Look at all those computers!

When checking into my hotel, during a recent trip to my Dallas client, I discovered a LANParty called QuakeCon was happening at the same time (cue nostalgic music). Memories came flooding back of the time in my life (more years ago than I care to recall) when I ran a 120 person LANParty in Cincinnati, OH. While it was fun to get together as a group, play video games and razz each other, it was a good amount of work pulling it off every month. But it was worth it, so much so that I continued the event monthly for two years. The experience taught me the value of a community of people that cared about each other. Over the years it grew into more of a family, something more than just random gamers who hung out. All these thoughts are solidifying in the forefront of my mind as I work on launching Spacecamp 2.0.

My fascination with conferences

My love for conferences may have started back in that dark adolescent sweat-filled event center, but that was only the beginning. I quickly realized that the community-building concept expanded far past gaming when it came to conferences.

At my first Future of Web Apps conference, I met Steve and Allan from LessEverything. We built a friendship over those few days we were hanging out. A friendship that grew slowly over time. I did some work for LessEverything, they encouraged me to start my own business, and then I ran into Steve again at my first RailsConf. Steve and I got to hang out, but more importantly, he took me to get a shot and a beer to calm me before my first public talk. Do you realize how nervous I was moments before that first major on stage talk? Steve and some of my other friends were there supporting me, giving me the moral encouragement that I needed in those moments of my life.

From conference to business launching

I’ve been podcasting for almost as long as I’ve been gaming, okay, maybe not that long, but a long time. I used to use that as a way to get into conferences for a discount (or free) by offering “press” coverage of the event. That is how I got into my first SXSW, met and hung out with my soon to be new co-host Adam Stacoviak. We then snuck on to the podcaster list for FOWA (the one I mentioned before), and we got to fly down to Miami Florida, where we interviewed Gary V and Kevin Rose at a beach party! Crazy, right? It was an amazing night that inspired Adam and I. It turns out that weekend was the start of a new adventure, a dev shop business for us. Adam and I forged a friendship together at the conference that led us to build a business around developing customer apps, doing the Web 2.0 Show, and trying to create awesome things in the Rails community. These things don’t just happen while you are sitting around in your PJs on your couch and watching TV! It was the people I met at these events that rallied around me to give me advice on building a new business.

Spacecamp 1.0

Hacking on a meteor app

Fast forward some years to 2015, I decided to start building a (un)conference for Meteor fans. I ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ needed to build that deeper community I had when I was doing Rails work. I started the work with the Spacedojo Slack channel, but it wasn’t enough. I put out the call, secured the place, got a few sponsors to help with things like beer and food. The camp sold out, everyone came and had a great time. As a bonus, we even got to hear from a Shark Tank veteran on what the experience was like being on TV and getting a deal on the show. I know that I made a lot of new and meaningful relationships during that weekend, and the same happened to a lot of people. I’ve heard at least two client deals came about as a result of relationships made at the unconference, and that’s just the ones I knew about. We started to build something awesome that weekend; I was very lucky to have met all the great people that came to the event.

Here comes Spacecamp 2.0

Bigger and better!

I am not one to sit back on my laurels and be content that a thing was good, and now it is over. Instead, Wendy and I decided to go back to the drawing board and find a bigger and better spot to host the next Spacecamp. I felt bad when the event sold out, and we didn’t have more space for people to come. When I say bigger and better, I am talking on a grand scale. We have managed to secure a luxury mansion in the Outer Banks, NC area, just a mile from the beach. Part of making the event better is expanding the idea behind it. Meteor is great and all, but we want to get together and talk about all the exciting new technology that people are using to build apps. Maybe that is Meteor, GraphQL, Phoenix, React, or something entirely new — all the talks and ideas are welcome. This time, Wendy and I are stoked to have a mansion with tons of private suites (some with private balconies) and a few bunk rooms, and also a ton of space to spread out. There is a game room (we are bringing even more games than last year), a wrap around deck, plenty of parking, and incredible commercial kitchen facilities for my wife to whip up fantastic meals like last year! She is already planning out the menu, and my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Are you as excited as Wendy and I are? I hope so. In my experience building a community takes a level of intimacy. It’s very hard to do when there are hundreds or even thousands of people to meet and get to know at an event. And that is why Spacecamp 2.0 will be limiting total attendees to 55. Considering last year sold out I wouldn’t wait to grab your ticket. Once the event is sold out, we will start a waitlist. If the luxurious mansion, having all meals provided, and super talks weren’t enough to send you squealing, running in circles around the room with your hands in the air, be aware, we have a lot more fun surprises in store for you this year.

But… Community?

This beach house is a far cry from the days of pizza, Red Bull, and a room full of sweaty gamers, but the feelings of friendship and belonging are the same ones I learned so long ago in building the LANParty. I’ve spent many years building communities around the LANParty, my podcasts, Crater.io, and other sites. My hope is that the community around Spacecamp is one of the best!