raster's blog

It's Sunday, it's only 11am... come on down to Bucketworks for KidsCamp and Day 2 of BarCamp.

We're here until 4pm, come down and learn, teach, share, and meet....

Hello BarCampers! It's been a crazy day of getting the Bucket ready.

Were you planning on staying over at Bucketworks on Friday night?  You need to let us know!

Either find us at the party, or please call 414-212-5704 or 414-215-0215 to make arrangements...

Thanks!

When you signed up for BarCamp (you did sign up, right?) you indicated when you would be there. Here's a quick breakdown as of September 29, 2011.

And hey, the party is tomorrow!

You cannot attend every session... it's just impossible!

So what do you do?

You hope someone records some of the sessions you can't attend.

I'll be bringing an audio recorder with well over 30 hours of recording time, but it can only be in one session at a time.

If you've got an audio recorder, video camera, sketch pad, typewriter, or some other device that can help capture what happens, please bring it!

Don't like editing? Give it to me, and I'll edit it (probably) for you (maybe) some time before BarCampMilwaukee7.

So who is in? BarCamp is awesome because it's about sharing. So if you can help share it with others, that is a mighty gift!

A few people have asked about the Pot Luck Lunch on Saturday, so here's the scoop:

No one stepped up this year to organize the Pot Luck Lunch.

That said, if you'd like to bring something to share, please do!

It's been a tradition since the first BarCampMilwaukee that people bring food and drink to share with others. Bring a crock-pot full of something delicious, bring a case of your favorite beverages. Bring a cake, or some cookies. (No, really, please bring cookies!) Heck, you could even bring fruit.

BarCamp is organized by volunteers, and if no one volunteers to do something, it won't get done.

So while we will provide food for lunch on Saturday, you are more than welcome to bring something, and if you do, I guess we'll have a Pot Luck Lunch. :)

By posting this we shall hereby declare BarCampMilwaukee6 a "Temporary Hackerspace" for the duration of the event.

What is a hackerspace? Ask Wikipedia or visit hackerspaces.org

And you know what a hackerspace needs? It's own stamp.

We got that covered.

Bring your passport if you got one... or just hang out and hack on whatever you like to hack on while BarCamp is happening.

What's the tag for BarCampMilwaukee6?

#bcmke6

Yeah. That's the one.

You can search for it on Twitter.

If you want more, Just read this post, and change the '5' to a '6' and you're good to go.

Lightning Talks will take place starting at 7pm on Saturday night.

How does it work? You get 5 minutes to talk...

Talk about what? Well, anything!

Do you have an awesome idea you want to share with people? Maybe an idea for a product or service you'd like someone to offer? Want to show off your latest pet project? Tell people how they can help the homeless?

You get 5 minutes, but if you can do it in less, that's cool too. Share an idea, show off something cool.

If you're not going to lead a session, you should definitely do a talk. It's a great way to still share with everyone, in a much smaller dose.

And if you lead a session before the Lightning Talks and it wasn't widely attended, feel free to hit the highlights in 5 minutes or less. Want to promote your session for Sunday? Do a focused five minute talk promoting it.

(As usual, there will be no "sales pitches" allowed.We're working on a way to allow anonymous reporting of suspected sales pitches via the Internet and crowdsourcing technology. It'll be "epic" as the kids say.)

This post is for the first-timers...

As you browse around the sessions you may see some that interest you. Click the little 'Attend' link for the ones you like. What that does it lets us (as well as the presenter) know how much interest there is in a session.

So when will the session you want to attend take place? Well, we don't actually know yet! We won't know until the day of the event...

When BarCamp starts (and this is why you should be there before 10am on Saturday) we'll have a brief opening talk, and then everyone will introduce themselves, and talk about what they want to teach, share, and learn. After we know all that, we'll open up the session grid for Saturday to be filled. (We'll do the whole thing over again on Sunday.)

The reason we do this is simple. We just don't know when everyone will be at BarCamp. The guy doing the session on Node.js may only be able to stay until 3pm, so he might need to do his session before that. Or the girl doing the session on Tumblr might get sick, or not even show up. These are the "unpredicatble" parts of BarCamp. No one gets paid to do this, and we all volunteer, so it's a bit ad-hoc all around.

That's why my advice to you is, come at the beginning, and stay until the end. :)

See Also: Scheduling - How it Works.

When you signed up for BarCamp (you did sign up, right?) you indicated when you would be there. Here's a quick breakdown as of September 22, 2011.

We'll see how these number shape up next week!

BarCamp Needs Projectors!

You know, for projecting...

If you've got a projector you'd be willing to bring to BarCamp, please let us know.

Bucketworks has one, and I've got one, and if you have one, that makes three.

Which still isn't enough.

So... If you've got one, please bring it, and leave a comment below.

Thanks!

When you signed up for BarCamp (you did sign up, right?) you indicated when you would be there. Here's a quick breakdown as of September 13, 2011, about two weeks out from the event.

It looks like the party will be cozy, with well under 40 people there, and the cleanup should go fast with all those folks helping... Of course, I think the numbers for Saturday and Sunday seem a little low... but then, we've still got time, so tell your friends to register for BarCampMilwaukee6!

OK, folks, we're happy to announce that the Friday Night Party is all set!

Where: Brocach Milwaukee, 1850 N. Water St.,, Milwaukee WI 53202

When: Friday, September 30th, 2011 at 7:00 pm

What: Party! Our friends at BarCamp Tour are sponsoring this. They'll be supplying at least some of the food and drink, as well as a certain collectible item you'll definitely want to have in your collection of collectible items.

Who: Hopefully you! When you signed up did you check the "Sept 30 - Pre-Camp Setup/Party" box? If not, go edit your profile now and select it.

So join us for a little gathering before BarCamp even starts, and meet some of your fellow Campers, enjoy a few drinks, and relax in the glow of "Pre-BarCamp" that happens right before the insanity... uh, FUN that is BarCampMilwaukee6.

Hey Campers! You should already know that you are welcome to stay at Bucketworks during the entire event... stay up all Saturday night hacking and making, or find a quiet place to sleep, same as always...

But for out-of-towners, or folks who want to be early birds, you're welcome to stay at Bucketworks on Friday night as well.

Just leave a comment here, or get in touch with us so we can make the needed arrangements.

Well folks, it's hard to believe we're less than two months out from BarCampMilwaukee6.

So here's questions for you... what do you want to see this year? What should we do different? Longer sessions? Different food? A game show? Scavenger hunt?

BarCamp is what we make it... We do provide the structure, but even that can be changed as needed.

So let's hear some ideas!