Of course there will be a lot of talks about tech, but Barcamp is about so much more than computers. It’s about social interaction and rich idea exchange – this is why Barcamp has less “presentations” and more “conversations”. Feel like you’re not an expert? No problem! All you have to do is facilitate a conversation on a topic you’re interested in. Feel like it might be too techy for you? This is your call to make it *your* event and get some tech geeks thinking outside of the “box”! Show up by 10am to get your event on the schedule. Don’t feel like leading an official session? Show up at 9 and find someone to co-run it with you, or post a note for interested folks to come meet you outside of an official meeting space–we have a lot of random gathering space in the common areas and courtyard for impromptu gatherings. Just bring your ideas and your voice!

There is room for 35 sessions (and infinite small group chats) between 10am and 6pm and we want you to lead one! Bring a project or idea and an interesting spin on it, to capture people’s imagination, and be prepared to leave richer in inspiration than you arrived. Here’s some ideas for non-tech sessions, but let this be a jumping off point for your even more thrilling thoughts =)

• algorithms for weaving
• urban animal enclosures – protection for chickens and gardens
• feng shue of your home office
• facilitating productive meetings
• a layperson’s guide to appreciating local architecture

Here’s an etherpad on which you can dump half-baked ideas and works in progress for community feedback and brainstorming.

Please RSVP on Eventbrite if you plan to attend so that we can plan accordingly.

Want to know what Barcamp is? Read about it here.

Want to help create Barcamp? Join our planning group and/or attend our next planning meeting on January 23rd from 6:30pm to 8pm at Collective Agency (calagator link). As with every Barcamp, we need your help to make the event run smoothly. Plenty of volunteer positions are available before and during the conference.

Interested in sponsoring? Drop an email to sponsor@stumptownsyndicate.org.

Where

BarCamp Portland will take place at the First Unitarian Church’s Eliot Center (1226 SW Salmon St)

When

The activities begin on Friday, May 20th, at 6:30pm. Come hang out and socialize with other participants at the Eliot Center until 9pm.

Saturday the doors will open at 9am which allows for plenty of time to grab a pastry with some coffee and chat before the unconference kicks off. At 10am there will be a short welcome and introduction. Then participants can propose their sessions and put them up on the schedule board. We’ll have until 9pm Saturday to give presentations, socialize, and brainstorm ideas for BarCamp 6.

Schedule

Friday, May 20th

6:30pm – 9pm – Socializing

Saturday, May 21st

9am:  Registration & Mingling
10am:  Kick-off & Scheduling
11am:  Session 1
12pm:  Session 2
1pm:  Lunch
2:30pm:  Session 3
3:30pm:  Session 4
4:30pm:  Break
5pm:  Session 5
6pm:  Wrap-up
7pm:  More Sessions & Mingling
9pm:  Clean-up

Sessions

There are seven rooms for unconference sessions. There will be two rooms with projectors available. If you would like to use one for your session, just be sure to post your session to one of those rooms.

Although sessions are usually 45-minutes, longer sessions may be proposed. If a session needs to be extended there is plenty of space available for a conversation or presentation to move to if another session needs to get started.

Lunch

Lunch on Saturday is being sponsored by BarCamp Tour and we’ll be serving delicious Lebanese food from Nicholas Restaurant. There will be plenty of vegetarian and vegan food to go around.

Haven’t RSVP’d yet?

There’s still time, go do it now.

• Program an Arduino-based robot together using an easy graphical language.
• Record a song together.
• Build interactive cartoons with friendly programs like Scratch or Alice.
• Play a silly physics-based game like Numpty Physics
• Anything else you want to bring along and share

Bring your enthusiasm (and a laptop if you’ve got one).  We can’t wait to see you and your families at BarCamp! Don’t forget to RSVP if you haven’t already.

Please RSVP now if you haven’t already. We really need to get a general idea of how many people will be attending, so we can plan accordingly.

Want to know more? Read on!

If you haven’t been to BarCamp in Portland before, here’s the skinny:  BarCamp is an unconference. The location is set up ahead of time; participants gather in the morning and schedule sessions. Active participation is encouraged throughout — sessions are discussions rather than lectures.  Powerpoint slides and scripted presentations are discouraged. Come ready to find out more about your favorite topic, and share your knowledge with other geeks.

Unlike many technical conferences, BarCamp isn’t focused on a specific topic. Instead, people in the technical community come together and talk about whatever interests them. Even though the schedule isn’t set ahead of time, some popular activities tend to appear at every Portland BarCamp:

• Werewolf games
• Technology and bicycles
• Social networking (virtual and physical!)
• Novel applications of new technology
• Low-level and high-level programming
• Textiles
• Meeting new people and planning new *camps

We have many great tips for getting the most out of BarCamp Portland 5.

Know all about BarCamp Portland? Here’s what’s new this year:

This year we’re part of Barcamp Tour (background), which will provide some take-home souvenirs for participants, plus we’ll be giving away books from O’Reilly. So, don’t forget to bring something with you to take home goodies in!

How is this all possible?

Mostly due to people like you — your employers sponsor us; you create the sessions and the discussion that makes our community vibrant and keeps it growing; and you help us run these entirely volunteer-staffed events. (It’s not too late to help out! On-site volunteers are still needed.)

Thanks especially to our already-committed sponsors:

• BarCamp Tour
• ShopIgniter
• Open Sourcery
• O’Reilly Media
• Widmer Brothers Brewery

Sponsorships (Corporate and Individual) are still available — help us feed an army of hungry geeks! Email sponsor@legionoftech.org to learn more.

