2008 Jamboree Oct 16-17

[handh]

When and where will the 2008 Jamboree be held this year.

[billp]

Jeff,
The 2008 Jamboree will be held Oct 16 & 17th immediately preceding the Maker Faire in Austin,TX. at the Travis County Fairgrounds.

[dubliner]

Austin Texas I believe :-)

[ron_moorehead]

Any more information on the Jamboree, I am thinking about getting airfare before it goes up much higher. Last year you had classes before the Jamboree any thought about that this year? Do you have a hotel or location yet in Austin?

Thanks..

[billp]

Ron,
We're still waiting for some more info from the folks who are running the Maker Faire, as we need to find out exactly what facilities will be available on site for us.
Our thinking to date is that we'd LIKE to run a "Basic training" session on Wednesday, Oct 15th. Then on Thursday the 16th we'd have sessions on the Shopbot operating system, as well as a more "advanced tips/tricks" session from the folks at Vectric.
Friday 16th AM would be the traditional "Women's class" in the room where we have our machines set up, running concurrently with the "Show and Tell" sessions in a separate classroom.
Again NONE of this is carved in stone yet, but it's what we'd LIKE to schedule.
And of course the Maker Faire itself will be on the Saturday and Sunday after our event.
The location will certainly be the Travis County Fairgrounds again ( one of the few places large enough to accommodate all that will be going on at the Maker Faire)and they DO have camping facilities on site. In fact we'll probably have our "mobile world headquarters" set up in an RV again as last year so we can host the cookouts, etc.
Here's a link to last years event in Austin ( "Botstock") so anyone interested can see what will be in store:http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/messages/11096/23091.html?1193961488
As soon as we can get confirmation on ANY of the above locations, and sessions we will be posting it here on the Forum...

[scottcox]

Bill,

Can you please post info on the RV accommodations when available? I would like to bring a travel trailer this year.

Thanks.

[bill.young]

Hi Scott,

There are electric and water hookups in the RV parking lot, but no sewage hookups or dump station that we could find.

Bill

[billp]

Scott,
There was also a great "shower trailer" which had about 6 shower stalls parked right in the trailer area. And since there was only ONE trailer "camping"there last year ( with Martha Barbour in it) there wasn't much of a line to use it...

[scottcox]

Thanks Bills. :-)

Do we need to make reservations and with whom do we make those?

[billp]

Scott,
You are waaaaaayyyyyy ahead of us at the moment. Generally speaking there WILL be a reservation process as there is usually a nominal charge for the Jamboree each year ($25 for the last few years). One of the major reasons for the fee is that we have to do a bit more in the way of preparations than for a standard Camp, including some real "sit down" meals, handouts, etc. And when people have to pay any amount they usually don't pull a "no show" on us...But if you'll ask anyone who had been to a prior Jamboree I'm sure they'll tell you that they go home with a lot more than they paid for...
We'll probably have a link set up on the web page, OR just give everyone the name of a contact person at Shopbot to call for the reservation process.
Are you going to bring the whole tribe in your camper?

[scottcox]

I know I'm ahead of myself here, but I'm behind in other things, so it all evens out. Let us know when the time comes. I'm in.

>>Are you going to bring the whole tribe in your camper?

No, I'll be trying my best to escape all of my responsibilities for the weekend! I may even get to drink a beer or three. ;-)

[billp]

We are still getting daily requests for info regarding the Jamboree/registration, etc. At this point in time we're still waiting for the "official"
word regarding our requests for classroom space, etc. so things still stand pretty much as they did a few weeks ago when I posted the notice above.
To add to all this everyone at Shopbot is really putting most of their time into final preps for the IWF Show in Atlanta which will be in Mid- August ( for those of you who haven't been keeping up Shopbot is a finalist for the "Challenger award" with the new Buddy/Powerstick machine. Here is a link to the web page article;
http://www.shopbottools.com/shopbot_buddy.htm).
SO we're all hoping good things happen at Atlanta ( plan to drop by the booth(s)if you are at the show) and as soon as the dust settles from that event we'll post registration info, and what we think will be the "final" schedule for the Jamboree...

