As most of my friends know by now, I am an active member of the ETNUG (East TN .Net Users Group). If you live in Knoxville, Tennessee and you are a .Net developer, you really should come check it out. It is a wonderful way to met new people, learn about new ideas / opportunities, and to stay frosty.
Anyway, the ETNUG has a lot of events going on this year, one of which is CodeStock but another, which I am working to organize, is the Give Camp.
What is the Give Camp?
Briefly, the main goal of a give camp is to organize talented developers and ask them to donate a small amount of their time in order to develop applications for charities. This particular give camp is located in Ann Arbor, MI and will be benefiting: Michigan Chapter of the National Children's Alliance, Michigan Humane Society, The Wellness Community, Neighborhood Senior Services, Forgotten Harvest, Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, and Angels' Place.
Of course, they say it better than I could - http://annarborgivecamp.org/WhatIsAGiveCamp.aspx .
Personally, I think this is an wonderful idea! I love to be able to participate in charity events. Unfortunately, I usually don't have a lot of cash sitting around, so I tend to be able to give little to no monetary contributions. The idea of the give camp not only lets me give to a charity event but to also do it using something that I love to do and something that (IMHO) I am good at! This is an excellent idea and I am very excited about it!
What does Ann Arbor have to do with Knoxville?
Since the event is in Ann Arbor, it makes it very difficult to many people outside of that area to attend / contribute. As a way to answer that problem, the Give Camp is asking people to try to organize remote facilities in which they can gather their own teams. These remote teams will be given their own tasks to complete and will be able to function as a completely separate unit. Since remoting is possible, the ETNUG is wanting to organize their own remote camp and gather together the best and brightest of our area to assist in the effort.
What can you contribute?
The Give Camp is not limited to just one field of expertise. In fact, there is need for Web Apps, Desktop Apps, Database Administration, Design + Layout, etc. Basically, if you have any programming experience (even if it is not 100% Microsoft), we can use you and would be glad to have you. Any contributions will be welcome!
What is in it for you?
Truthfully, nothing and everything... lol. The time spent is completely voluntary. There will be no monetary gains for any of the participates However, I am going to make sure that we get some good meals out of it and, hopefully, have a few nice door prizes to give away in the end. Despite these things, I can think of several reasons why this would be not only a fun event but also helpful to you.
- You get the satisfaction of donating your skills to a good cause. This way, I get to do something that I love and still greatly benefit the charities. In fact, the donation of our expertise would equate to a huge monetary contribution.
- You get to meet new people and learn new ideas. As developers, we are always on a quest to learn more / get better. This is a great way to meet that goal and learn about new ideas / concepts.
- You get to network. As any person in the industry could tell you, getting good jobs and opportunities is all about who you know. This is a very visible event that would make an excellent chance for you to get your name out there.
- Fun! This is not a work task. We will be working w/ a great group in a very laid back and enjoyable atmosphere.
What are the Logistics of this event?
The basic format that is suggested by Ann Arbor is using three days(Friday, Saturday, Sunday). However, we are free to organize our remote event in any way that meets our needs, provided that we are within the July 11 - 13 time frame. Once I get a running list of interested parties, we will find out the days / times that will work out for everyone else. I do want to stress that this will not be like 'going to work' but, rather, a nice time to socialize and work with other professionals within our area.
Although I have not worked out a location (once again dependant upon interest), I am planning to find a large common space somewhere in Knoxville. The space will have Internet hookups but we will need to ask everyone to bring their laptops if possible. If you do not have a laptop, please don't worry. We will have spare desktops / laptops that can be used. We can use all the talent we can get.
In conclusion, I really feel that this will be a worthwhile and fun event that will enable us to uniquely assist those in need. If you are interested in participating, please feel free to post it here or shoot me an email at Someword at nathanblevins.com.
Thanks!