Ubercamp

Been a while since I've had a chance to post... a nasty flu bug (sadly, not the swine flu) had me down for the count for a couple of weeks, and I'm just now catching up on the backlog of work and "things-to-do." However, my general lack of productivity couldn't stop plans to schedule Ubercamp 2.0 from coming together. Several of us chatted at the code sprint in DC about where our next Uber-event would be, but I had no idea a wonderful opportunity would fall into my lap. The organizers of Drupalcamp Colorado approached me about hosting an Ubercamp at their venue over the weekend of June 27-28. At first I was bummed, because I saw that I had plans for that week... then I realized a day later after sharing the bad news that I was looking at May on my calendar, and magically my schedule conflict cleared up! So, Ubercamp 2.0 is a go for a joint venture with Drupalcamp Colorado. We'll be bringing as many Ubercart users and developers together under one roof there in Denver as possible. Ubercart sessions will focus on configuration walkthroughs and practical module demonstrations in the same vein as my Advanced Ubercart Usage session from Drupalcon DC. With a little more time, though, it won't be quite so rushed. They'll be up for voting ASAP, and hopefully others from the community (hint hint) will be proposing their own sessions once the site is open for proposals. Basically... I can't wait! Check out this thread for a little more info and to sound off if you can make it. The price will be dirt cheap, the community will be great, and I'm sure there's some good food to be had. If not, I vote the next Ubercamp happens in Ethiopia or India. Mmmm... Lastly, if you can't handle waiting that long to see me, there are still a couple of seats left at my Ubercart training in Chicago scheduled for May 27-29. Oh, and Christina and I found out we're having a girl! Name pending, but it's looking like it'll be Tolkien inspired.

Well, Ubercamp is now a couple days over and my sunburned shoulders are starting to heal. It's a small price to pay for an awesome weekend on the Lake with my wife, co-workers, and new friends from Michigan, California, and Tennessee. We were blessed to have such wonderful company, weather, and food! A quick recap is in order... (If you don't feel like clicking individual picture links, feel free to check out Tim's Ubercamp galleries.)

• We group tested/packaged up the 1.2 release.
• We spent Friday night in the dock getting used to the boat and to one another, chowing down on burgers and brats, and dance dancing our revolution.
• Saturday we taxied out of the marina and found a private cove perfect for tubing, swimming, chowing, and hacking in peace.
• Roundtable discussion over lunch (farm fresh chicken and sweet corn) and into the evening about where Ubercart is, where it's headed, and how we can more effectively enable and benefit from the community (and the Drupal community at large). Good notes here... action to follow.
• I kayaked into the sunset and didn't want to return or go home (ever).
• More informal learning and discussion time over an awesome steak dinner on Saturday and egg breakfasts on Sunday morning.
• Sunday we had some final tubing and WaveRunner play time as we brought the houseboat back to port and lamented the end of Ubercamp 1.0.

So, all in all it was a wonderful wonderful trip...

Tim has posted a plethora of photos from the weekend to a public Picasa gallery. Those interested in seeing what they missed should check it out! http://picasaweb.google.com/TimH4982

Sunday morning was a little slower than Saturday morning. There's something about a day on the Lake with late night conversation and hacking (including e-mail... amazing) that just tires you out.

We had a staggered round of breakfasts followed by a little more tubing time and informal chat time. Unfortunately, while the WaveRunner was out the tree stump that anchored our boat on one side of our private cove (incredible, by the way...) decided to break free. This meant Mike and I had to swim to shore, rope in hand, and pull the boat back toward the center so it wouldn't get cozy with the opposite shore. We probably wouldn't have asked for this to happen, but I can't say I didn't enjoy the challenge.

On the way back to the marina, we decided there should be a Drupal boat permanently on the water with wireless internet access. Folks can come hang out for a week, work on a job, and then go on their way. Who wouldn't want to code in such conditions? It really was amazing, and I'm glad we got to hang out with the folks who came.

Well, the weekend is over, but I'll post a little post-campously. Saturday was yet another awesome day. We moved the boat down the lake (with only a minor scare getting out of the marina ) after our final camper arrived that morning. We enjoyed the view and the breeze, but more importantly we enjoyed the company and the breakfast. Andy scoped out a private cove on the WaveRunner Tim brought down (which is an AWESOME piece of machinery), and we pulled in, tied up, and played in the water a bit. Over a yummy, meaty lunch we got to talking about where Ubercart is, where it's headed, and how we can better enable the community to participate in its development. There were a lot of good ideas passed around the table, and hopefully we'll see the fruit of some in the near future. I spent some time in the evening taking the kayak out to the mouth of our cove and watching the sun set behind the mountains. It was very peaceful rocking gently on the waves in the middle of nowhere. There were no other boats in site, and my trusty little kayak kept quiet so I could enjoy the view. The informal chat time over dinner and games in the evening was great, with several opportunities to share and to learn. I suppose my one regret would be not making more time for the informal instructional chats. They happened, but perhaps with an hour blocked out where there was no tubing or diving going on it would've happened a little better. And... I need a development laptop.

Just a quick post to let everyone know that we ... have ... arrived. We've got 4 out of towners in town for the Ubercamp and made it to the Lake a couple hours ago. We're now sitting down to a nice meaty dinner outside on the boat and are getting used to one another's company quite well. The boat is pretty much awesome - a three and a half bedroom, two full bath affair with a large back patio and top deck. There's a jetski tied up out back that will surely provide fun tomorrow. For now, it's relaxation time and Ubercart gabbin' time. Wish you were here.