Brian Kerr

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/ ArbCamp is coming up soon! It's a       \
| one-day event we're organizing, to be   |
| held on Saturday October 27th at WCC.   |
| The challenge is to try to attract a    |
| diverse or interesting crowd, keep      |
| everybody in the same space for a few   |
| hours, and hopefully make a bunch of    |
| connections and cool ideas, not losing  |
\ (too much) money in the process.        /
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/ For me the major reference point is     \
| RecentChangesCamp, both the 2006 and    |
| 2007 versions. From 2006, see the       |
| budget; ArbCamp will be smaller, but    |
| this is about the right level of        |
| financial transparency to shoot for.    |
| The 2006 wiki at one point had scanned  |
| receipts for expenses, but I can't find |
| that page tonight. From 2007, see notes |
| from 'What to remember for future       |
| events', which I remember as a          |
| frustrating and productive highlight of |
\ RCC 2007.                               /
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/ The key here is that there's a certain  \
| kind of unstructured structure you need |
| to pull off an event like this, and     |
| it's a larger, more diffuse, amount of  |
| work than you'd expect. And if all else |
| fails, just do everything in public,    |
| and hopefully someone will make         |
\ corrections as things go awry.          /
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/ The other reference point is opening    \
| space, or open space technology         |
| (dorkily abbreviated OST) -- but        |
| whatever you call it, it's just a       |
| pattern of bringing people together in  |
| a certain way. Many people have spilled |
| many words about open space stuff, but  |
| a really good starting point is Michael |
| Herman's very concise 10-page guide to  |
\ organization and invitation.            /
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Links

• ArbCamp
• RecentChangesCamp
  • 2006 — Budget
  • 2007 — What to remember for future events
• Michael Herman — Inviting guide (PDF)