Fwd: Winecamp meeting tonight

[Tara Hunt]

Some useful feedback from Alicia on why those damn geeks aren't registering. ;)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Alicia Preston < ali...@apreston.net>
Date: May 9, 2006 7:38 PM
Subject: Winecamp meeting tonight
To: "Tara E. Hunt" <ta...@roguestrategies.com>

I just saw that you're having a winecamp planning meetup NOW and of
course I can't be there, but I'll put in my two cents anyway. : )

1. There are multiple places to log your interest and it's easy to
lose track or get distracted or just put off adding yourself in more
than one spot. I can see why you would want registration, but it's
easy to think "I've already done that". Communication in both
directions has been a little disjointed, I just realized now that I
only signed up on Upcoming (I was SURE I'd added myself to the wiki,
and wasn't there a Google group?) and I only just happened to see your
meeting announcement. Is there a feed or mailing list for changes and
updates? Should there be a link to the wiki on the fabulous new
homepage, or from the registration page? One big fat email to
everybody who's put their name anywhere with a "subscribe here or miss
out on updates" link would be awesome. If you've done that already
please ignore me.

2. Barcamp sign ups in the past seem to have been more a way to signal
interest/gauge numbers than a real commitment. Due to the
distance/complexity of attending this event people have to be a lot
less loose with their scheduling. A whole weekend away is a big deal,
you can't just drop by for half a day. The geeks in particular are
really tough to pin down (that's the key to dodgeball's success after
all!) So flakiness is an issue. I know I wavered a bit when my
guest/rideshare bowed out yesterday.

3. The cost is completely reasonable (cheap!) but there's a mental
barrier as I'm sure you've noticed. I'm convinced that part of that
mental barrier too is that Winecamp is more structured, more top-down
than other camps. Part of that is an illusion (when free food shows up
you don't think about the planning that went into providing it) and
part of it is necessitated by the remoteness of the location (you
can't just run out and pick up what you forgot to bring). But also
Chris had a vision for getting specific groups of people together and
a general sense of what he wanted accomplished and it's his party, in
much the same way that BrainJams is Chris Heuer's party. I know that's
not the perception (or the reality) that he wants, but there you have
it.

Anyway I'm rambling now, and I still haven't registered....or blogged
in a month, or turned dodgeball back on since I got back in town, or
uploaded my Tucson pics, or returned any emails in a week or two. I
don't know how you do it, honestly. I wish I had a tenth of your
energy, but I also want to kidnap you and force you to relax
sometimes. Two words: day spa. Think about it.

Take care,

Alicia


--
tara 'miss rogue' hunt
www.horsepigcow.com