in pushing this forward as well. I'd like to see who all is interested in helping to organize. I think we can get started talking about this at the TCDUG meetup this Wednesday and the next happy hour meetup as well.
Beyond that I'd like to get a sense of who's willing to put in some real time on making this successful. My feeling is we'll need to have at least a couple folks really organizing this and meeting outside of regular community meetups, either by phone or in person.
I know I can't commit the time to drive this solo, but I'd be willing to commit some time to help with the organization and planning.
A couple more bullet points for planning off the top of my head:
Thoughts related to some of what you posted... I'd like to see the event be free, but offer paid sponsorships including levels for individual sponsors and organizational sponsors. This would be akin to what Minnebar had for community sponsors, or what Drupal Camp Chicago is doing here: http://www.chicagodrupalcamp.org/sponsorship (although I'm hoping we could keep it somewhat lower cost). Cost is of course dependent on expense, which is directly tied to the number of participants we can expect, the venue we can get to accommodate them, what corporate or other sponsorships we can secure, etc.
I think we define tracks, and if we can seed those with some pre-planned presentations that'd be fantastic, then solicit the community to submit session proposals to fill the schedule.
There's a lot of logistics like that we'll need to figure out. A good resource for some of this would be the Minne* folks, as they have a lot of experience with running events like this locally.
I'm sure there's lots of stuff we're not thinking of too.
Excellent
Likewise - very happy to see this idea making the gradual transition from discussions to concrete planning - thanks Damien for getting it started and to everyone whose been preparing the ground!
I know that Joe, Chach, Samir and others have been moving us in this direction for a while, and Minnebar was Step 1 in The Plan. As I see it, Minnebar was partly a chance to prove that we could put together enough presenters and attendees to make it worth the overall effort. I think we're a 'Pass' at this point.
In terms of sites, I know the LA Drupalcamp put together a recipe for their site at http://drupal.org/node/519100 that would be good to consult.
As for volunteers and time commitments - which are absolutely needed at this point - I'm willing to help but need to be realistic about reoccurring time commitments - those are pretty tricky in an otherwise full schedule (though I suppose I'm hardly unique in that). Other things (e.g. sponsorship, one-off sprint days, etc.) are much easier for me personally.
Another site reference: chicagodrupalcamp.org
The Chicago Drupalcamp (mark your calendars - coming up June 26, 27) has another nice site. As a community, I suspect we may have a number of connections to folks down there who may have been involved in building that site - so - that might be worth looking into as well.
Another Helper Bee
So, we've had some informal internal discussions at the U of M regarding some kind of campus-based Drupal event but recently noticed this thread. Perfect!
So, I'd like to help out with the planning, and, if desirable, will try to help figure out a campus location for the event (the Digital Technology Center wouldn't be a bad place to start as @cayennedan points out). Gabe and one or two other folks may also be interested in helping out on our end as well.
The other bit of reporting I can offer is that I chatted with @webchick out at Drupalcon SF and asked her if she'd be at all interested in keynoting such an event (just an idea). She seemed quite delighted and said she'd be happy to do so if we decided to go in that direction. There are lots of details that might affect her ability to attend, obviously, but at least there's interest. It think it'd be a real feather in our cap if we could get her in front of the local community.
The continuing education
The continuing education center south of larpenteur & just east of cleveland by the state fair grounds might be a good option.. we did the Nerdery Overnight Web challenge there, and it seems like it'd be a good place for this kind of event. Large room that can be split into two, another largish room across the hall that could be good for another session room, or BOF meetings..
And it's pretty centrally located, so whether people get hotel rooms in Mpls, St. Paul, or any of the surrounding suburbs it's not too far to travel.
Granted it's not on the LRT or anything, but I'm sure that it's got to be on a bus route.
Here's the Google Map of the place I'm talking about.
I'll second that
I'll second that recommendation. If you can catch any bus to the MPLS UMN campus, the 121 runs to the SP campus where the Continuing Education Center is located.
A little out of the way
I like the St Paul campus, but I think there are probably more amenities around the central campus. Food options in St Paul are limited and folks staying in the Radisson (where maybe we could work out a conf hotel discount, for example), which is right on campus, would have to schlep back and forth between campuses in cold weather, and bus services become more infrequent later in the evening.
Other venues that come to mind:
I have no idea what the costs might be for any of these venues though - perhaps that's a first step, just getting some quotes on prices. Do you still have the cost for your Nerdery Overnight Web Challenge handy?
Sponsorship Package: example from upcoming Atlanta camp
At last week's Drupal Happy Hour, a number of us were talking about planning this camp and the possible need to establish a small fund to do things like reserve spaces, etc. Obviously, Gorton Studios is ready to be a sponsor and kick in, but one of the questions that came up was how sponsorship packages work in general. I mentioned that one of the best examples I'd seen recently was from the upcoming Atlanta camp. There's a nice PDF version as well - but the online list is at http://drupalcampatlanta.com/sponsorship-types.
Here's some of the text that went out with the request for sponsorships:
So - that's an example that would be good to review as we get things in motion.
Drupalcamp Atlanta To-Do Checklist
The very fine folks at Mediacurrent (sponsors/organizers of DrupalCamp Atlanta) have also shared their To-Do checklist. It's an excel file - which I can't upload - but would be happy to pass around the group. It's about 150 line-item tasks, excerpts below:
Locations
One main room for keynote speaker – 8am-11am (seats 3-400)
Area outside main room for Registration, Info Desk, Camp Clothes
Area outside main group of breakout rooms for Info Table?
Identify specific rooms to be used for BoF sessions; first need to determine number of rooms required
Room for breakfast & lunch
Area for snacks in AM/PM and drinks (way to keep drinks cold); same as bfast/lunch room or smaller area?
Ensure security knows location of main registration event
Sessions
Create session schedule for Beginners Track - ensure each session builds on the previous one; all beginner sessions should be pre-defined and pre-scheduled
Recruit keynote speaker
Determine how other presenters/topics will be chosen
Recruit speakers for Beginners Track sessions
Equipment
Main Room
Podium
Microphone - handheld or mounted to podium?
Projector
Laptop?
Laser Pointer?
Wi-Fi
Breakout Rooms
Laptop
Screen
Projector
Video Camera w/tripod and tapes or memory cards
Large writing pads on easel w/markers
Placard to hang outside Breakout Rooms
Wi-Fi
Registration/Info Area
2 Easels (one to be placed near main entrance to building, one near Registration)
2 Long Tables with coverings + 2 chairs each table
1 Short Table with covering + 2 chairs for Camp Clothes
1 or 2 Large White Boards for BoF listings
Wi-Fi
....
(and the list continues...)
Not sure we have any sort of formal organizing committee together, but am willing to be on it and/or forward these docs to all whom are interested.
Very useful! Re:organizing
Very useful!
Re:organizing committee - I'm thinking we should just pick a day and start meeting weekly on that day. I can make a new post to call for participation and to select a day of the week - sound good?
I am also willing to be on an
I am also willing to be on an organizing committee. For a guy who doesn't have a lot of time, this is something I'm excited about, and willing to MAKE time for.
If it helps
I'm happy to volunteer hosting for the web site.
Steve Hanson
Cruiskeen Consulting LLC - http://www.cruiskeenconsulting.com