One of the earliest community events that I got heavily involved with here in the UK was OggCamp. Back in the later part of the first decade of the 21st Century, otherwise known as around about 2009, a band of Free Culture and Free and Open Source advocates and fans banded together to create an unconference that brought together these communities to talk about and celebrate … well, everything they were interested in, really 🎉

(you can go back and read my much, much older posts on the subject, if you like)

Over the years, OggCamp has been a lot of fun. It has been held in various places around the UK – I didn’t get to all of them, but I have been to them from Farnham to Liverpool and Manchester. The last time the event was held was back in 2019, in Manchester. I’ve always tried to be a part of the crew where I could, to help everyone enjoy the event and to make it as successful as possible.

This year, a small group of determined individuals are bringing OggCamp back from its five year, deep intergalactic hypersleep state of temporary suspension. For my part, this time around I’m graduating from member of the crew, to the person helping to direct our volunteers! The largest event of this kind in the UK returns over the weekend of October 12-13 2024, once again at the Manchester Conference Centre at the Pendulum Hotel.

🎉 Exciting news! After 5 years away, OggCamp, the ultimate unconference for open source and free culture enthusiasts is back for a triumphant return in 2024! 🌟

🗓️ Join us at The Manchester Conference Centre on October 12th and 13th.

🚀 Get ready for a weekend filled with innovation, collaboration, and community spirit!

🔗 Stay tuned for the Call for Papers (CfP) and ticket announcements – watch this space! 🎟️

#OggCamp2024 #OpenSource #TechConference #Manchester

— OggCamp (@oggcamp) 2024-03-29T18:10:45.708Z

A few important things you need to know right now:

• This is an unconference. Although we’ll have a scheduled track (apply here), the most important element of OggCamp is the talks and activities that the participants carry along with them. If you’ve got a project, topic, or social activity you’d like to talk about, bring your talk with you, pop the title on a Post-It note, and everyone will vote on which sessions are most interesting to hear about on the day(s). You may get to attend talks and learn about anything, ranging across a broad spectrum of things such as, but not limited to: free software, open hardware, public data, community, sustainability, knitting, running, beekeeping, all kinds of things! I’ve got more than a couple of ideas for talks I’d like to give, but I know I’ll be busy with other tasks, so there will be plenty of opportunities for everyone to bring their own interests and be their own authentic selves.
• Tickets are on sale, and we’ll need to cover certain costs – but, we’re also trying to make it as accessible as possible, so attendance can actually be completely free, if you just want to come along1 – and we have a suggested donation price, rather than a fixed one, if you do want to support us financially. Do sign up with a ticket though, as we need to know numbers2.
• I will definitely be needing help to run the physical spaces on the days: we will have roles from greeting folks as they arrive, helping to operate the merchandise stall, being runners to support any speaker needs, getting rooms set up for talks etc. So, if you’re able to help out, please-please-please register as a crew volunteer 🙏🏻 You’ll get a fabulous limited edition crew t-shirt, and you’ll be part of making the weekend a fantastic one for everyone attending and taking part (seriously: I’ve always really enjoyed helping to run the event, and I want to make sure everyone has a wonderful experience again in 2024; I aspire to be as good at leading the crew as my dear friend and former Chief, the legendary Les Pounder!).

Don’t just take my word for it – Gary, our fearless leader for OggCamp 2024, gave a short interview on the Late Night Linux podcast3 the other day, where he talked about what’s up.

Also: please, do help us to spread the message that OggCamp is back for 2024. Things have changed a lot (online in particular) in the past 5 years, so not everyone may be listening to the same channels as before. You can follow what’s happening with OggCamp in the fediverse via the Mastodon account, as well as across various other channels mentioned on the website.

Hope to see you there!

1. (getting to the venue itself notwithstanding) ↩︎
2. The first version of this post said you don’t need a ticket, but you do / we do need to know numbers for capacity planning, so I updated this paragraph. ↩︎
3. OggCamp segment from 08:27; NB other unrelated elements of the show may contain adult language from frustrated Linux sysadmins… ↩︎

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#Blaugust2024 #100DaysToOffload #events #freeCulture #freeSoftware #freedom #Linux #manchester #oggcamp #openSource #openSpace #podcasting #social #Technology #UK #unconference #volunteering