The Campout

Paul November 02, 2009 Event 6 Comments

For those who haven’t been, a “Camp” is like a standard “Conference” in that it is educational, but unlike it in that it doesn’t need to be all that formal.

That said, many people like to know there is something “formal” going on, or they feel lost in the shuffle.

We’re offering both!

Yes, there will be a formal agenda for the day, with speakers, Q&A, workshops, panels, etc.

But there will also be “The Campout”, an opportunity for people to power up their laptops, connect in small groups and share their WordPress experiences with each other in an informal way.

Be Informal … Plan Ahead

While informal and impromptu is welcome on the day of the event, we also want you to have the opportunity to plan ahead. If there is something you really want to show off, demonstrate, discuss or otherwise conjure up, use the comments below as your “Campout” board.

Here’s how it will work:

  1. For your Campout, write a subject, time, contact person, and a sentence or two on your proposed topic (in the comments section below).
  2. We will attempt to compile these, and make topics available on a board at “The Campout” (in the Student Lounge) on November 14th.
  3. Show up and be ready, laptop in hand, at least 10 minutes before your Campout is scheduled to begin.
  4. Have fun!  No campfires, please.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 Responses to “The Campout”

  1. Kathreen Riel said:

    Nov 03, 09 at 5:48 pm

    Here’s some ideas

    Five top lessons I learned from blogging.

    How can blogging enhance your learning in the workplace, sustain professional reflection, and develop your professional footprint?

    What makes you a successful blogger? The spectrum of criteria to consider.

  2. Sue said:

    Nov 10, 09 at 10:58 am

    I was thinking about putting together a wee CampOut chat about blogging and how it changes your public/private life.

    I’ve been blogging since ‘97; first on Angelfire, then as mbagrrl.com, and since 2002 as justsue.ca. Technical aspects of blogging aside, there’s a particular adjustment one makes in one’s life when becoming a blogger. People in your life who don’t blog become concerned about what you might be writing on them. I’ve had run-ins with my father-in-law and angry customer service reps threatening to sue me because I outed their crappy attitude on my blog. So I would like to have a chat with other bloggers about how their blogging affects their relationship with non-bloggers.

    I’ll see you in the CampOut around 2pm!

  3. Alex Dunae said:

    Nov 13, 09 at 11:50 am

    I’m having a hard time gauging the technical level of the WordCamp, so I have two ideas.

    First, how to stay current on WordPress development: who are the devs worth following, using Trac and mailing lists, using pre-release WordPress for testing.

    Second, if there are other devs attending, I’d love to share how we deploy and maintain our clients WP installations (source control, deploy scripts) and, more importantly, hear how others do the same.

    Not sure if either of those are appropriate (or interesting to anyone but me!) but if so, sign me up.

  4. Scott Leslie said:

    Nov 13, 09 at 12:39 pm

    Alex, a number of the points you make resonate with me even though I’m working in the public sector and my ‘hosting’ business is probably a bit different (and I expect my tech skills less.)

    I’m also generally interested in talking with people using WPMU. Some specific issues:
    - which DB are you using; have you done or are you contemplating a switch to HyperDB or MultiDB
    - useful site-wide plugins to deploy
    - tips to managing multi-user deployments
    - Buddypress: experiences with, themes, issues
    - learning more about writing plugins; shortcodes

  5. Paul Holmes said:

    Nov 13, 09 at 1:42 pm

    Alex and Scott – great ideas!

    I’m particularly keen to learn more about WordPress MU (I just started installing it for the first time this week).

    Can one of you take the lead on scheduling an “MU roundtable” at the event? Maybe we can draw Lloyd Budd from Auttomattic, too.

  6. Alex Dunae said:

    Nov 13, 09 at 2:06 pm

    I’d be happy to be part of a talk about plugin development (I’ve written a few ) and I’d also be interested in talking about whether or not they’re useful for generating work, or just credibility.

    Definitely interested to learn about WPMU.

Leave a Reply