[bill.young]

Well...the dust has settled a little so we've gotten Jamboree information posted at http://www.shopbottools.com/jamboree.htm, with details on registering and a tentative schedule of events. We'll be posting more information here on the forum as details are finalized, but if you've been to a Jamboree before you know how much fun they are and how many new ideas you'll take home, and if you haven't attended one yet you're in for a treat.

If you register by Oct 1 you'll get a limited-edition ShopBot CD case as a free gift. So please register early so that we can make sure to have plenty of food, tshirts, and enough chairs for everyone to be able to sit!

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Austin,
The Jamboree team

[jogilliam]

The site that talks about the facilities is
http://www.co.travis.tx.us/exposition_center/
It only lists power and water for the RV area.

[bill.young]

Hi Jo-Anne,

We'll post details about the camping arrangements as they are finalized, but the Make folks are working on a sewage solution for the RV lot....a couple of us will be there all week!

See you soon,
Bill

[kg_in_tx]

will there be shop bot buddies available for purchase in Austin? Thanks!

[billp]

Karen,
This is something you'll need to speak to the office about. Give them a call during office hours for details. In the past we have tried to sell all of the tools we brought with us (so we didn't have to bring them home...and it also saves the buyer shipping charges as well...) We should have a few Buddies with us for this event.

[bill.young]

Information on camping onsite for the Maker Faire has been posted on the Maker Faire website...

http://makerfaire.com/austin/2008/camping/

Bill

[mikek]

Bill, what do ShopBot attendees do for Tuesday night through Saturday morning if they choose to camp and not attend the Maker Faire?

For Maker Faire camping you need a Weekend Maker Faire ticket plus the camping fee.

[bill.young]

Hey Mike,

I'll get clarification and post here as soon as I have more info, but I'm pretty sure that camping won't be available until Wed night for Jamboree attendees. If you're RVing, though, Oak Forest RV park is very close if you need to arrive earlier.
Martha stayed there for a couple of nights last year...it was nice.

Stay tuned...
Bill

[billp]

To ALL planning on attending the Jamboree; we ARE taking reservations for not only the 2008 Jamboree
( http://www.shopbottools.com/jamboree.htm ), but we are also taking names for the free one day training class (Wed. Oct. 15th) as well as the (Friday Oct. 17th) Women's class.You MUST register in advance for these classes as we will need to have materials ready for each attendee.
Registration will include handouts, breakfast(s), lunche(s), both training classes, as well as a one day pass to the Maker Faire.
As always we'll have a bunch of new information for everyone attending including software sessions, vendor booths, and the always entertaining "Show and Tell"session on Friday AM.
(By the way if you have not yet started your Show and Tell project, now would be a good time to get it going...).

[scottcox]

Egads!

$200 for an RV site? That's a bit steep! And that's just for Friday and Saturday nights! What about Wednesday and Thursday nights?

And is the $35 "camping fee" extra?

Does this make me a cheapskate?

[bill.young]

Hey Scott,

The $200 RV fee is charged by the Fairgrounds and for general Maker Faire attendees it's just for Friday and Saturday nights. For registered Jamboree attendees, though, that fee covers Wednesday and Thursday nights too. The $35 camping fee is just for tent campers and is not charged for RV campers.

Bill

[scottcox]

Got paid today, so I'll stop being a cheapskate for now. :-)

See you guys in the RV park!

[billp]

Again, to those planning to attend either the "training class" on Wed. Oct. 15th, OR the Women's class on Friday the 17th, we NEED to have you register in advance for those classes...Please follow the above link for further info, and call Shopbot to let us know if you'll be attending...! Thanks !!!

