BarCampGR 2011 Announcement

I know there's a lot of information in here, but that's because
there's a lot going on at BarCampGR. Please take the time to read it
before you arrive.

So BarCampGR is finally here! Well it'll be here tomorrow, but we
wanted to give you ample time to prepare for this two day, fun filled
event, so we're sending this email the day before. I mean, it's an
unconference. How much prep time do you really need, right?

If you'd like to continue to spread the word, that's fine. You don't
actually have to register, and you can just show up for all of it or
just a little bit. I'm sure once you're there you'll never want to
leave. No need to pack a brown bag or drinks, we've got them covered
thanks to our generous sponsors who we love very much.

Now if you haven't been to a BarCamp before, you need to be thinking
about what you'd like to talk about. You don't have to give a
presentation, but it's encouraged. You should talk about whatever
excites you, whether it's technology, beer, or alien life forms. We'll
have 5-minute lightning talks on Saturday, which are nice for short
topics. A lot of conversation will happen in the hallways and during
meals too. You'll meet new, interesting people, learn a few new
things, and have a lot of fun doing it.



The Schedule:

The fun officially starts tomorrow afternoon with check-in running
from 5-6PM. You're welcome to arrive early if you'd like to help setup
and schmooze with us (the hosts). The pizza dinner will start around
6PM or whenever the pies show up. We'll have an opening session at 7PM
and get down to business with the unconference sessions running every
half hour from 7:30PM - 9:30PM. We'll follow that up with an
afterparty sponsored by Idea Foundry at the Ucello's just a few miles
South on the Beltline.

If partying isn't your thing, that's OK. Some people will stay behind
to relax and unwind. In fact, you're welcome to spend the night if you
bring your own sleeping bag and pillow and pajamas (required). There
aren't any showers, but what's a little BO among friends, amiright?

On Saturday breakfast will be served from 9AM - 10AM and sessions will
run every half hour from 10AM - Noon. Lunch will run from Noon - 1PM
and will be followed by an hour of five minute Lightning Talks in the
main lounge. We'll follow those up with half hour sessions from 2PM -
4PM and a closing session at 4PM. If you'd like to stick around to
help cleanup, you're welcome to. We should be done and gone by about
5:30PM.

The schedule will be posted around the building, or you can view it
online at http://barcampgr.org/about/schedule/



Location:

BarCamp is at the DeVos Communication Center at Calvin College.  Take
the Beltline exit and get to the East side, then head south a little
bit to the parking lot.  The official address is 1810 East Beltline
Avenue Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546, or you can find a
campus map at http://www.calvin.edu/map/ .



Projectors and your Dongle:

Every room has a projector and a white board you are welcome to use
for your presentation. If your laptop needs a dongle, make sure you
bring it. As I'm sure you're mother told you, you should never go
anywhere without your dongle. It's rumored that one room really will
have a document camera this year, which is nice for presenting using
your mobile phone.



Back-channels:

Whether you're a twittererer or just a little twit, please use the
hashtag "#barcampgr" for your tweets, flickr photos, etc.

We have an official new back-channel this year - Convore. This is a
sort of real-time IRC/message board/email thingy that's worked well at
the recent PyCon and PyOhio conferences. We're hoping it will allow
you to continue the conversations and connections you create in a
session long after BarCampGR itself is done. You should sign up
beforehand by going to https://convore.com/ and registering. After
that, you can search within Convore for the BarCampGR 2011 group
(created by brondsem) and join it. Or you can go right to
https://convore.com/barcampgr-2011/ . There's also an Android client
called Convorsation if you'd like to go mobile. When you are in a
session, check to see if someone has started a Convore thread for that
talk. If so, join and start chatting. If not, go ahead and make it.

We also have an IRC channel on Freenode: #barcampgr



Carpooling:

Some people are coming from quite far away, so please carpool if you
can. Convore is a great place to start looking for people to carpool
with, just start up a new thread.



Online Session Grid:

Don't worry, we're not getting rid of the trusty old paper and marker
session grid you've grown to love. We're just adding to it. We'll have
a URL you can visit on your computer or smartphone to see a picture of
the session grid without having to crowd into the hallway.



Wall of Groups:

One wall will be set aside as a place to hang up a letter-sized poster
for a group you represent. If you lead a user group, technical group,
or just a group that you think might appeal to BarCampers, bring along
a letter-sized poster to hang on the wall. You will probably want to
include contact information so interested campers can join up. There
will also be a place to list groups you'd be interested in joining,
but that don't exist yet.



Book Swap and Donation:

This year we're having a book swap and donation. Bring exactly 2
technical books to BarCamp and leave them on the designated table. You
can then pick 1 or 0 books from the table some time before you leave.
Those books remaining at the end of BarCamp will be donated to the
local library system for all of the up-and-coming geeks to enjoy.



Hats:

If you'd like to contribute in some way to BarCampGR, we will have
some lovely hats for sale for $5. We'll also be giving a few away
throughout the event.



Sponsors:

These are the wonderful folks that make sure BarCampGR, the Friday
after-party, and the swag is free for you and me:

Gold:
* Calvin College, providing the venue
* Atomic Object
* Great Lakes Software Excellence Conference
* Software GR
* Gentex Corporation

Silver:
- Idea Foundry, hosting the Friday night afterparty
- Mutually Human Software
- Fusionary

Bronze:
# PrettySquares
# EllisLab, providing ExpressionEngine to create a better barcampgr.org
# The Factory, providing free coworking visits
# Liquid Web
# O'Reilly
# Biggby
# Subway Delivers

Non-profit Affiliates:
= GrrCON