The 2011 Texas BootCamp and THATCamp definitely met my expectations. I attended several BootCamp sessions and all of the workshop leaders were friendly, knowledgeable, and patient. I was familiar with GIS mapping technology and I attended both workshops, where I learned techniques to work more efficiently and new sources to pursue. I am particularly grateful to Jean Niswonger, who I met with later that day in the GIS lab. She gave generously of her time and was invaluable in helping me brainstorm ways to visualize my research data using GIS. The ggplot2 workshop pushed my programming boundaries and helped me see new ways to visualize data using graphs. The Simple Augmented Reality workshop helped demystify apps a bit for me, and inspired a project idea I look forward to testing. I also enjoyed the Art, Hackers, and Arduino Microcontrollers workshop because it took technology off the computer screen and showed examples of multisensory, interactive, three dimensional applications. The examples are still rolling around my brain as I try to imagine a way to use this technology in my own work. During THATCamp I attended the two GIS sessions, and one on crowdsourcing. I learned something new in all three, and benefitted from the stories and examples described by attendees. I also enjoyed sharing what I knew with others as we worked together, at points it felt like the blind leading the blind but we did our best and learned from each other.

Overall, the camps felt like a mental mini-marathon that was well worth the effort. I enjoyed the BootCamp workshops because they were a combination of instruction and practice. The only drawback, understandably, was limited time for discussion. The THATCamp sessions were good because of the opportunity for discussion. However, the drawback there was the unpredictability of how smoothly sessions would flow due to attendees’ differing levels of expertise, and especially if most were first-time attendees to an unconference. Especially in a “how to” session, I would suggest (using online session proposals as a guide) having someone with expertise in a topic pre-assigned to a session. And when most group members are first-timers, to have an experienced THATCamper in the group to help guide the session, at least at the beginning. Given the unpredictable nature of THATCamp, these suggestions pose challenges, but are offered in hopes of helping future sessions run more smoothly. I would also suggest having a print out of online Session Ideas available for reference during the morning scheduling session. I liked that presenters willingly shared their Powerpoint presentations. And I loved that attendees posted session notes online, so we can get a glimpse of other sessions we could not attend. This helps diminish the usual frustration of wanting to attend concurrent sessions.

And of course, besides the sessions, there were the attendees. One of the most rewarding, enlightening, and enjoyable aspects of the camps is that attendees ranged from primarily humanitists to technology enthusiasts, and everything in between, especially everything in between. It was exciting to hear about their different projects (in conversation or via DorkShorts), and to share or learn about new research sources and technical programs. It was also encouraging to be surrounded by folks who were equally enthused about digital humanities, especially when that support network is not as strong at our home institutions. The interdisciplinary nature of the people and events was a reinvigorating breath of fresh air. This was such a valuable opportunity to reconnect with colleagues or meet new ones, and to plan future partnerships. Knowing there are a limited number of hours in a day, I wish there was more time for interaction to talk with folks I didn’t get to meet. That is a good problem to have and shows this camp was a success.

I want to commend the organizers of BootCamp and THATCamp for an excellent job well done – from preliminary communication via the website and e-mail, to registration, the actual event days, the food, the post camp follow up, and everything in between. I know a lot of work goes into hosting these events, and there is even more behind the scenes. Organizers exhibited an enthusiasm and positive energy that set the tone of the camps. And they maintained that spirit as they successfully managed the chaos (herding the cats) that was us attendees. Many, many thanks for hosting BootCamp and THATCamp in Texas and I look forward to attending more in the future.