Tag Archives: arrangements

Open Data Camp 5: weekend arrangements

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Open Data Camp is returning for a fifth time this coming weekend, 21st and 22nd October 2017.

This time, the Open Data Camp charabanc will be visiting the lovely city of Belfast, in Northern Ireland.

The purpose of this post is to provide details for attendees.

Where

At Queen’s University Belfast, in the Computer Science building

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See the Travel and Accommodation page for information on getting to Belfast from other parts of the UK and Ireland, and where to stay.

Friday

For those arriving on Friday, there’s an optional walking tour in the afternoon. There are a limited number of places, so please sign up [here]

For those who have registered for the walking tour, we will be meeting at the gates of Queen’s university at 4:30pm, and the tour lasts about 1.5 hrs.

On Friday evening, a few people will be meeting at The Duke of York from 6pm. Nothing formal, just turn up if you feel like it.

Weekend arrangements

Registration

Registration will be from 9:30am on Saturday, and 10am on Sunday. There’s no need to print your ticket, as we’ll check you in using Eventbrite. There will be tea, coffee and pastries available on arrival

Timings

At a glance

Day Registration from Welcome Lunch Last session finishes Close
Saturday 9:30am 10am 12:15-1:15pm 4:30pm 5pm
Sunday 10am 10:30am 1-2pm 3:15pm 3:45pm

There will be two sessions in the morning, and three in the afternoon on both days.

Tea, coffee and cakes will be available mid-afternoon on both days.

Lunch

A light lunch is being provided onsite, and there will be vegetarian options (at least 30%). We haven’t catered for special dietary requirements, but if you have a more specific need, please let us know in advance and we’ll try to help.

Final sessions

We aim to finish the last session by about 4.30pm on Saturday and 3:15pm on Sunday.

Evening social

Networking continues on Saturday evening, and we will be gathering at The Bear and the Doll from about 6:30pm. Remember to bring your lanyard in the evening, as there will be a (not inexhaustible) tab for Open Data Camp-ers. There will also be a snack buffet laid on (but please don’t come expecting a full meal!)

A view from inside The Bear and Doll

Never attended an Unconference before?

If you’ve never attended an unconference before, you may be wondering what on earth to expect. Unlike traditional conferences, unconferences have no pre-defined agenda, and instead attendees ‘pitch’ session ideas to each other at the beginning of the event. These ideas are then written on post-it notes, which are assigned to vacant slots on a session grid, and that becomes the agenda.

For a more detailed (and much better) explanation, and links to more information, take a look at Unconference in a Box, compiled by James Cattell.

Our Volunteers

If you need anything at the weekend, or have a question, look out for people wearing maroon hoodies emblazoned with the Open Data Camp logo. Maroon-hoodie-wearers (Volunteers) have all given up their time for free, and will do their best to help you.

If you are a volunteer and haven’t already seen it, please take a look at Pauline Roche’s blog post Volunteers and Open Data Camp.

A massive thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help plan and run Open Data Camp. I won’t list everyone in this post – you already know who you are.

Our Sponsors

As you will already be aware, Open Data Camp is free to attend. That wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of forward-thinking organisations who help cover the costs associated with holding a large event.

If you haven’t already, please take a few minutes to look at our sponsors’ web sites, and show your appreciation in person, or on Twitter.

Join us on Slack

https://opendatacamp.herokuapp.com/

https://opendatacamp.slack.com/

 

Open Data Camp Manchester – Last minute notes for attendees

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Jamie Whyte

Open Data Camp is in Manchester on the 10th and 11th October 2015, and we are one of the organisers. Here are some last minute notes for attendees – about WiFi, the pub, and timings.
open data camp logo

Open Data Camp (Manchester) – Last minute notes for attendees

We’re really excited about Open Data Camp 2. To get the most out of the two days, we wanted to set out some of the logistics, and other things we think you might want to know.

THERE MAY STILL BE A SMALL NUMBER OF TICKETS AVAILABLE. IF YOU FANCY IT – ONE DAY OR TWO, COME THIS WAY

Timings Please?

Doors will open on both days at 9:00am. Register, log on to WiFi, visit the sponsors stands, network, have coffee, etc, until 10:00am, when the pitching will take place. First session is expected to start at 10:30 and there will probably be two sessions in the morning, each of around 50 minutes, then lunch, then three sessions in the afternoon, with a half five finish. (This is all subject to change, dependant on many factors)

What’s the deal with food?

There will be pastries on arrival, and tea and instant coffee available throughout the day. Unfortunately, because of budgetary constraints we cannot offer lunch. There is, however, a wide range of eateries around the Shed – cheap and big-portions – vegetarian, vegan, halal etc. These will be detailed on a map on your lanyard. Pancho Burritos have offered a 15% discount to lanyard wearers, and the Enrique (the owner) has offered to ‘cook something up special’(!).

How do I unconference?

Open Data Camp is a two day unconference. This means that we have no idea what will go down. For those who have not been to an unconference before, the idea is that attendees set the agenda on the day, by pitching to run sessions. People can then choose which sessions to go to.

Please please please if you have any kind of an idea for a session, don’t be afraid to pitch it. In February we had all sorts of sessions, from open data horror stories, through open addresses, to homelessness.

If you fancy getting your hack on – pitch it as a session, and people can join in if they fancy it – there are really no constraints (as long as there’s no outraging public decency).

The final thing we would REALLY appreciate is if people could blog and tweet over the two days. Matt from Drawnalism will be there to draw what’s going on, but the more chatter about it there is, the better. Twitter hashtag is #ODCamp.

What about the pub?

We’ll be hitting the Sandbar both evenings –Friday and Saturday. We’ve not booked a room or anything, so we’ll have to slum it with non-open data types. From there – Manchester is your oyster – the bearded hipsterland that is the Northern Quarter, mix it up with the students down Oxford Road, or go for the hedonistic paradise of Canal Street.

Will there be WiFi?

Yes, there will be WiFi – you will be issued a sticker with your username and password on arrival.

How do I get there?

The venue is the Shed – a great space in the shadow of the Mancunian Way. For directions – see here.

Anything else?

Remember that it’s YOU that made ODCamp 1 a success, and its you that’ll make ODCamp 2 a success. If you need help with anything over the weekend, the people in green t-shirts are slightly more likely to know what’s going on. We, the organisers, are very much looking forward to seeing what happens – we hope you are too.