What is WeCamp?
WeCamp is a code retreat in the spirit of Ruby DCamp, intended to help people come together as a community.
The first day will be spent practicing the art of pair programming. We pair up with rotating partners, honing our ability to communicate with different people about how to solve a particular problem. The idea isn't to actually solve the problem, but to work on pair programming as a skill itself and the various interpersonal skills needed to do it well.
The remaining 2 days will be unconference-style: informal group sessions discussing various interesting technical and non-technical topics chosen by the community at the event. No slide decks, no lecture, just good old-fashioned group discussions.
Our camp is located in the beautiful Prince William Forest Park. We'll be staying in cabins, but you'll want to bring a sleeping bag. You'll need to bring your own internet connection (mobile hotspot, phone tethering, etc), but we don't need internet for most of what we do, and there's always someone willing to share.
Our price is all inclusive, so we've got your bed, food, and snacks all covered.
Register
Pricing
- Paying individually, earlybird
- $120
- Company is paying, earlybird
- $245
Donations
If you'd like to donate to help make WeCamp successful, we have a community sponsorship page where you can donate as little or as much as you like. If you want to donate more than a few hundred dollars, though, you're better off going with a full sponsorship and all the accolades it brings.
Schedule
This will remain flexible, but just to give you an idea:
| Thursday | |
|---|---|
| All day | Early arrivals |
| Set up camp | |
| Meet new friends | |
| Say hello to old friends | |
| Set up sleeping arrangements | |
| 5pm | Dinner |
| All night | Probably board games and socializing, let's be real |
| Friday (Official Start Day) | |
| 8am | Breakfast |
| 9am | Welcome Ceremony |
| 10am | Pair programming |
| 12pm | Lunch |
| 1:30pm | Pair programming |
| 5pm | Retrospective |
| 5:30pm | Dinner |
| 6:30pm-Sunrise | More board games and socializing |
| Saturday | |
| 8am | Breakfast |
| 9am | Unconference planning |
| 10am | Unconference sessions |
| 12pm | Lunch |
| 1:30 | Unconference sessions |
| 5:30pm | Retrospective |
| 6pm | Dinner |
| Forever | Hang out with more great people |
| Sunday (Official End Day) | |
| 8am | Breakfast |
| 9am | Unconference planning |
| 10am | Unconference sessions |
| 12pm | Lunch |
| 1:30pm | Unconference sessions |
| 4:30pm | Final WeCamp Retrospective |
| 5pm | Camp Cleanup, hugs all around |
| 6pm | Dinner for late departures |
| Stretch goal | Finally maybe get some sleep … possibly |
| Monday (for Late Departures and Out-of-Towners) | |
| 8am | Breakfast |
| 9am | Final cleanup |
| Noon | You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here! |
Who is WeCamp?
Sponsors
We really appreciate sponsorship. It make events like these possible. Thank you!
Want to sponsor?
Download the Sponsorship Prospectus.
The sponsorship levels are:
Gold Sponsorship
Covers the cost of the venue. Perks: Significant pixel real estate in our sponsor listing, Thirty-second address during the welcome ceremony, Shout-out on Twitter, Shout-out in pre-event emails, Two event invites.
Silver Sponsorship
Covers the cost of food and various administrative minutiae. Perks: Logo in our sponsor list, Shout-out during the welcome ceremony, Shout-out on Twitter, Shout-out in pre-event emails.
Bronze Sponsorship
Covers the cost of swag and various administrative costs. Perks: Small logo in our sponsor list, Shout out during the welcome ceremony, Shout-out on Twitter.
Community Sponsorship (varying amounts)
Community members can sponsor, too! Every little bit helps!
Community sponsors will be recognized at the event as thanks for helping us provide an awesome event for everyone!
WeCamp Code of Excellence
WeCamp’s Code of Interpersonal and General Excellence
WeCamp aspires to be a safe, inclusive event for all folks who want to spend a weekend camping, coding and community-ing with fellow programmers.
We welcome and celebrate the diversity that the word “folks” encompasses. WeCamp is dedicated to providing a safe experience for everyone, regardless of gender expression, sexual orientation, (dis)ability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, age, immigration status, job title or programming skill.
Our idea of a good event hinges on quality of experience. If you’re having fun and feeling respected, then you’re encouraging others’ fun and feelings of respect, which means you’re doing it right.
Accordingly, we ask all attendees to be excellent in general and to each other.
We understand that this excellence will include, but not be limited to:
- Seeking enthusiasm and connection from your fellow campers. Talk with, not at, your fellow campers. Be especially careful to not cause the quiet bruising of a newcomer’s enthusiasm or a veteran’s confidence. (It might be helpful to notice what percent of any conversation or session you spent listening versus talking or planning your next words.)
- Working to make others comfortable, welcome. Harassment will not be tolerated in any form.
- Asking for and receiving consent for certain activities. Make sure you have consent before doing things like taking someone’s photograph, recording them, etc.
- Being cognizant of your surroundings. Camping together means looking out for others and for our environment -- and its non-human inhabitants. Regularly cleaning up after yourselves will prevent us from unwanted visits from furry friends -- and it’ll just be easier to move around and nicer in general if things are well kempt.
- Using words to support fun, respect, teaching and learning. Any racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, sexist, or other behavior that degrades, shames, or disrespects others for any aspect of their identity or ability will not be tolerated. It’s ugly.
- Sharing with the organizer or a host any incident that appears to fall short of these guidelines. We take this rather seriously.
WeCamp is a great place to focus on respecting, setting, discussing, and defending boundaries. If you feel uncomfortable or unsafe confronting a situation, please talk to an organizer. We understand that by convening these events that we commit to resolving issues to the greatest extent we can.
Participants whose behavior violates this policy in the context of our events or elsewhere can be warned or asked to leave at the discretion of the organizers, who do not suffer fools well.
If a participant is asked to stop a behavior, immediate compliance is expected. Attendees who persist (or whose behavior the organizers deems to warrant) will promptly lose their invitation to enjoy WeCamp and be happily escorted off the premises. Refunds will be thrown out of the building behind them in loose change, if given at all.
Note: This code is based in part on the hard work and insights from Waltz Night, DCamp, Ruby for Good, Women Who Code, Bridge Foundry, which were in turn inspired by other codes of conduct from groups like RDU Blues, Youth Dance Weekend, and Mobtown Ballroom. A code of conduct is a nuanced, living document that aims to set the tone for an event, offer some concrete suggestions for ideal behavior, and make sure all attendees know how much the organizers care about civility. We hope we’ve met these goals! Please feel free to share your feedback on how this Code of Excellence could be more excellent!
Contact
If you need to contact us for any reason, email us at we.camp.dc@gmail.com.