click on cutest to see more pics from barcamp nyc 3

barcamp nyc 3 was this past weekend and once again i found myself on the winning team at half baked 2.0. maybe i should think of future business plans that can make money.

my dear Drupalistas,

every day the sun peaks up just a tad bit earlier for you to code. the birds sing in delightful syntax. the temperatures rise giving you another excuse to keep the air conditioner on and to stay inside. these are just a few good reasons, to break out of your shell and once again join fellow drupalistas at Polytechnic University for DRUPALCAMP NYC 3

when :: saturday and sunday, july 14 - 15, 2007

what is drupalcamp?
modeled in the *camp unconference structure, drupalcamp is a no-holds-bars discussion, workshop/code-a-thon involving the open source content management system Drupal. at drupalcamp you ask the questions and the experts provide the answers. at drupalcamp you discover your solutions to your most pressing problems. like previous drupalcamps, there will be a number of break out rooms...

- Beginners Room: Several advanced Drupal Ninja's will take shifts in this room covering the basics of Drupal and its various systems.
- Sessions 1: Room available for user generated sessions - throughout the day we will cover intermediate concepts of Drupal and Howtos - Propose a session, anyone can teach!
- Sessions 2: Room available for user generated sessions - throughout the day we will cover intermediate concepts of Drupal and Howtos - Propose a session, anyone can teach!
- Advanced Room: This is where the ninjas hang out. they might write a module for drupal or hold a patch marathon. sometimes you can walk in and find them drunk on the drupal and Redbull.

where is drupalcamp?
Polytechnic University Brooklyn Campus - Building A
Six Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201 Subway Map

what can you talk about at drupalcamp?
you can talk about anything related to drupal. from business practices to code, all is welcome. if you have a topic to discuss, a problem to pose or a session to present, check out the sessions / schedule page on the wiki and then register to attend. (pwd c4mp)

how do i register?
it's super simple! unlike most conferences, this conference is FREE, as in beer. just visit the register page and add your name to the list. please be mindful that there is a limitation to 100 attendants and the organizers take every name to heart. if you can not make it or you are passively thinking attending, please make that known. (pwd c4mp)

on a personal note, this is the first drupalcamp i will not participate as an organizer. while it does make me sad, it's been wonderful to see the new york city drupal community mature from a rag-tag group of disparate coders to a cohesive structure. many kudos to jacob redding for the monthly meetups, hans-christoph steiner for being a tireless soul in coordinating access at poly, good luck to the ingenious michael mandiberg.

Technorati Tags: Drupal, drupalcamp, IDMI

my friends and i have slapped together a little podcamp nyc panel. tomorrow, we'll be in the village from 3 - 3:45. be prepared, the room only holds 35 people!!!

Hail to the YouMyWikiTube Chief - Political Participation within the context of Social Media

"Some where between YouTube and the future president of the free-world lies the dynamic political personalites of Nancy Scola (MyDD & Hearing Progressive Voices), Matt Browner Hamlin (Huffington Post & The Right's Field), Phillip Anderson (The Albany Project & Film maker), Fred Gooltz (Advomatic.com & Drinking Liberally) & Noel Hidalgo (Personal Democracy Forum & Noneck.org). The five will speak briefly on the impact of social media in the modern political debate and then debate the future of engagement, empowerment and emedia."

Technorati Tags: barcamp, democrats, future of cities, new york city, personal demoracy forum, podcamp nyc, podcamp

i've wrangled a few friends (nancy, mbh and philip) and together we're going to host a little session on politics and social media at podcamp nyc. i promise you my friends will delight the ears, tickle the mind and empower your inner podcast. join us this saturday at the new yorker hotel for a crash course on all things in the social media sphere. too boot, podcamp nyc is free, and runs from 8:45 am to 6:00 pm. there should be over 500 people in attendance, register and find your 10 reasons to attend podcamp nyc!

Technorati Tags: barcamp, matt browner hamlin, nancy scola, podcamp, Social Media Club

my buddies at Assignment Zero are inquiring about "unconferences." DrupalCamp, Barcamp, PodCamp, Social Media Club, RootsCamp, FOOCamp, and Penguin Day are just a few of the examples they list. personally, i can attest to the value of peer to peer knowedge sharing, and "unconferences" are just the beginning. take a few minutes and tell Assignment Zero your opinion of unconferences and it's variants.

this article is cross posted on the barcamp blog.

Technorati Tags: barcamp, drupalcamp, newassignment.net, podcamp, Rootscamp, Social Media Club

if you're looking for boiled down comments on the value of face to face conversations and how they support your constituency, check out this creating passionate users blog post. i've written before how online connections must meet physically, but in this post, kathy sierra lays out 10 universal components that are golden rules in building ANY constituency. fast companies' friends network is one the best examples of a physical medium using online tools to promote a disaggregate support network. heath row's journeys in 1999, 2000, and 2001 provide tangible experience supporting user networks. also, you should note that one of the best examples of diy face-to-face organizing is Four Eyed Monsters - check out henry jenkins' take on their impressive work.

1) Put together a "How To Start A Local User Group or Club" document. (noel's note - FastCompany.com has an interesting FAQ that should be a good start.) Include tips on things like finding a space, topic ideas, and getting speakers.

2) Offer free materials for the user groups User group meetings often start or end with prize drawings; give the user group leaders plenty of swag for the meetings. It'll make the leaders look good, etc.

3) Treat your user group leaders like royalty Sun puts JUG (Java User Group) leaders on a pedestal--helping them promote their groups, giving them special receptions at the annual JavaOne conference, etc.

4) Instead of a traditional user group, provide guidelines for a Study Group (noel's note - one really good example of this is the Drupal Dojo - a weekly user let training session.) Collect advice and lessons from other existing groups. Provide a list of suggested books to read, and 6-months' worth of topic plans.

5) Hold a very low-cost annual weekend conference. (noel's note - couchsurfing.com has historically set up "collectives" around the world to help maintain their website.) Make it ridiculously easy for people to get there. Find sponsors to help. Even better if you hold several mini-conferences a year, in different locations.

6) Encourage users to start a local BarCamp (or other *Camp). (noel's note - there are many examples of *camps - check out rootscamp or drupalcamp) Direct your users to the BarCamp Wiki where they can learn how to do it.

7) Utilize monthly meetings. There are many examples - Social Media Club's wiki, Drupal's Groups, NextNY.org's wiki, Frak Party, or Meetup.com. (original PSU's recommendation - Use Meetup.com as a resource!)

8) If you already have online user forums, enlist moderators to try to form an offline meetup. This is often one of the best places to start.

9) Hold special cocktail receptions/parties for user group leaders at industry conferences in your domain.

10) Advertise/promote your user group events on your main page! Remember, passionate users MUST connect with others who share that passion, so this is not a nice-to-have... it's an essential part of any product, service, or cause for which people are passionate.

Technorati Tags: couchsurfing, coworking, drupalcamp, economy 2.0, fast company, four eyed monsters

for those of you who are at SXSW interactive and Barcamp Austin 2, TODAY (saturday) at 3.30, we'll be meeting to talk about the coworking movement. please spread the word to your fellow attendants...

Saturday, 10 March @ 3.30 pm
Barcamp Austin 2
508 East Sixth Street, Austin, TX

Technorati Tags: barcamp, barcamp austin, coworking, SXSW, SXSW interactive