Here’s a list of the 10 important tips and tricks to help make your sure you have a magical BADCamp experience.
BADCamp is sure to be a great event. Tickets are FREE.
1. Wear Good, Comfortable Shoes
If you want to have a great time the whole time you’re at BADCamp, we STRONGLY recommend wearing shoes that are comfortable, but give you lots of support. You don’t want to miss out on all the fun stuff we have planned because you have to take a break to rest your poor tootsies. Don’t wear brand new shoes either and you might want to also get insoles.
2. Dress in Layers
October in Berkeley is beautiful, but let’s face it, room temperatures are unpredictable. For this reason, bring a hoodie (or donate to get a special edition 2018 BADCamp hoodie) that you can throw on and/or take off as the climate requires.
3. Plan Your Schedule
Are you coming to learn specific skills? Check out the training classes, summits and sessions available and create your own schedule.
Do you want to find a new employer? Check out the job board and sponsors expo to meet awesome Drupal shops
Who do you want to meet with while you are at BADCamp? A famous podcaster or module maintainer? Find out who is coming on the attendee list and reach out to connect. Magical moments are frequent at BADCamp!
4. Bring a Laptop
If you want to get the most out of your BADCamp experience, be sure to bring a laptop. You will want to follow along and try some of the cool things the presenters show you. Bring a notepad too. Sometimes getting to an outlet to charge your laptop can be tricky. So that you don’t forget something important while your laptop charges, bring a notebook or notepad and a pen and take some notes.
5. Bring a Water Bottle/Travel Mug
There will be water fountains and FREE coffee/tea. Bringing a refillable water bottle means that you can stay focused on what you’re doing longer and get the most out of the sessions you're attending. Not to mention, using a water bottle instead of buying bottles of water is far better for the environment.
6. Bring Chargers for ALL your Devices and a Mobile Charger
There’s nothing worse than being out and about with a dead phone/tablet/laptop. Bring chargers for all of the devices you intend to use at BADCamp. If you use a battery-operated mouse (or wireless remote for presenting), bringing an extra set of batteries couldn’t hurt either. Even if you don’t end up needing them, you could find yourself with a new friend when you share those extra batteries with someone in need.
7. Bring Business Cards
Make it easy to connect! You will meet lots of great people and some of them you will want to keep in touch with. Get in the habit of giving out a card when you meet someone.
8. Condense your Stuff
You will walk around campus, so a lighter load is ideal. Plus you will want room for SWAG! Condense your backpack down. Pro Tip: Get a small tote or even a Ziploc bag to stick all of your conference swag in. That way all of the stickers and little bits and pieces are in one bag that you can stick in your luggage at the end of the conference.
9. Bring a Pair of Headphones
As much as we all want to be able to unplug from our jobs and just focus on the sessions, it’s not always possible. Sometimes you have to put your nose to the grindstone and get some work done. If you’re the type that needs to listen to some music while you work, bring along a pair of earbuds so that you can focus and not disturb others around you.
10. Bring a Friend
While not required, having a friend tag along with you can make for a memorable BADCamp experience. If you’re like me and you’re road tripping to BADCamp, think of all of the awesome photos, sing-a-longs, and weird roadside attractions that you’ll see and get to enjoy together. If you’re flying, it’s always nice to have a travel buddy to keep you company while you’re waiting at the airport during the inevitable layover.
Pro Tip: Don’t use your buddy as a reason to shut out others. Go in with an open mind and you’re sure to find another new friend (or friends!) to share the experience with.
We need your help!
BADCamp is 100% volunteer driven and we need your hands! We need stout hearts to volunteer and help set up, tear down, give directions and so much more! If you are local and can help us, please sign up on our Volunteer Form.
Looking for Work?
BADCamp is a great opportunity to network, learn what technologies are in demand,
and what companies are doing great stuff in Drupal Space.
If you’re looking for work, you can also make sure you’ve checked the “I am interested in Drupal Jobs” box either when you registered, or by going to your user account and clicking on the “Edit” link (the box is a towards the bottom of the form, so keep scrolling). If you do this, our sponsors will know you’re interested in looking for a job, and you will get a digest of jobs post BADCamp.
Be sure to check out the Job Board to see if there are jobs you’d be interested in applying for amd stop by the sponsor expo to meet your future team!
Looking for People?
Looking to hire Drupal talent? A lot of Drupal talent will be at BADCamp. If you’re sponsoring BADCamp, you have a head start here. Sponsors at the Supporting Level (the $350 level) get to post one job and get all the goodness of being promoted as part of the sponsorship. Just go to the Job Board page and click on “CREATE A JOB POSTING”. Tell potential hires about the opportunities you have available, and what it's like to work with Drupal.
Sponsors
A BIG thanks Platform.sh, Pantheon & DDEV and all our sponsors who have committed early. Without them this magical event wouldn’t be possible. We are also looking for MORE sponsors to help keep BADCamp free and awesome. Interested in sponsoring BADCamp? Contact matt@badcamp.net or anne@badcamp.net.
Would you have been willing to pay for your ticket? If so, then you can give back to the camp by purchasing an individual sponsorship at the level most comfortable for you. As our thanks, we will be handing out some awesome BADCamp swag as our thanks.
