A few ideas for next time
Damien McKenna
* A problem for me was that I couldn't reliable obtain and sustain a
wireless connection outside on any of three devices - my personal
MacBook, my work MacBook Pro or my iPhone; in many locations I'd get
an initial connection but then it would quickly drop off. I had tried
to organize a Drupal hackfest but had to give it up when I couldn't
stay online. Whether the problem was the equipment was being
overloaded or what, I don't personally know, but I suspect there may
be ways of improving it for next time.
* I think it might have helped if a specific area was dedicated as the
official hack zone with a) dedicated wifi service specially for that
area, b) small whiteboards, pens & writing pads to help sketch things
out.
* I thought there needed to be more slots during the day for lightning
talks, e.g. after every three main sessions have two or three
lightning talks, just to break it up. I had some ideas for lightning
talks but couldn't stay until 5pm when they were going to start.
* As a n00b to the area I was a bit lost on where to go and what was
in the area for snacks, coffee, etc. It might help to have a single
sheet flyer indicating presentation locations and food/snack vendors
in the area.
Please don't take these as criticisms, they didn't detract from the
core event, more just icing on the cake really (with little icing
figurines dancing on top).
--
Damien McKenna - Husband, father, geek.
dam...@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/
Gregg Pollack
Thanks for your feedback, just wanted to comment that we initially
had 2 hours set aside for lightning talks, and by noon we only had 2
maybe 3 signups, so we dropped it down to one hour, and that seemed to
be the right number.
I was honestly surprised there wasn't more interest, but I guess now we know.
I love the idea of having a flyer with room / lunch / lounge
locations. Even though I sent out a link with a map to the different
locations, a flyer on location showing the rooms, coffee, food, etc
would have been nice.
-Gregg
Eric Marden
>
> I have a few ideas, small tidbits, that might improve the next
> BarCamp:
>
> * A problem for me was that I couldn't reliable obtain and sustain a
> wireless connection outside on any of three devices - my personal
> MacBook, my work MacBook Pro or my iPhone; in many locations I'd get
> an initial connection but then it would quickly drop off. I had tried
> to organize a Drupal hackfest but had to give it up when I couldn't
> stay online. Whether the problem was the equipment was being
> overloaded or what, I don't personally know, but I suspect there may
> be ways of improving it for next time.
This is an issue that plagues every conference (or unconference) I've
been to this year. I was able to be online 2/3 of the times I tried
to, and from what I heard the internet experience varied for person
and device quite widly, with some having no trouble, and some not
being able to maintain a connection. airPowered was kind enough to
donate the time, equipment and bandwidth for three access points
yesterday, and in my opinion may have been the best coverage we've had
for a BarCampOrlando to date. We will always be looking to improve
this part of the event every year.
If airPowered had not stepped up, we would have ended up with Wi-FI
over EVDO, which would have been much worse. iPhone 3 is almost out,
and from what I heard you can tether it to your laptop easily, which
may prove to be a decent back up plan for iPhone users next year.
Either way, we will always strive to provide the best internet
connections we can with out turning into network operators. :)
>
> * I think it might have helped if a specific area was dedicated as the
> official hack zone with a) dedicated wifi service specially for that
> area, b) small whiteboards, pens & writing pads to help sketch things
> out.
>
We tried to get Colab open for that, but the building is locked to
only keypass holders (i.e. members) and was not workable for allowing
free access to the 6th for interested parties. There were lots of pens
and paper at the front desk for people to use, and that seemed to go
over well, as I saw a number of folks using them to take notes in the
sessions.
Also we are planning a dedicated day for a hack jam event in May at
Colab. Keep your eyes peeled for this.
> * I thought there needed to be more slots during the day for lightning
> talks, e.g. after every three main sessions have two or three
> lightning talks, just to break it up. I had some ideas for lightning
> talks but couldn't stay until 5pm when they were going to start.
Like Gregg said we didn't get a lot of people signing up for them.