Thanks for participating in BarCamp Portland. We’ll be posting more great information at barcampportland.org in the days leading up to the event, so make sure to check that out.

See you at BarCamp!

If you or someone you know works for a company that would like to contribute financially to the event by sponsoring contact us at sponsor@legionoftech.org.

For everyone who’s unemployed, underemployed, or just likes to help, we’ve got the job for you! From marketing and web design to food donation solicitation to day-of beer and food service, there’s plenty to be done. A free event this excellent only happens when people like you get involved in making it happen. Plus, how often do you get a chance to work an event where all the attendees are interesting and you get fed for free?

Our most urgent current needs are a graphic designer to help update the barcampportland.org site, and design fliers and sponsorship request materials–if you can help with that, email us now!

Our first volunteer meeting, during which you’ll get first pick at the most popular volunteer jobs, is next Monday, March 21st at 6:30pm (calagator link). We’ll meet up over free pizza and beer at the Lucky Lab Tap Room on North (not Northeast) Killingsworth at Concord to discuss how we can make this Barcamp even more awesome than the previous 4.

If you can’t make it, don’t worry. There will be other meetings, so please subscribe to the Barcamp Portland planning google group to stay on top of other meeting dates and put your effort where your mouth is, as we announce volunteer needs.

Please join us to be part of the discussion and most importantly, part of the event!

Thanks!

We’re happy to announce that Barcamp Portland 5 will be May 20-21, 2011 at the Eliot Center in downtown Portland. That’s right, your favorite unconference in the same great unconference space as last year but with all new sessions and ideas: from knitting to nerdlings, plus the social web and its spiders, and beyond!

Want to know what Barcamp is? Read about it here.

Want to help create Barcamp? Join our planning group and/or attend our first volunteer meeting on March 21st at 6:30pm at the Lucky Lab Tap room (calagator link). As with every Barcamp, we need your help to make the event run smoothly. Volunteer positions are available before and during the conference–come to the meeting to see!

Interested in sponsoring? Drop an email to sponsor@legionoftech.org.

WHERE:

BarCamp Portland will take place at the First Unitarian Church’s Eliot Center (1226 SW Salmon St)

WHEN:

The activities begin on Friday, October 22nd, at 6:30pm. Come hang out and socialize with other participants at the Eliot Center until 9pm.

Saturday the doors will open at 9am which allows for plenty of time to grab a bagel and chat before the unconference kicks off. At 10am there will be a short welcome and introduction. Then participants can propose their sessions and put them up on the schedule board. We’ll have until 9pm Saturday to give presentations, socialize, and brainstorm ideas for BarCamp 5.

SCHEDULE:

Friday, October 22nd

6:30pm – 9pm – Socializing

Saturday, October 23rd

9am:  Registration & Mingling
10am:  Kick-off & Scheduling
11am:  Session 1
12pm:  Session 2
1pm:  Lunch
2:30pm:  Session 3
3:30pm:  Session 4
4:30pm:  Break
5pm:  Session 5
6pm:  Wrap-up
7pm:  More Sessions & Mingling
9pm:  Clean-up

SESSIONS:

There are seven rooms for unconference sessions. There will be two rooms with projectors available. If you would like to use one for your session, just be sure to post your session to one of those rooms.

Although sessions are usually 45-minutes, longer sessions may be proposed. If a session needs to be extended there is plenty of space available for a conversation or presentation to move to if another session needs to get started.

LUNCH:

At this BarCamp there wasn’t sufficient sponsorship to cover the cost of lunch for everyone, so please be prepared to bring your own lunch or go out and grab something at a near-by food cart or restaurant during the 90-minute break. There are some restaurants and food carts open Saturday for lunch not far from the Eliot Center. A few suggestions:

• Bombay Chaat House (804 SW 12th St)
• Habibi (1012 SW Morrison St)
• Shelly’s Garden Burritos (a.k.a. “Honkin’ Huge Burritos” at SW Broadway & Yamhill St)
• SuperDog (1438 SW Park Ave)
• Thai Chili Jam (1243 SW Jefferson St)
• Whole Foods (    1210 NW Couch St)
• Portland Farmers Market @ PSU (in the South Park Blocks between SW Hall & SW Montgomery)

Ensign Emma D. Shelton, USNR(W) receives a salute from Marine sentry as she enters an apartment building that served as temporary WAVES quarters, circa 1943.

¡¡VIVÁ LA REVOLUCÍON DEL LOS TECHNICA!!

… Oh, ahem… sorry if we got a little carried away there, but planning for BarCamp Portland 4 is getting very exciting as we come down to the wire!

So, before the big event, we thought we’d have just a general meeting of all our Volunteers for BarCamp Portland 4.

We’ll gather at the Lucky Lab in Southeast, 915 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. (entrance & parking also on S.E. Madison), at 7 pm, Wednesday,  20-October-2010.

(Note:  we’ll try and meet in the back room, but i don’t want to “reserve” it, as reserving costs $100.)

So please come, we’ll go over job assignment, expectations, etc.  Especially noteworthy will be anyone who can help with set-up prior to the event the day-of, Friday, 22-October-2010.

See you next Wednesday the 20th of October at the Lucky Lab S.E.!

Because we all know how much you all love to volunteer, volunteer…

Remember:  SERVICE GUARANTEES CITIZENSHIP!

Photo source: Women of WWII