New England GiveCamp 2011 Recap

This post is copied verbatim from Jim O’Neil’s blog, http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jimoneil/archive/2011/05/05/new-england-givecamp-2011-recap.aspx

Over the weekend of April 29 through May 1st, representatives of 28 non-profit organizations and 120 area technologists (developers, designers, project managers, social media experts, and others) gathered for a weekend hackathon at the Microsoft New England Research and Development (NERD) Center in Cambridge MA.  About 40 of the participants even spent both nights at NERD, with several tents pitched right on the conference center floor!

Over the course of the event, small teams of volunteers worked on a variety of projects for the participating non-profit organizations: websites, databases, logo designs, and other tasks.  This year we extended the scope of the event a bit, with Adam Weiss producing a video for one of the non-profit organizations as his contribution, and Alex Roberts donated her photographic talents by taking headshots of the non-profit representatives for use in on-line and print materials.

In addition to project works, key volunteers hosted presentations and discussions focused on challenges non-profits have in incorporating technology and new media in their efforts.  Thanks specifically to the following for their well-received workshops:

• Margot Bloomstein  (effective content strategy)
• Doug Vanderweide (using WordPress)
• Jay Sun (beta launch of The Goodness)
• Adam Weiss (getting started with video)
• JoAnn Lefebvre (leveraging social media)

The weekend wasn’t all work and no play by any means.  Friday night, volunteer Michael de la Maza manned the popcorn machine, and on Saturday the evening snack was ‘make-your-own-sundaes.’  And of course it wouldn’t be ‘camp’ without crafts!  Another highlight of the event  is the “Free Stuff” table – through the generosity of O’Reilly Media there were over a hundred books and t-shirts for the taking, and still more books from O’Reilly, Manning, and Wrox served as a reference library throughout the weekend before they were claimed by the techies in attendance.  Many participants also took advantage of the nice weather to explore the Kendall Square area in order to recharge their batteries and get the creative juices reflowing.

The contributions at New England GiveCamp didn’t stop with the project work though.  Leftovers from the Saturday meal as well as several cartons of fruit and other snacks were brought to the Albany Street shelter of the Cambridge and Somerville Program for Alcoholism and Drug Rehabilitation (CASPAR), and a last minute food drive (inspired by the Project Bread Walk for Hunger taking place on May 1st) netted over 100 items which were donated to the Acton Food Pantry.

By the end of the weekend, an estimated $170,000 of pro bono services were donated to the 28 non-profit organizations in attendance. Some of the comments left by the attendees on the event banner help convey the scope and impact of this event:

life changing experience

thank you from the bottom of my heart

brilliant, inspiring, and otherwise magnificent

totally fabulous

best weekend ever

And for some more in-depth perspective from a few participants at New England GiveCamp, check out the following:

• Greetings from New England GiveCamp – Dave M. Davis
• Hacking for a Cause – Charles Baakel
• GiveCamp New England 2011 – Matt Sheppard
• New England GiveCamp 2011: What a Weekend! – Doug Vanderweide
• Coding for Charity – New England GiveCamp – Cambridge Community Television

Planning has already begun for New England GiveCamp 2012; many of the alumni have already come up with great suggestions for next year.  And less than six hours after closing out New England GiveCamp 2011, a new non-profit organization contacted us for participation in next year’s event!  Be sure to follow @NEGiveCamp on Twitter and “like’ us on Facebook to keep tabs on the 2012 edition!

Lastly, I must mention that this event wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible support of the staff at Microsoft’s New England Research and Development Center and the financial and in-kind donations of the more than three-dozen organizations listed below, whom we hope will be long term supporters of this signature event in the New England technical community.

GiveCamp Team Assignments!

It’s finally here! The list of volunteer assignments for the 29 non-profit organizations participating in New England GiveCamp!

Team leaders have already been notified and in contact with their assigned organizations, and you should be hearing from them shortly as well.

Keep in mind that there may be minor changes needed to address unexpected needs for skill sets or no-shows, so remain flexible!  Expect a (hopefully) short readjustment period after our kick-off meeting Friday night to potentially tweak things.

And, again, if you’ve found you can no longer attend GiveCamp, please let us know ASAP at negc2011@hotmail.com so we can make these assignments as final as possible before people start getting to work Friday night!

Look for an e-mail in your in-box early tomorrow with some additional logistical details for the weekend.

You’re in for one of the most tiring, intense, fun, and most importantly - meaningful – weekends you’ve ever experienced!  See you Friday!

GiveCamp Pre-Game Show!

As you can see from the photos of my living room and office below, we have a LOT of boxes of STUFF going to GiveCamp.   I have created a new Eventbrite ticket type – Pre-event setup - to get some folks together on Thursday afternoon at NERD to help stuff event bags with all the goodies attendees will be getting.  If you happen to be in Cambridge and have some time in the afternoon, please come on out – we’ll meet in the Attucks room on the 1st Floor Conference Center at NERD, 1 Memorial Drive.  (I realize many of you have real jobs, but unfortunately I have an evening commitment so this was the only option time-wise).