Also there were small time slots through out the day between sessions
that I invited folks on stage to do a lighting talk. I like the idea
of putting lightening talks though out the day
>
> * As a n00b to the area I was a bit lost on where to go and what was
> in the area for snacks, coffee, etc. It might help to have a single
> sheet flyer indicating presentation locations and food/snack vendors
> in the area.
Printed information would have been awesome, but time and resources
were in short supply and this was one of the things we didn't get to.
Gregg sent maps, but we could have probably posted the links at the
event at least. Also, you could have asked any of the helpers/
organizers for more info. I know downtown pretty well and could have
pointed you in the right direction.
>
> Please don't take these as criticisms, they didn't detract from the
> core event, more just icing on the cake really (with little icing
> figurines dancing on top).
Next year we will start planning a little earlier, and would love for
you to get involved if you're interested. The more hands we have, the
more we can do for the event. Thanks for the feedback. It was
certainly not taken in offence, as many of these things I noticed
myself, but given the energy level of the event as a whole, I'm still
beaming from how it went overall.
- Eric Marden
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
http://ericmarden.com
Joshua Blount
>
> On Apr 18, 2009, at 9:38 PM, Damien McKenna wrote:
>> * A problem for me was that I couldn't reliable obtain and sustain a
>> wireless connection outside on any of three devices - my personal
>> MacBook, my work MacBook Pro or my iPhone; in many locations I'd get
>> an initial connection but then it would quickly drop off. I had tried
>> to organize a Drupal hackfest but had to give it up when I couldn't
>> stay online. Whether the problem was the equipment was being
>> overloaded or what, I don't personally know, but I suspect there may
>> be ways of improving it for next time.
>
> This is an issue that plagues every conference (or unconference) I've
> been to this year. I was able to be online 2/3 of the times I tried
> to, and from what I heard the internet experience varied for person
> and device quite widly, with some having no trouble, and some not
> being able to maintain a connection. airPowered was kind enough to
> donate the time, equipment and bandwidth for three access points
> yesterday, and in my opinion may have been the best coverage we've had
> for a BarCampOrlando to date. We will always be looking to improve
> this part of the event every year.
I just wanted to mention that I had an incredible connection after
about 11am or so, but I was always inside a venue. I didn't realize
that the connection was flaky for some people, but wanted it noted
that I was very happy. ( http://www.speedtest.net/result/455147311.png
- Taken at Gibson Guitar Showroom)
--
Josh Blount
Tyler Hunt
> I just wanted to mention that I had an incredible connection after
> about 11am or so, but I was always inside a venue. I didn't realize
> that the connection was flaky for some people, but wanted it noted
> that I was very happy. ( http://www.speedtest.net/result/455147311.png
> - Taken at Gibson Guitar Showroom)
I believe the issue was primarily with the AP in Slingapour's. I was
pulling down around 1 KB/s there, but that jumped to over 1 MB/s once
I moved to One Eyed Jack's.
Tyler
Damien McKenna
>> * A problem for me was that I couldn't reliable obtain and sustain a
>
> This is an issue that plagues every conference (or unconference) I've
> been to this year.
One thought I had for next time is to see if the router equipment have
a way to draw a hard limit on the connections to make it a more
explicit "you got a connection" vs "you don't got a connection", so
that guests have a better idea if the connection they claimed will
continue working.
I'm definitely not denigrating the service provided by AirPowered, it
was excellent in the Gibson room.
One idea I just thought of - do you think (for next year) that
Brighthouse could be persuaded to let one of their clients in the area
have a bit of extra pipe for the day, then have a few of us bring some
routers to ensure specific corners are covered, e.g. a hackfest room/
area?
> Either way, we will always strive to provide the best internet
> connections we can with out turning into network operators. :)
IKWYM.
>> * I think it might have helped if a specific area was dedicated as
>> the
>> official hack zone with a) dedicated wifi service specially for that
>> area, b) small whiteboards, pens & writing pads to help sketch things
>> out.
