Debrief of BarcampMilwaukee3

Welcome to the Web414 meeting for October

Today we'll debrief about BarcampMilwaukee3

Who's here:
* Kevin Ciesielski: Learned his last name when he was five. Specializes in Drupal and Magento development.
* Derek Dysart: Freelance web designer, I share a birthday with Mike Rohde!
* Mike Rohde: I'm a famous designer, known for high quality and being well respected by everyone for icons, sketch notes, logos, etc.
* Pete Prodoehl: Community builder and organizer. Uber web guru, interested in A/VMedia production.
* +John Pauli: Video editing, magento, linux, drupal in the future!
* Heather Krisman: School PR during the day, at night I am ONLINE!
* +Eric Vana: Student, done some freelance web stuff in the past, want to get into it more.
* +Dustin Dupree: Multimedia developer, video, interactive exhibit programming, web stuff, VVVV (this thing where computers can see what you are doing and report you to the FBI)
* +Pete Krawczyk: I'm not a vowels man. I'm a PERL guy who's been thrown into PHP development. I'm up here to check out the community-- from where? Illinois, McHenry.
* Andy Lester: Homemaker and mother of 2. Loving perl, learning PHP, adapt and evolve. Came to Barcamp, was amazed at the space, people being here. (We also want to get an open computing group together that is bigger than programming--bigger than a geographic area.)
* +Jeff Larche: I am very talented. I bring together cool people who do cool things on the web: Marketing, technology, blogger.
* John December: Web publisher since 1993, photography.
* Chris Larkee: Mostly video and multimedia installation, interactive, linux stuff, share birthday with Linux 0.01
* Jenny Larkee: Not too technical, but obsessive volunteer, jack of all trades, and awesome provider of food for BarcampMilwaukee3--you should all be grateful!
* Brennan Stehling: Primarily .NET developer, stick to standards as much as possible (no flash, silverlight) Jquery, brought snacks tonight, pig roast next month!
* James Conway: Instructor for standards based web design and action scripting (owner of C2, sponsor of Barcamp, thank you!)
* +Mariusz Tkeczyk: Flex developer, build rich net apps for web / desktop, love flash, flex, not silverlight
* Sam Dodge: SVDODge on twitters; Media, web, taught myself web design stuff, twitterFreeFriday.com, take photos
* Jonathan Yankovich (tronathan): PHP/Database work, database driven gallery sites, migrating to Milwaukee to focus on infrastructure support for emergent communities and unconferences
* Jeramey Jannene: Burrito cook at Taco Bell
* James Carlson: Free technology for non-profits
* +Michelle Burton: Marcus Corp web designer
* +Banh Keonouphet: Designer, geting into web development, basic web programming
* Jenn Turner: Director of Bucketwork, content generator/writer
* MathiasX: Open source instigator
* Ashe Dryden: Designer, drupaler, make cool stuff happen
* Jason McDowell: Designer, flash, littletinyfish, web stuff, logos
* Jordan Arentsen: Freelance developer designer with specialty in ruby on rails
* Gabe Wollenburg: Writer, blogger, marketing leadership, linux guru of copy and paste, fictitious animal creator, storyteller, looking for SEO / Drupal experience people having a job working for me!
* Jon : Desk maker, flash, web expert
* Jack Driscoll

If you become a member of Bucketworks it helps Web414 meet here, join Today $40/yr/$20/student

What made the bandwidth work?
* OpenBSD router,
* Access point ideas,
* Bonded T1s
* We just got 6 aeronet access points and a wlan controller (huge nice cisco thing)

