Speakers,

You may be interested to see the rooms available for your presentations. When you signed up for a presentation, you may request a time slot and a room if you wish and this page at BSU lets you actually see the rooms online.

http://itc.boisestate.edu/classrooms/Frames.htm

On this page, select the Business building as shown in this image and you will get a list of the rooms in that building.

Remember to look at the schedule for the rooms that we actually have available. We don’t have them all.

I know several people were looking to get to the Code Camp website over the day or so that it was down. Our hosting provider had a major outage and assures us that we are all back to normal and solid from here forward.

Thank you for your patience.

I have several new and exciting developments to report about the planning for the 2008 Code Camp.

First of all, we have over 70 registered attendees already! This is a good start, and represents a significant increase in numbers over this time last year. Given the current pace of registration  we expect an increase over last year that should push us close to 300 for March 8th.

Schedule of Events

There is a new schedule for the sessions being developed and you can see it here. This schedule is subject to MUCH change, but this allows presenters to request particular time slots.

Fliers and Stuff

You can help pass the word! For your convenience we have provided the following fliers you can print, pass around, post on telephone polls, put up on your company’s bulletin board, give to your boss, and email to your friends. Because people like it when you do those things.

2008 Boise Code Camp Flier

2008 Boise Code Camp Sponsorship Flier

In a blatant attempt at sucking you in to help fund Code Camp, we have a new online store at Cafe Press where you can order all kinds of Boise Code Camp merchandise. This sweet nondescript hoodie will impress that special someone whose eye you are hoping to catch.

Imagine the look on her face when she opens her very own Code Camp tote bag for Valentine’s Day! You’ll be gold for weeks. Better yet, imagine the envious looks of pseudo geeks in your workplace with you sporting the official Boise Code Camp coffee mug.

The markup on all items is a mere $2, all of which will find its way into the BCC coffers. Free admission on the day of the event to anyone wearing a Code Camp shirt! How’s that for a deal?

Visit the store here.

If you haven’t heard of the Code Trip, let me summarize.

Eight developers will be hitting the road from MIX 08 in a hopped up motor home with the mission of spreading the good word on the latest and greatest in technology in 28 cities over the course of a month.

You heard right. Eight code monkeys crammed into an RV for one month writing code, drinking soda, doing impromptu training, and generally geeking out. If you think this is rather odd, you aren’t alone. At the same time, you kinda wanna ride along for  a leg, don’t you?

The Code Trip Meets Code Camp

Day 3 on the road will be spent here in Boise at Code Camp. We are working on getting the RV (along with the giant plasma screen and Rock Band on the XBox) parked in front of the School of Business building where Code Camp will be held.

Along with this coolness, the Code Trip is sponsoring the after party in BSU’s Hall of Fame room, right down on the blue turf! Dinner will be served, a bar will be available, video games will be humming on big projection screens, and you will be providing the music with Rock Band!

I am looking forward to seeing you there. Plan on visiting with your fellow campers and presenters at the after party, brought to you by BSU and the Code Trip!

Microsoft’s Scott Hanselman of Hanselman.com and the Hansel Minutes Podcast has signed on to provide our keynote presentation to kick off this year’s event. Scott will be flying directly in from this year’s MIX conference in Las Vegas and should be full of the latest news from MIX 08.

Scott will also be presenting another smaller session and is soliciting your requests on what to present. If you have a suggestion on a session for Scott, email us at: codecamp@elegantcode.com and we will pass on your ideas.

Are you considering presenting at Code Camp? If so, check out the Information for Presenters page.

Are you considering sponsoring Code Camp or maybe just mentioning to your boss that this would be a good idea? If so, check out the new Benefits of Sponsorship page.

Good news, Code Campers!

We have been receiving comments and questions from you all asking how to sign up to attend, to volunteer, and to present a session at the upcoming Code Camp. Well, we now have a better answer than, "Wait a little while."

Now you can visit our registration page where you can sign up to be alerted for news about Code Camp or to present a session.

Signing up to present should be easier than ever. After you submit our session our Web Site Guru and Session Spam Gatekeeper will review your session proposal to make sure you aren’t trying to sell a user control library or something. If all is well, your session will be posted to the site and you will be notified of your slot in the schedule closer to March 8th.

So, what are you waiting for? C’mon and sign up! First time presenters are welcome, encouraged, and supported. Remember that this time Code Camp includes tracks on "I.T. and Operations" and "Methodology and Business" for all you Agilists out there.

Over the last few days we have been working to simplify the Boise Code Camp website and add the ability for you to prepare for the March 8th camp date.

We are still working on a few things, but we are getting closer!

Call for I.T. Sessions

Do you or someone you know have a good idea for sessions on I.T. and operations topics? Things like IIS7 walk through, router configuration, home wireless network install, how to set up a basic blog site, how to …

You get the idea. Remember that no matter your skill level is, there are people who know less about something than you do. Spread the love!

Howdy folks, this is Dave Starr and I am the unwittingly appointed camp director for the 2008 Boise Code Camp. I will be updating everyone on the progress of our planning activities as we get closer to the March 8th, 2008 code camp. 

New Track Suggestions

I recently attended the local .Net users group, NetDug and got a chance to get a little feedback on the plans for the upcoming camp. A well received idea was to add 2 tracks to the 2008 camp for non-developers.

1. The Business of Technology - This track might be a good home for areas such as usability, program management, methodology and Agile practices, etc.
2. I.T. and Operations - This track is specifically appropriate for your IT and operations folks ho actually read TechNet.

Although this does not line up perfectly with the ideas espoused in the Code Camp Manifesto, it is in-line with the event being a community driven event. The simple fact is that Boise does not attract big technical conferences on a regular basis and Code Camp provides a great opportunity to bring Treasure Valley technology professionals together. Including our IT and managerial brethren along for the day may be a reasonable idea. What do you think?

Upcoming Activities

The organizing committee is getting together every 3rd Thursday of the month and we would love for you to join us for lunch. Send me an email at davidstarr(at)elegantcode.com to get involved. Volunteers are always welcome.

Watch the website for upcoming announcements and features including ways to sign up for presenting!