>
> We tried to get Colab open for that, but the building is locked to
> only keypass holders (i.e. members) and was not workable for allowing
> free access to the 6th for interested parties.
I think The Globe that wasn't holding talks would have been perfect -
it as indoors so very quiet and divided into different regions so the
Rails guys wouldn't go house on the DJ Ango guys ;-)
> There were lots of pens and paper at the front desk for people to use,
> and that seemed to go over well, as I saw a number of folks using them
> to take notes in the sessions.
Cool. Next year I'll bring a whiteboard - I sure don't use it enough
as-is.
> Also we are planning a dedicated day for a hack jam event in May at
> Colab. Keep your eyes peeled for this.
Cool, I look forward to it.
>> * I thought there needed to be more slots during the day for
>> lightning
>> talks, e.g. after every three main sessions have two or three
>> lightning talks, just to break it up. I had some ideas for lightning
>> talks but couldn't stay until 5pm when they were going to start.
>
> Like Gregg said we didn't get a lot of people signing up for them.
I missed out arriving so late (about 10:30) :-\
> Also there were small time slots through out the day between sessions
> that I invited folks on stage to do a lighting talk.
I missed that too.. doh. Next time :)
>> * As a n00b to the area I was a bit lost on where to go and what was
>> in the area for snacks, coffee, etc. It might help to have a single
>> sheet flyer indicating presentation locations and food/snack vendors
>> in the area.
>
> Printed information would have been awesome, but time and resources
> were in short supply and this was one of the things we didn't get to.
I'll see what I can help with for next time.
> Also, you could have asked any of the helpers/ organizers for more
> info.
> I know downtown pretty well and could have pointed you in the right
> direction.
I know, I just hate bothering people over minutiae.
> Next year we will start planning a little earlier, and would love for
> you to get involved if you're interested.
Definitely! Me, a pack of markers, a whiteboard and cat-5 will be at
the beck and call ;-)
Cory Foy
I had issues with wireless, but they were sporadic and Lord knows who else was using the connections with us.
I do think a kickoff talk would be nice - say 930 to explain logistics, locations, etc.
But in general I found it well organized, and I had a blast!
Cory
(from mobile)
-----Original Message-----
From: Damien McKenna <dam...@mc-kenna.com>
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:19:33
To: <barcamp...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [BarCampO] Re: A few ideas for next time
Tyler Hunt
> I do think a kickoff talk would be nice - say 930 to explain
> logistics, locations, etc.
BarCamp Miami had just such a kick-off, and I think it was a good way
to start the event. The talk ended with a "go" to signal the opening
of the board, which was a good way start the event in an official
manner, but also resulted in a bit of a stampede. Which brings up
another quibble: I felt like the board was a little hard to access at
both the Miami and Orlando BarCamps; it might be better if it were
more out in open instead of up against a wall.
Tyler
Eric Marden
special shirts or name tags or something for volunteers in advance, so
that people know WHO to talk to. In general, anyone behind the
registration desk was empowered to answer questions, etc and had been
there all day and kind of knew what was going on.
Eric Marden
just to get talks going on time.
> Which brings up another quibble: I felt like the board was a little
> hard to access at both the Miami and Orlando BarCamps; it might be
> better if it were more out in open instead of up against a wall.
Its a 6' Whiteboard. Not sure where else it could go, except against a
wall. What were you thinking?
Also we wanted to ensure you were signed in before you picked out a
slot, to try and keep it fair. All in all, very few people were denied
a slot that wanted one (that I know of).
- Eric Marden
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
http://ericmarden.com
Tyler Hunt
> Its a 6' Whiteboard. Not sure where else it could go, except against a
> wall. What were you thinking?
It just felt a little cramped to me because it was kind of blocked in
on one side by the sign-in table, and from the front by that big
planter. Maybe setting it up against the planter out in the street
would have been better so there would have been full 180º access for
schedule-viewing and sticky-note sticking.
Tyler
Lazarus Mitchell
the alley. But the board was 1/2 or 1/3 the size last year, which
made it easier to pull this off.
Cheers