[bill.young]

Hey guys,

I hate to nag but we've heard from a bunch of people that say they're going to be at the Jamboree but haven't officially registered yet. If you're coming to the Jamboree please register ASAP so that we can make sure we have enough food, t-shirts, etc for everyone.

http://www.shopbottools.com/jamboree.htm

Thanks,
Bill

[billp]

2008 Jamboree Schedule !!!
OK, we think we've finally nailed down a working schedule for the event. Obviously we're going to try to cover a LOT of material in the time/space we have allotted so here's what it looks like;
Wednesday Oct. 15th
Leudecke Arena Skyline Club
9AM-4PM - Shopbot "basic training" with Sallye Coyle. This will be a one day version of the training session offered in Durham. No fee to attend, but advance registration is REQUIRED...

Thursday Oct. 16th
Leudecke Arena Skyline Club
8-9 AM - Registration and breakfast
Welcome-Ted Hall, Shopbot tools
Software update,
Brian Moran/Vectric, James Booth/
Vector Art 3D
Job pricing guidelines
Raymond Chapman/Chapman design studio

Noon-1PM LUNCH
Fourth axis indexing
Scott Cox
Shopbot as a business
Robert Ball/Habitat for bats
Artcam Pro design software
Brad Devereaux/ Delcam
Digitally fabricated housing
Dennis Michaud/MIT
Green Shopbotting
Dennis Santiago/Sustainable South Bronx
Fab Lab

RV PARKING/CAMPING AREA
6-8 PM BBQ/Social

Friday Oct. 17th
Leudecke Arena Skyline Club
8-9 AM Coffee/donuts
3D design Options
James Booth/Carve 3D
9-12 SHOW BARN
Shopbotting for Women
Sallye Coyle/Shopbot tools
(Session is free but advance
registration is REQUIRED...!)
Leudecke Arena Skyline Club
10-Noon "Show and Tell"

Noon-1 LUNCH
1-5 "Free Play"
(Meet with vendors in Skyroom,
network with other Shopbotters,Chris
Connors from MIT's FabLab will be on
hand to speak about "distributed
Shopbotting")
SO as you can see we have a LOT of information on the schedule. Now it's time to call in and REGISTER for all of this info. You can get full registration info at;
http://www.shopbottools.com/jamboree.htm
We hope to see a lot of you there...

[billp]

Also some notes about entry and parking;

(From the Maker Faire folks)

"My thoughts were to have everyone come in through Gate B and park which is entrance to the RV parking lot area and we can have signs directing them to the Skyline Club. This way at the end of the night for the BBQ – they have their cars close by. I would have them park in an area that we can designate on site."
"Also – side note – this parking is only available pre show days – otherwise, they will go in the general parking stream unless they are a Maker."

[bill.young]

(the person from Sustainable South Bronx that's doing the talk on Green ShopBotting is Jon Santiago)

[billp]

Another addition; we left out a Thursday Afternoon session by Ed Stutz on "Production cutting".
If you've ever been to a Jamboree you'll realize that it's tricky to pin down specific time frames for all of the activities.
We may TRY to start/end certain sessions "on the hour", but in reality there are SO many variables that go into presenting ALL these sessions that Bill Young's description of a few years back is still probably the best; "We have an organic schedule...."

[mikek]

We all love the ShopBot "Organic Schedule"!

Bill, how many are registered so far?

[billp]

Mike,
Near 50 last I heard, but as usual we have a significant number of people who will wait until the last possible minute to call.
In fact many of the people in that category are from Texas ! (We get more than 50 at Wayne's Camp in March !).
We NEED to know if people plan to be there since we're trying to ship supplies from Durham this week!
Please take a minute, make a call, and register !
As you can see from the schedule, it will be worth the trip...

[bill.young]

Jamboree Update:

The signups are trickling in and as of this morning we have 70+ signed up, from as far away as New Zealand! As Bill says, though, there are still folks that have told us they would be there but haven't signed up yet. If that describes you, please sign up ASAP!

Also, all of the Buddies have been sold but we still have the PRSAlpha 96-60 with a 4hp Spindle available. If you are looking for a tool and can pick it up at the Fairgrounds on Sunday, you'll get free shipping and a tool that's already assembled. Give ShopBot a call for details.

Bill

[gmarshall]

Hello bill,
Quick question, for the training class on wednesday will they be serving food?

[billp]

Glenn,
Yes a breakfast at 8AM, and lunch at mid-day...

