Ben Balbo

So, I promised to write some more on StixCamp this morning. StixCampNewstead will be the first StixCamp ever. It will be held in the sticks and they will be Victorian sticks!

So what is this StixCamp I speak of? The first ever BarCamp in Australia was BarCampMelbourne 2007, and it was held at Lake Eppalock. Given two people got lost and there were complaints that no GPS coordinates were supplied, this very definitely meets the requirements of “in the sticks”.

Last year’s BarCampMelbourne was held in the city, and very great it was too. 70+ participants who all thoroughly enjoyed themselves (or at least didn’t hate it enough to tell me).

This year, we’re returning to the sticks. StixCampNewstead will be held at a beautiful winery in Newstead, Victoria.

So, in addition to letting people know about this upcoming event, we’re also looking for sponsors. The event will cost around $50 per head, and there’s space for 60, so $3,000 we need. We already have one sponsor, but need plenty more. We’re looking for a number of sponsors for smaller amounts, rather than one for the whole lump. If you’re interested in supporting this awesome grass-roots event, please get in touch with the organisers. We’re also happy to take sponsorship in kind by way of prizes to give away, providing the catering or any other in kindness you can think of.

In return for supporting this event, you’ll have your logo and link on the StixCamp Victoria, Australia web site and the BarCampMelbourne web site, receive verbal thanks and recognition during the opening and closing speeches, and in any communication with reporters and be welcome to advertise your support in any way you like (we will assist wherever possible). You can also offer schwag/literature/etc for dissemination and signage for display at the event. See the Sponsor StixCamp Victoria, Australia page for full details.

I’ve just realised I haven’t written anything here for almost 3 months, and yet I don’t feel I’ve been out of touch or not been updating “followers” with my activities and news. The number of phone calls and emails I’ve made hasn’t increased dramatically, so what’s happened?

Could it be that more frequent microblogs on Identica and Twitter are to blame for the drop in frequency on this site? Or was it just a busy time of year? I’m not sure.

So what’s been happening with me in the last three months? Sandrine and I moved house for the third (and final?) time in one year, and are now finally living in Portarlington on the Belarine Peninsula, 8 minutes from the beach. I still live and work in Melbourne, but I also get a holiday every weekend now!

Sandrine and I also went to Strathbogie; as some of you know, we used to own a bush block up there. We helped them develop a requirements document for a new community web site and portal, and after a few teething issues, they finally went live in November. The Strathbogie Tableland web site describes itself as a new way for residents and landholders to stay in touch and communicate with each other, and has really taken off with residents and others alike. Their community message board is possibly the most used area of the site.

In other news, I went to both RUXCON and the 5th Open Source Developers’ Conference, presenting at the latter on mobile streaming solutions for the open source community.

I’ve also been trying to fit in work on a new community driven web site that I started in October, but have had little time to spend on lately. Hopefully I’ll have more about that soon. Then, of course, there’s the work on the next BarCampMelbourne, which will actually be a StixCamp – more on that in a soon-to-follow post.

I think that’s about it. Of course there have been other things, but perhaps to minor to mention. You could always follow me on Identica or Twitter to hear the day-to-day stuff. If you like. No pressure!