This afternoon Jeremy and I flipped the switch on the new thatcamp.org site, adding a community blog and camper profiles.  In this blog post I’ll briefly provide details about the unconference itself, mention an upcoming deadline, and suggest ways that we can begin a discussion relating to possible sessions long before anyone hops on a plane to GMU.

Schedule
THATCamp09 will take place June 27–28, hosted by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.  CHNM resides in the Research 1 building of the Fairfax campus, and we have a ton of space and breakout room reserved that weekend.

Similar to last year, we’ll begin Day 1 with breakfast & registration from 8:30-9, lunch will be provided on day 1, and we’ll end the day at approximately 5:30 in time for dinner.  For those that are interested, we’re arranging a meetup after day 1 at a local pub in downtown Fairfax for dinner and a drink.  Day 2 will also begin with breakfast at 8:30, wrapping up in time for lunch and allowing campers to catch their flights home.

Hotel Information
There are two blocks of rooms for those interested in hotel arrangements.  Both the Hampton Inn and the Best Western are offering a reduced rate of $79 to any of our attendees that ask for one of the rooms reserved for the “THATCamp Conference.”

At the Best Western (3535 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, VA 22030 703.591.5500), there are 20 rooms reserved for our attendees – 10 singles and 10 doubles.

At the Hampton Inn (910860 Fairfax Blvd, Fairfax, VA 22030 703.385.2600) there are 40 rooms reserved – 19 singles and 21 doubles.

If you’re looking to share a hotel room with another camper, consider posting on the THATCamp blog.

User Accounts on thatcamp.org
When you applied for THATCamp, you were actually creating a user account on our WordPress blog.  Fancy, right?  This means that you already have an account to participate on the community blog, and you now have a profile on our site, such as: thatcamp.org/camper/yourusername/.

The URL to login to the blog is thatcamp.org/wp-admin/, and once you’ve authenticated you can go ahead and edit your user profile which includes additional information like your t-shirt size and dietary restrictions.  By filling out your profile, you’ll let others know more about your interests so we can get to business when we meet face-to-face.

Wondering why some users have photos, and others don’t?  The website aggregates profile photos using Gravatar, a universal avatar that WordPress and other popular blogging platforms use.  We encourage you to register using the same email address you used to create your THATCamp profile.  Once you’ve added an avatar, it will be used not only on thatcamp.org, but whenever you post a comment on a WordPress blog, and will be printed on your name badge.

Upcoming Deadline
May 25th is the deadline for you to specify your t-shirt size and any dietary restrictions that you may have.  This will give us the necessary time to order shirts and food.  To edit your user profile, you’ll login to the thatcamp.org WordPress installation (as described above).  T-shirts will once again be printed on American Apparel shirts, which tend to run slightly smaller than traditional brands.  If you’re not familiar w/ their cut, we suggest choosing a larger size.  We can supply unisex or womens shirts, so please specify.

Community Blog
The blog is a space for campers to post their session ideas and ask any questions.  We encourage each camper who has an idea for a session to create a new post on the blog, where others can leave comments, suggestions, and we can begin to organize ourselves.  An example of this from last year’s unconference is a post by Tom Scheinfeldt where he suggested an idea, received feedback, and found interested campers to participate in his session.  In addition to posting new entries on the blog, please leave comments on sessions you’re interested in attending.  This is your space to run with ideas, and will be foundational in organizing a schedule on Day 1 of the unconference.

Twitter
In addition to the community blog, many of us have been communicating via Twitter — remember to use the #thatcamp hash-tag when possible.  If you’re not already on twitter, you may find that it’s a positive way to network with other campers before and after the unconference.  The THATCamp twitter account is @thatcamp.. I tweet at @digitalhumanist, and Jeremy goes by @clioweb.

Question?  Comments?  Concerns?
You can send us an email (info [AT] thatcamp [DOT] org).

On behalf of Jeremy and myself, I’d like to thank you for sharing your great ideas during the application process.  We’ve been talking about THATCamp09 since last year’s event, and we’re really looking forward to meeting this year’s participants.

Best,
Dave Lester