Circle process: Speak or pass

What worked well at Barcamp?
* I loved the paper sign in-- that worked a hundred times better than the database sign in from last year--accountable, easy to track down now that the event is over
* The way we mapped everything out worked well, for people to find where they needed to be
* I thought the whole thing was great--I got a ton of networking done (with humans)
* The fact there were such a variety of people who weren't part of our community coming--one who did financial stuff, for example. The photo walk was great (to the pabst site) and we went inside some of the buildings legally.
* Everything seemed to go smoothly enough except the toilet exploding at 4:30am, which Pete fixed. Nothing stood out as 'negative' but everything went as smooth as we need it to go.
* The WiFi this year was good.
* I liked how the whole thing went, but I'd really like to know what the (see below)
* My fourth barcamp, and this was the best t-shirt!
* I had super fun, and it was thoroughly draining experience building a desk.
* Very welcoming, had a good time--a good variety of sessions so a little bit for everyone
* The space was really good--it seemed like there was more room if it was needed, more room available--the diversity of the sessions. I built a robot, a desk, and learned about the future of 3d on the web. So it's not just Veronica Peters sitting there learning about web stuff--it's everything.
* Love the space--I think any place where you learn to drive a forklift is fantastic because at work you get fired if you do that. I too would have liked some sort of idea of what people were going to present beforehand--evensomething where it was the people who are planning to go are thinking of these things. (for those who are farther away, that's a big deal.) I didn't go to any talks, just met people at random--wasn't that interested in sessions, but was interested in the idea of "Who wants to drive a ... harmless ground cart with no motor?"
* I heard of it but didn't go, checked out the website for the first time this weekend.
* My favorite part was seeing bucketworks at capacity with so many people, sleeping here was great, the thing about the social networking, getting people together was a great aspect.
* The Fab Lab was great. We did a lot of stuff this year in the Fab Lab that a lot of Barcamps aren't able to do. Having that is something that is really great and unique to Midwest Barcamps. Doing the food wasn't that bad, I'd do it again next year, and we'll have it down next year.
* I liked the Pbwiki style signups better--drupals' great but there's too many URLs and info is all over different pages, half stuff is behind login wall; it was hard to see if you were signed up once you'd gone through the process.
* I liked the energy of the place, and I agree that it was really nice to see Bucketworks doing what it was designed to do--not just people playing WWCraft on computers but making designing building stuff. It exemplified the whole health club for the brain thing.
* I felt the same thing. The use of the space was fantastic. I wandered around taking pictures--I saw so many active groups. The robot building was excellent. The desk judging was fantastic--impromptu dramas and judging. Photowalk was great. Active, imaginative stuff was really great--the 3d blowup dome was need.
* Started off strong with good sessions, but then started to --- some sessions were not of my interest, but some I was excited to see were off the board for a while. I waited for one session and it went away! The robotics thing was kinda cool. They're really Voltron! I like the idea where we have really solid sessions for 8 hours straight, and then convert to a 3 hour lab environment where people get together and build a drupal site or a wordpress site. Get into working after a long day of session to session.
* My favorite thing was the physical space--we had separations for rooms this time which was awesome for sound, talking to people was easier--we had a cafeteria set up for hanging out.
* I wasn't there for long enough. (That's a great testimonial!) I love the space ,being able to wander around and not interrupt anything. Sit in a session and then leave--it's how barcamp is supposed to be. I think it was a great use of all the different spaces and technology when it was needed. I'd love to see it taken up a notch later on--how? I like the session board--it would be nice to have more sessions that are sort of "for sure"-- especially for beginners.
* I thought it was super cool to have so much space and so many people. Because it was so spread out and we had so much real estate, it wasn't so compressed--there wasn't a communal feeling or a coherency. Robots, desks, making stuff, all the potential that was there beyond, for examp[le, at barcampmadison2, we were in a conference hall kind of thing and it was a much different sort of environment.
* The spacing of people made it seem that there wasn't enough pressure to always be in a session.. whereas at BarcampMilwaukee2, you felt like you had to be somewhere (see through walls.) I thought it was great how people seemed welcome-- they seemed 'okay' with the concept faster (maybe they couldn't see everything at once so that made it safer.) T-shirts were great.

Improvements:
* Communicate the bigger more important sessions further ahead so people know when to come.
* Think about session time and drive time for remote visitors.
* Fix the website (more on that later.)
* Make the online signup simpler and more streamlined.
* Make the beginner sessions more "for sure" to bring new members into the community and make the event more accessible.
* Larger text on the session board.
* Make the community coherency more --- coherent!
* Find some ways to compress the use of space to help community form?
* Structure the 'undirected' time?
* Strengthen the entertainment channel / performance aspects
* Equality amongst spaces--set up spaces that are more specifically functionally varied--"Ruby on Rails room" vs "Microblogging Room"-- more smaller spaces
* String together related sessions in the same spaces-- so people can remain in a region and build up, but then balance this with
* So really, we need to facilitate the populating of the session wall a little better with more questions that get people stringing together and coordinating spaces
* Make the sessions a more serious commitment-- have something that reminds session leaders that they've posted a session, having something say outloud "Blake Hall to session room 2 for drupal operating" or "Ashe to Google for Sex"
* Find better ways to bring everyone together for community time, and clocks in every room
* During meals, we keep the food in one space so everyone can review. (Most 'open space' style events have the town hall meeting where that kind of group check-in will happen.)
* Repeat and wrap up the opening thing more often throughout the event--or at least ask, at each meal, "Is anyone here new since this morning," then re-announce the general rules/structure
* Make pre-session voting a marketing campaign-- 'submit session' on a certain date, 'vote sessions' by a certain date, etc. before the event.
* Make structure within the sessions so sessions can be strung together and connected.
* The people who proposed things had it set a week in advance, and picked the schedule for times and dates in advance--the schedule was set and printable.
* Put voting or "I plan to attend" stickers on the session wall or agenda--
* Have different session categories: Open Discussion, Presentation, Hands-On, (maybe diff color stickies), Workshop--level of knowledge (Beginner, Advanced, Intermediate, Open/Anyone)
* Sessions about Electrons, Atoms, or Neurons (digital hands on, physical hands on, or brain control)
* Leave rooms open for scheduling on the spot
* The "What I want to learn about" Reverse Session Wall
* Collect realtime reviews of event after each session--at least a comment from people
* Install a PA system
* Digital session board/projected image
* Promote your session-- signage and posters
* Put signs spaces up in each room where sessions happen so people can promote their sessions at each room after they post on the main agenda
* Announce each session at each room before it starts
* Designated camp counselors who works on shifts so they can still have fun
* Technical volunteers who can help with setups
* The Paul Revere of session ending runs around yelling and talking and telling people to stop
* The "what to do if you are here late" sign/registration/orientation session
* A self-playing video of Pete explaining Barcamp near the entrance
* Get some sessions that are "anchor sessions" -- highly popular, vetted, pre-selected
* Put the unconference around the conference?
* Print out some sheets (barcamp guide sheet kit jobber, includes compass, times when everyone gathers, what you write into the book, your session reminder)
* Put map upside down on bottom of tee shirt, and then flip it up so you can read it!
* Session threads by space so overflow can happen
* Space for your stuff -- securely or just "where I know it'll be" or cubbies

