FW: Welcome to Public Media Camp Boston 2010

[Chris Beer]

Here’s the email that’s going out tomorrow at 9am.

------ Forwarded Message
From: Public Media Camp 2010 <con...@eventbrite.com>
Reply-To: <pubcam...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:29:36 -0400
To: Chris Beer <chris...@wgbh.org>
Subject: Welcome to Public Media Camp Boston 2010

We're glad you're coming to Public Media Camp Boston!

We've based Public Media Camp Boston on the BarCamp[1] or "unconference" model which may be very different from other conferences you've attended. We're writing you today to provide some orientation around what you can expect of Public Media Camp Boston, what will be expected of Campers, the overall theme for discussion topics, and some next steps for you.



HOW TO PREPARE FOR Public Media Camp Boston

Be prepared to participate: come with an idea or two for sessions you can lead. Even better, add that idea to the schedule[2] in advance! If you're not prepared to lead a session, no problem; you don't have to be an expert at your topic. Find a topic that interests you and contribute to the conversation however you can. We all bring different contexts and points of view: you can add data points to advance the discussion; you can ask questions that others might not have considered; you can demonstrate something. These are great ways to participate, since they spread knowledge and provoke nuanced group discussions instead of unidirectional lectures.

Bring a computing device. Discussion is great and demonstration is even better. Plus, there will be wifi provided, and plenty of downtime to browse around and look into everything you've learned.

In the spirit of promoting on-going collaboration within this group, we would like to create several resources during the event that can help everyone learn what the collective talents and resources of the people in the room are. We hope you will consider bringing a hard copy of your resume for an expertise directory. We also plan to offer several opportunities throughout the day to discuss and share collective needs and resources between Boston-area media organizations.



CAMPING 101

When you arrive, go to the registration table to claim your nametag. Make your way into the common area, where you may find food and lots of people to socialize with.

We start on Saturday morning by gathering together in one space and going around the room to introduce ourselves with three tags to describe what we're passionate about (or want to talk about). There will also be some housekeeping announcements. After this, people who intend to lead a session will add their session info to an empty schedule grid -- having documented these on the agenda beforehand will help this go quickly. If you see a session you're interested in, go to it.

After a couple of sessions, we'll take a break for lunch. Feel free to wander around and socialize while or after you eat. More announcements will be made immediately following lunch, and any newly-proposed sessions may be added to the schedule grid.

At the end of the day, we'll have a wrap-up to talk about the day, future collaborations, and the future of the Boston public media community.



WHAT YOU CAN DO BETWEEN NOW AND THE CAMP

First and foremost, think about some media-related topics you'd like to discuss and let us know on the wiki [2].



You may engage fellow campers in advance of the Camp in a few different ways:

  *  Spread the word to others that you think would be interested, especially to those whose voices are not currently well represented in public media

  * Search for the Camp tag, "pubcampBOS" on Twitter and discover other campers

  * Tag your own tweets with "pubcampBOS" so other Campers can find you

  * Write to our mailing list [3] with your ideas



On Friday, August 20, PRX will host a pre-PubMediaCamp party at their office in Harvard Square. Come join us for beer and snacks to meet your fellow Bostonians and PubCampers. Mingling, networking, and relaxing are all encouraged. You must RSVP to this event separately at <http://bit.ly/axBjct>. 

We're looking forward to seeing you all at WGBH on August 21.

- Public Media Camp Boston (un)Organizers



[1] http://barcamp.org

[2] http://wiki.publicmediacamp.org/PubCampBostonSchedule

[3] http://groups.google.com/group/pubmedia-boston


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------ End of Forwarded Message

[Rekha Murthy]

Looks great - can I suggest that you make CAMPING 101 more of a time-
based agenda, like this:

9:00 am Group introductions: Say your name and three "tags" (aka
words) to describe what we're passionate about (or want to talk about)
10:00 am Determine sessions
10:30-12:00 Session I

and so on (ignore the times I put - I didn't check Google Docs)

Also, in how to prepare for, just a word swap for clarity: "Find a
SESSION that interests you and contribute..."

The PRX party announcement is rather buried in a long announcement. I
worry people will miss it. We might want to email that out separately,
or move it up to the top.

Rekha

[Chris Beer]

I think including the schedule in our email next week is a good idea, but maybe too much information for now?

I agree about burying the PRX piece, so I've revised the intro to read:

--------

We're glad you're coming to Public Media Camp Boston!
We've based Public Media Camp Boston on the BarCamp[1] or "unconference" model which may be very different from other conferences you've attended. We're writing you today to provide some orientation around what you can expect of Public Media Camp Boston, what will be expected of Campers, the overall theme for discussion topics, and some next steps for you.

====================

On Friday, August 20, PRX will host a pre-PubMediaCamp party at their office in Harvard Square. Come join us for beer and snacks to meet your fellow Bostonians and PubCampers. Mingling, networking, and relaxing are all encouraged. You must RSVP to this event separately at <http://bit.ly/axBjct>.

====================

HOW TO PREPARE FOR Public Media Camp Boston

--------

I've also delayed the email until 9:45am tomorrow in case more people have input.

[Andy Carvin]

Would you mind if I share the draft with the other stations having pubcamps? I think they might find this very useful.

thanks,
andy

[Chris Beer]

I’ve scheduled the email again for people who register between now and Monday.

Andy — feel free to share the email with others, I should probably guy the original author a beer...