Organizing A Code Camp

Getting a Meeting Location

One of the critical aspects of holding a Code Camp is getting a meeting location. However, do not be limited by the concept of having a beautiful, conference-like location. The first time might start small and then you can build from there.

Some of the locations used for Code Camps thus far include:

Local Microsoft Office
Community College
A small, prestigious private liberal arts college located in southeast Portland
A hotel's conference center, paid for by a "contributor"

Add your type of location to the list.

Liability Insurance

One group was required to get liability insurance because the Code Camp was held at local community college. Something to inquire about when you are looking for a meeting location.

If you are working with your local Microsoft DE for your Code Camp, Microsoft has a liability insurance certificate that can be used.

Speakers

The focus for getting speakers should be the local developer community rather than big name outside speakers. This is a great opportunity to get people who have not or might not normally speak at a user group event to do a presentation. Remember the goal is to get developers sharing with developers. Some may be more experienced speakers than others which is the nature of a Code Camp.

In our Boston Code Camp we have speakers complete a simple speaker application which they email to the coordinator.

Types of Sessions

The types of sessions at a Code Camp are defined somewhat by the meeting space.

Lecture
Chalk Talk-Moderator led discussion
Hands-On Lab

Add your session type to the list.

Food and Refreshments

Food and refreshments can quickly become a costly item if you have a significant number of people and is not a required aspect of a Code Camp. Some approaches for food and refreshments are:

Catering subsidized by contributors
List of local restaurants for people to visit at their own cost during lunch or dinner breaks
Brown bag lunch, everybody bring their own

Add your approaches for food and refreshments.

Publicity

Anyway you can . Some methods used so far include:

Word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth
Blogs
user group or other website
Email
Announcements at local user group meetings
Local business development organizations. In Dayton, OH we have the Greater Dayton IT Alliance
Business and tech sections of regional newspapers and newsmagazines
Regional IT or business-related radio shows
MSDN Flash
Regional staffing/recruiting firms -- they may have e-mail blasts
Regional training companies such as New Horizons -- they may also have e-mail blasts

Add your method of publicity to the list.

Contributors

It is important to keep the low-key developer focus and recruit contributors who are willing to donate in the spirit of the event without significant requirements for exposure in return.

Local Microsoft office/DE
Regional 3rd party vendors
Re-use

Handouts

We're going to try a PocketMod handout with the Camp's schedule, note pages, and a list of contributors. Create a Word document with your info, then print it to a PDF (PDFCreator ), then use the PDF2PocketMod to print out a handy sheet for attendees.