What are the questions we should ask at community times?
* What sessions do you want to learn/what topics? (For assessing crowd interest in topics)

What did you like best?

When is the next one?
* October 3, 4: 2009

How many came?
* Approximately 220

Main areas of improvement:
* Pre-broadcast the list of things that we need to have people bring
* Scheduling and anchor sessions
* Agenda board/session scheduling
* Space arrangement
* Community building using space
* Overall communications throughout building (pa system, etc.)
* Recording sessions, and more broadcasting sessions online for those who can't attend
* Inter-participant communications made easier--connect-us-kiosks and personal cards (didn't bring one, make your own!)
* Pre-event planning on hand, physical stuff, in advance to set up space and get things ready

If we write the "Milwaukee Barcamp Guide" we can sell it to the other cities.

unconferencr.com business plan:
* Checklists for food, signage, setups
* virtual session rooms, with wiki page, forum thread for each session
* buying guide for food items
* general on and offline infrastructure for unconferencr thingies

Food
* Use the food to attract everyone together, keep all food in one place
* Ask for food choices in profile
* Add ambient snackage throughout the day through the potluck
* Invent the Barcamp Pellet, which each attendee can eat once, twice, three times and get all needed nutrients

Things to improve about Bucketworks:
* More amps in the playspace (it's on the roadmap already)
* Pre-set ish kitchen area

What came out of Barcamp for you?
* Ashe and the real Caro are going to have sex on the internet for lots of money.-- no wait, a sex related something, actually.
* I figured out what camera I'm buying for work, and I learned that from Chris.
* I learned how to write a neat letter to a company.
* Learned a new wordpress plugin.
* I further practiced my skills as an organizer and people-meeter.
* I learned how to operate a forklift.
* I learned drupal tips and tricks
* I met really cool people--I learned that I have three brains
* We were talking during ashe's session about the idea of people being geeks--a lot of people like cooking, so we talked about the idea of doing a milwaukee food camp. My mom thinks that's a good idea too.
* I found some people doing interesting tihngs with flex so I will get into it
* I learned that there's an active community of tech people in Milwaukee-- a little bit about the unix wars, and what's popular
* The linux video editing session-- I took away that home automation is really expensive and troublesome
* Not interested in home automation! It got me out to bucketworks and now I'm at web414, so I think just getting me here is awesome, making the robot--the Milwaukee Robotics Club was started
* I took away a couple specific things-- photography editing to go to the ''''' site to learn about flash on camera. Tracy's session on social networking showed me how things changed over the years-- in general seeing the technical community, how it interacts, how Bucketworks really works for this kind of forum
* I learned about and got a free copy of flexbuilder, which i wanted.
* Seeing where everyone else is in relation to myself--what do I know and what don't I know--where I am behind, where I am ahead
* Last year I was more involved with the technical and coding things, but this year I was more involved with conversations and discussions-- I came late on saturday, and the first thing I experienced was James' thing about the brain, and someone else tied it into the MVC model which was enticing for me
* I learned how to take care of a major aspect of an event like this by managing the food and coordinating help. I met new people who helped me. And I learned how to solder, and drive a perfectly safe small bicycle
* Barcamp is like christmas-- I feel like the parent watching the children open all the gifts. That's awesome enough for me. It coasts me through the rest of the year to get to the Barcamp again.
* With a little work you get more people coming out of the woodwork, and people really give their time. I don't usually see that outside of very particular instances, like going to church--it's usually part of the deal to give of your time and help out with things there ,but I saw a superior attitude about that at Barcamp. People really enjoyed coming and giving their time and interacting, learning, teaching, all that sort of stuff. SEeing it in action, and at Web414, and that's worth more than anything else I learned at Barcamp. There's a community here, and with a little effort we can combine efforts, improving not only our lives, but our community, and eventually, our galaxy.
* I feel like I lost a lot of opportunities-- I had conversations but forgot who I talked to or what I talked about-- I wish I had notes, something I could refer to, business cards, followups, there's all this stuff going on and its hard to capture all that. We talked about giving away a notepad and a pen that works so people who don't have those things can take notes etc.
*

Foodcamp!
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