The Thursday Pile

*One* of the Friday Piles

GiveCamp Attendee Update #2

Here are a few logistical items regarding GiveCamp this coming weekend – as I’ve mentioned before, if you find your plans have changed and you can’t join us for the weekend, please let us know as soon as possible!  If you have conflicts for part of the time, hopefully you’ve noted that on your registration form (if not, just drop us an e-mail); it’s not an issue, we just want to make sure the teams leaders, non-profits, and volunteers are all aware of the individual constraints and can plan accordingly.

Registration begins at 5:30 on Friday evening, and there will be pizza and salad there for dinner when you arrive.  The event takes place on the first floor conference center (which is one floor up from the lobby); the guard desk will have the names of those attending and direct you appropriately.   If you are staying the night, feel free to bring up your sleeping bag, etc. when you arrive, we’ll have a place to stow everything.

If you are driving, you may park in the garage at 1 Memorial Drive, the entrance to which is accessible only westbound on Memorial Drive (see map).  Garage parking is free to all attendees throughout the weekend!

If you are using public transportation, the Kendall Square (Red Line) T-station is about two blocks away from the Microsoft New England Research and Development (NERD) Center.

Around 6:30 we’ll start with orientation, have each of the non-profits say a few words, and have a guest speaker get us kicked off formally.  I expect folks to arrive throughout the event, so don’t fret if you can’t be there precisely at 6:30.   By the end of the evening you’ll have had a chance to meet with your project team, map out your plan for the weekend, and get to work!

All of Saturday will be focused on project work. There will be a number of workshops throughout the day on various topics that we hope will be of particular interest to the non-profit organizations in attendance, and it gives everyone a chance to step away and take a breather.

Through Sunday noon, you’ll have time to continue working on your projects.  We’ll break for lunch, and then have an hour or two to finish things up.  Around 2:30, we’ll start our closing program, in which each organization does a short overview of what they’ve accomplished over the weekend.  Those of you there last year will recall how moving this part of the weekend was.  The event should be over by about 5 p.m.

See you all in a few days!

GiveCamp Attendee Update #1

What will you be doing a week from now?  Hopefully getting a good night’s rest and packing your bags for a weekend of working hard, having fun, and making a difference!   We’re about a week out from New England GiveCamp, and my home is starting to look like an episode of Hoarders, with boxes of giveaways, books, and other swag for the event.  For this update, I have divided the population of the known universe into the following five groups:

If you are one of the non-profit representatives attending , you’ve already been talking with Kelley and should have received a couple of e-mails from me just last night.  If not, let me know ASAP.

If you signed up as a volunteer in a non-technical capacity, you likewise should have heard from me in the last day or two regarding various tasks we need to fill at GiveCamp.

If you signed up as a volunteer for a project team, you might be wondering… what next?!

Kelley has been busy laying out the project technical needs, matching them up first with a technical lead (you may recall we asked who might want to lead a project upon registration), and the next step is creating the teams based on the skills profiles you filled out.   It’s kind of like a geek draft, and we hope to have that all finalized shortly.  The goal is to publish the team lists on Tuesday and have your team’s project lead (if time and schedules permit) initiate a quick get-to-know-you-and-the-non-profit call/e-mail before the event on Friday.

Keep in mind one of the mantras is that “What happens at GiveCamp stays at GiveCamp,” meaning that the vast bulk of your effort is that weekend, so as a volunteer don’t feel like you’re somehow behind at this point.   I know that’s a tough thing to accept for most of the type “A” personalities that are attracted to events like to this, but we are right on schedule.

I will now invoke my request of a post a week or so ago: if you find you can no longer attend the event, please e-mail us so we can get an accurate count for meals, snacks, and drinks.

If you’re on the waiting list, well you shouldn’t be! The waiting list was cleared about a week ago, and I’ve be releasing new requests as they come in.  There are a number of those on the waitlist though who have not chimed in to claim their ticket – with the result that Eventbrite does not allow us to reopen the volunteer tickets until the pending waitlist requests expire.  If you were on the waiting list and didn’t get an e-mail asking you to sign up ’fer real,’ let me know, and I’ll rectify immediately.

If you’ve just found out about GiveCamp (where the heck have you been?!) and want in,  there are a few spots still available – despite the waitlist designation (an Eventbrite annoyance). Just register for the waitlist, and I will free up the ticket fairly quickly OR let you know that we are ‘not only merely full, but really most sincerely full.’

Oh, and if you have a specific bent toward SEO and social media strategy, you’ll go to the front of the line (well, if there were a line).

As always, e-mail us at negc2011@hotmail.com if you’ve got any questions on the event, logistics, whatever.  Look for another update at least by Tuesday.