[harryball]

If you are still looking for a Hotel close to the fair ground I wanted to let everyone know... you won't believe how nice the Super 8 (yes... a Super 8) is at 5606 E 51st Street less than 3 miles from the fair ground. (512-926-5100)

It won't get you a discount but if you stay there tell them the Bat Guy told you about them.

It is a smoke free hotel, very clean and professional and they act like they CARE about their work and hotel.

Just thought I'd share, I know what a pain some of the dives can be when you don't know.

/RB

[billp]

We finished up the Jamboree sessions earlier today, and I think it has been a wonderful three days!!!
LOTS of information, great speakers, new products, new software,exceptional Show and Tell, etc., etc.
I know that many attendees and Shopbot staff were taking pictures, so we'll try to get some more posted in the next few days, ( Ted has already posted some on the web page...).
We now have two days of the Maker Faire ahead of us so I can't tell you when we'll get the Flickr page, or Blog posted, but they will both be worth the wait.....
Thanks to all the Shopbotters who made the trip to Austin, and participated in this event with us...

[harryball]

It was fantastic! My favorite picture so far :-)


3552

"Hey Brian, we're going to go grab lunch... how about getting these 4 bots up and running"

/RB

[jamesgilliam]

Many thanks to everyone at ShopBot for making this another great weekend. Jo-Anne and I came away with many new ideas, and we are already looking forward to the next camp. Special thanks to Ted, Sallye, both Bill's, Martha, and all the ShopBot crew for everything they do.

[myxpykalix]

Regarding the picture...it looks like he's having a 2 handed "headscratcher" problem!

[kirch]

Wanted to echo James above--

Many thanks to the ShopBot team for the Austin training and Jamboree. This was my first experience with the ShopBot company and community and I was very impressed.

[chiloquinruss]

Ron, Welcome to the forum and just a word about 'Botting' it is very contagious!
Russ

[gene]

Jack,
Its that, or its a I can't believe i did that.UUUGGGG

[dmidkiff]

Thanks to Sallye and and all ShopBot crew for the training class. It was the first time I was able to attend a training class and I not only learned new things, the class reinforced, that I have been on the right path.
Thanks also for all the presenters and folks behind the scenes, for making the jamboree such a fun, learning experience.

[scottcox]

I would also like to say... Thanks to everyone!

As with every ShopBot event, it was a great learnig experience and I had a great time talking to all the 'botters and sponsors.

There are just too many names to list here, so I won't try. You know who your are. Thanks for what you do!

[billp]

Both the Blog- http://campshopbot.blogspot.com/
and pictures- http://www.flickr.com/photos/campshopbot/
have been posted!

[harryball]

It was a great Jamboree and an interesting Maker Faire. Now we are back home it'll take me a little time to decompress and get caught up but I'll go through my photos and post anything interesting.

I wanted to thank Shopbot for everything they've done for all of us. The Jamboree was fantastic and the training and topics covered were top notch. I'm looking forward to attending again.

/RB

[bill.young]

For those of you that asked for the files for the Maker Faire stools, I've put together a zip file with the part files that we used to do the v-carving and cutout for 5 of them on a sheet, along with a PartWorks file, a dxf of the parts, and very rudimentary information. The link is at the bottom of the most recent Bill's Corner article on designing the stools, but it will eventually end up on the Project Wizard to make it easier to find.

http://www.shopbottools.com/BillsCorner.htm

I'm hoping that ShopBotters will use this as a starting point and will make MUCH more interesting versions...please send pictures if you do.

Bill

[donchapman]

As always, ShopBot did an outstanding job.
Thanks.

[harryball]

Here are a few photos related to us, I'll be posting more when I get a chance to finish downloading them all.

http://www.habitatforbats.org/education/MFaire-2008_gallery.html

/RB

[servant74]

Yes, the jamboree made me infectious. On my way back home, I stopped a few places to visit old friends and the conversation came around to the Jamboree. One guy wants to come next year already, and another is getting serious about a purchase (and he has never seen one!).

Now to finish a few project so I have room for one!