OLPC grassroots events in June

[Mel Chua]

This was posted by SJ to the olpc-open and grassroots lists 
(http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/grassroots/2008-May/000403.html)  but 
C. Scott and Chris Ball pointed out that some community members who may 
be interested might only be subscribed to devel - hence the forward.

Of particular interest to developers, regardless of location, might be 
the study groups for the bootcamp prerequisites. The prerequisites are 5 
short exercises that build and demonstrate skills that are useful for 
OLPC volunteer work in general (such as Python programming, wiki 
editing, internationalization - and yep, a basic knowledge of 
educational/learning theory, since that's what we're all about in the 
end.) See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Grassroots_bootcamp/Prerequisites 
for more information on those. Even if you can't make the bootcamp, 
you're welcome to join or create study groups for the prereqs, or use 
them as ideas for new things to learn if you're looking for ways to get 
started.

Cheers,

-Mel


--- begin forwarded message ---

Dear all,

There are three grassroots events coming during the second week of June that
we would like to invite the OLPC grassroots community to attend.   Your
input and participation is welcome.

We are looking for one or two open space organizers for the unconference the
weekend of June 7; the grassroots bootcamp and workshop the following week
is limited to active community members, and has a short application process;
and the organizers of the Grassroots Jam the next weekend will come from
interested attendees to the bootcamp the week before.  Please send your
comments and inspirations to Mel and me, and sign up on the wiki for the
events you would like to join.

--SJ


1. Unconference - Cambridge, MA on Saturday-Sunday, June 7-8 2008.

In the tradition of Barcamp, we will be holding a grassroots unconference
the weekend of June 7, dedicated towards community-organization, and
initiatives, events, structures, and best practices.  This is not just an
OLPC event -- anyone with interest in grassroots organizing is invited to
attend - so forward this out to your friends in LUGs, meetups, co-ops,
clubs, and the like.

See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Grassroots_unconference for more information.
If you'd like to help unorganize the event, or run part of the open space
there, please contact Mel Chua at mel at laptop.org. <http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/grassroots>


2. Bootcamp - Cambridge, MA from Monday-Thursday, June 9-12 2008.

We are hosting a bootcamp and conference from June 9-12, 2008 in Boston, MA
for current and future organizers of local groups.  The first days will be
held at OLPC headquarters in Cambridge (or a larger venue if there is enough
interest).  The objective of the bootcamp is to help community members
become grassroots advisors, who can serve as resources to others who want to
start local initiatives.

There will be sessions for hacking (and learning how to hack) on different
areas of the XO's software and hardware, organizing local materials and
creators, connecting with satellite communities around volunteering,
mentoring, learning, and sugar; and more.  Several slots are still open, and
we invite all community members to apply.

To ensure a focused and high-quality event for participants, there are some
prerequistes to participation.  In order to make the event accessible to
more people of varying backgrounds, we are holding online study groups
starting this week; even someone with no XO/programming background, no wiki
or editing background, and/or no educational theory background should be
able to get up to speed with two weeks of intense part-time work.

Admissions is on a rolling basis. All materials are provided, with limited
support available for travel and lodging for eligible attendees.  If you
need help getting to Boston or finding a couch to crash on, let us know at
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Talk:Grassroots_bootcamp, or give feedback on the
grassroots mailing list.


3. Jam - Manhattan, NY on Saturday-Sunday, June 14-15 2008.

Finally, to cap the bootcamp week, a Grassroots Jam will be held in NYC, run
by the bootcamp attendees.  We are finalizing details with potential host
organizations; stay tuned for a location update.  The jam will be open to
everyone, focusing on development of activity and hardware projects that
could work on/with the XO, and group projects / stories that could be
carried out with a small XO community.  There will be open space at the Jam
to discuss lessons learned from the previous week, suggest new topics, and
meet other NYC-area grassroots groups.

See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Grassroots_Jam for more information.