general comments: how did it go?

 

need coffee, cream, maybe even a coffee carraffe.

wireless - was spurradic (partially due to a faulty cable)-- but need a backup

space was really good-- very open, tall ceilings, tons of spaces.

more tables and chairs (more so chairs than tables)

general rule of upcoming(attending + watching) = attendance was thrown off. with facebook that estimate

people didnt know food was coming, so they ate a lot of other munchies and we had too much food.

but having lots of high quality food was nice -- stamina! also at other devhouses some people left to eat, and that didnt happen this time.

the indian food was kick arse.

is there a way we can host this many people without creating so much waste? (plastic water containers, plastic cups, plates, etc.)

slightly more alcohol.

we didnt run out of redbull (bought 3 flats)

 

there is a concern about not having costs go out of control.

this event will be most expensive ever at ~$2200

feel more comfortable to under order on food.

we ran out of water-- we need it more plentifully available. (4 flats of water)

we needed more cups

dont forget to buy ice

sprinklers were a big issue!

more lighting out back

paper sign in worked better? but dont need to collect emails.

having a "greeter" person (like cassie) is really important. she offered to collect people/hour numbers as well.

having peoples' pictures might be neat, and an easy passive security measure.

 

on the issue of shoes - "devhouse means taking your shoes off"

people feel more at home, more relaxed, and it gives them a sense of respect for the space

 

iconography:

greetings: clearer and bigger signage. make different types of  signs *visually* different, and more signs pointing people the direction of the bathroom

remind people to knock + international bathroom sign

more detailed directions.

chalk for the road to help with directions

glow sticks/torches for the driveway out. many people had a hard time seeing.

 

presentations:

the presentation format was strictly enforced (use the wiki to add your content on wiki pages or link to content online elsewhere, PDFs, etc.)

there was a presentation master

there was a fascist timekeeper

recording of presentations?

 

tom was doing many things-- sound, lighting and video (on top of networking!)

can we find people to come document devhouse? reach out to bloggers/AV nerds to do this for us.

 

timing:

2-2 is a LITTLE on the late side-- kind of on the boundary

12-12 gives people the impression we will feed them lunch

so 1-1 seems to be the best timing for devhouse!

 

setup:

need to figure out how to move things around BETWEEN locations better (4 trips between tom's house and the mansion). especially if we're going to the city-- need to be more efficient.

need more devhouse-owned supplies like powercords, ethernet cables, etc.

thursday: reviewing supplies from last time, figuring out where things were, collecting equipment etc.

friday: set up access points,

one idea: storage unit+trailer for easy setup. like a "roadshow"!

--> would need inventory check before and after.

even more optimal would be to use the trailer AS the storage unit. "devmobile"

having someone play the "errand person" role on day-of setup is really useful.

ACTION: tom will research the trailer purchase option.

 

 

WishList

 

teardown:

miesha rocks our world!!! it really helped that she was doing ongoing cleanup the entire time.

isolate what is devhouse's and what belongs to the house better

buy extra tupperware  for giving people extra food.

 

music:

having the DJ here near the end was good, people liked the particular DJ

music was neither here nor there-- it's nice to have it, but the type wasnt particularly important.

scratching was neat but a little too loud for conversations

maybe have him earlier would be better too-- then he can be a bit louder (not worried about neighbours)

also maybe have a special location for the DJ?

 

productivity:

general comments that the conversations were really awesome

location hopping helps to shake things up a bit each time

also it wasnt too crowded and hot here-- the space was really good for conversation.

chris messina had an oauth meeting formally AT devhouse-- first submeeting at devhouse.

were the interactions still unique to devhouse? "meatspace RSS"

do we maybe increase the frequency of devhouse?

in order to do that, the key people currently (tom, joel, mike, david, jeff, etc.) need to have substitutes so that they are not critical path. ie, tom needs to be able to delegate the entire networking responsibilities.

 

 General comments from Margaret:

 -send out a link to a cute facebook app for folks to give feedback through -- can be a project, in fact, so folks can easily send you what you need to know

-encourage feedback during the event, since afterwards, folks are too tired; so an anonymous forum for folks to post in, complete with house blueprint (of rooms in use by the event), so it's easy to map out spatially

-ask for donations at the door, not just when the food arrives; at the door, folks are not in "the zone" or social mode so they're likelier to reach for their wallet with a hot chick staring at them

-do you have t-shirts?  issue a call for designs with a bit of a mark-up to cover more donations; stickers, other cheap promo things like mugs can also work; raffle taking donations for a prize that's donated by a sponsor (PR) -- like something from despair, inc. or google :)

-citronella candles/organic spray near doors to keep bugs out (bugs = food poisoning = trouble)

-recycling bins aplenty; garbage bags with citronella nearby to keep flies from hovering; cuts down on manual clean-up labor

-paper towels aplenty in a clear location in the kitchen (for any accidents and food)

-music was too loud; couldn't actually code nor carry on a conversation without yelling at each other

-a couple of power strips to a room, centered on the table, not floor

-encourage folks to bring food for potluck-faire-flavor; this cuts down on the cost of providing food yourself

-suggest an amount for a donation: $20 if they're staying the whole event, $5 if for a few hours but want to eat

-print out labels for folks who register with your facebook app; cuts down on waiting in a line

-back-up costco stock of things you'll use at the next event-- like cups, plates, utensils, napkins

-lots of parking where it says "No Parking" -- this time around; might want to put out a contingency plan at the event if parking is problematic (sometimes news doesn't travel) need lights outside; kinda dangerous navigating down that long driveway tonight with just the lights of our phones

-good caterer: http://www.flower-flour.com, do a good 120+ ppl party for under $2k; they did our wedding and all was outstanding.  ask me for more details.  they're based in san jose off bird ave. 

 

Feedback from a n00b (Dan Ancona):

For a first timer who knew almost no one, it was a little hard to click in to. Maybe this isn't a bad thing, especially given the great turnout, but if that is suboptimal, there's two ways I can think of to fix it. One would be some kind of spatial mapping - maybe by labeling the rooms? I.e. "social web apps in the living room, 3d apps in the dining room" etc. Or, you could add in a slight amount of structure, like doing introductions, although this wouldn't really scale to 100+ folks. Another option might be going to more/smaller events. It certainly seems like there's plenty of demand! And knowing beforehand when/if the lightning talks are happening would make it easier for people to schedule when they're going to be there around that. Sorry we didn't stick around a little longer, sounds like the rest of the night was fun!

 

"I lost my camera" from Sigurd at SilverStripe/New Zeland

I'm fairly sure my camera was dropped up the top where the OAuth chat was happening (Leah, Tantek, ChrisM, Blaine, etc) around 2am. Did this show up. Its a small silver canon powershot of ~6 megapixels. I think it is this: http://www.canon.co.nz/products/cameras/digital_compact_cameras/powershota540.aspx

find me at sigurd at silverstripe dot com.

 

I loved the session but I was a bit over the whole being with geeks thing after doing two manic weeks in San Francisco. That's my fault, not yours!