BarnCamp 2009

HacktionLab 2009/01: A rural hack meeting in the beautiful Wye Valley

Taking place from Thursday 11th till Sunday 14th June 2009. Please sign up here to say you're coming and consider joining our mailing list to get involved in planning the event.

What is HacktionLab?

The aim of HacktionLab is to have a convergence where people interested in and/or working in the areas of alternative media, renewable energy, on-line video distribution, free software and any other form of activism that utilises technology. HacktionLab will take place at Highbury Farm in the Wye Valley.

The idea for the gathering has come from a number of years of experience gained by activists working for organisations such as Indymedia and includes specific experience from involvement in the Horizone Eco-Village in Stirling (2005), the Camps for Climate Action in Drax (2006), Heathrow (2007) and Kingsnorth (2008) as well as the No Borders camp at Gatwick (2007). We have had two successful gatherings so far, a rural hack meeting in the Wye Valley in June 2008 and an urban one in Leeds in October 2008. Our next rural meeting is scheduled for June 2009:

The last rural HacktionLab took place between 13 - 15 June 2008, click here to view a slide-show of photos from the weekend. There are more photos posted here and this exciting short video too.

HacktionLab is primarily aimed at folk who need to learn or share info on doing mobile media access and video work in situations like G8 and climate camp convergences.

Please come if you have experience(s) to share with others in order to encourage the amount of shared knowledge in the UK-wide media, free software and alternative technology activist network. The weekend is most suitable for activists using media, geeks and hackers (as opposed to crackers) but would also be of interest to anyone else that is interested in attending is most welcome.

You can find out more about where HacktionLab is held and how to get there by visiting this page

Schedule

More in-depth details about the workshops can be found at HacktionLab 2009/01 workshop details.

We have plenty of space for more workshops and the current itinerary is still being jiggled about, so please sign-up to the mailing list and send us your proposals for workshops.

Thursday 11th

• Forward crew arrive in the morning to set up mess tent and other core infrastructure. Anyone who wishes should be encouraged to be involved in this, as the set-up forms part of the skills sharing.
• Majority arrive in afternoon, set-up camp
• Supper and fireside gathering.

Friday 12th

• Breakfast
• Open circle, introduction and planning
• Lunch
• Workshop slot #1:
• Workshop slot #2: Renewable energy
• Workshop slot #3: L.A.S.E.R. Tag and stencils aka Project Green Lantern
• Dinner
• Entertainment

Saturday 13th

• Breakfast
• Workshop slot #4: Developments in wireless technology, 802.11n, 3G and WiMax and how they can be used for media activism.
• Workshop slot #5: Flossmanuals.net
• Lunch
• Workshop slot #6: DIY Media in a Web 2.0 World - debates and discussion.
• Workshop slot #7:
• Workshop slot #8: This year's Climate Camp, Copenhagen and other activist gatherings: proposals for technical and independent media support.
• Dinner
• Party

Sunday 14th

• Breakfast
• Reflexions and proposals for next HacktionLab
• Lunch
• Parting of company
• Tat-down team: 1,2,3....tat-down! Anyone who wishes should be encouraged to be involved in this, as the set-up forms part of the skills sharing and tatting down is much easier with more hands.

Core crew team leave site Sunday evening or Monday morning.

Food & drink

The Highbury Farm kitchen provided excellent food in 2008 and will again be providing evening meals for Friday and Saturday night. Breakfast will be cereal and bread and lunch will be soup, salad, bread and cheese.

Please advise us via the mailing list or the sign-up page if you have a special diet that needs to be catered for.

Highbury Farm is a vegetarian farm and the owners request that meat is not brought or cooked on site. There is an excellent pub (the Boat Inn) across the valley within walking distance that serves fine ales and ciders and also serves meat dishes for those who cannot do without.

Tea, coffee and infusions will be provide within the cost of attending. We hope also to have local organic ale and cyder available at a fair price.

Costs

We are trying to keep the cost per person to no more than a recommended donation of twenty pounds per person for camping for 3 nights and food (eight meals) for the weekend. Apart from the cost of food and camping, the donation also helps to cover a few additional costs for transport of equipment (and tolls for Severn Bridge) and planning. Last year we were able to be able to make an additional donation to Highbury Farm from the donations received and we hope to do so again. Left over funds are kept in the HacktionLab pot for future events.

Kids

Kids are most welcome, however we will not be arranging any crêche facilities.

Entertainment

Evening events could include a couple of bands, some open mic, some poetry, and some decent organic cyder around a fire of course ;)

Logistics & Planning

We have a separate page for planning HacktionLab and organising what needs to be done and who is doing what. If you're interested, get on over to the HacktionLab 2009/01 logistics page.