South West Ohio Give Camp

A great group of dedicated folks have gotten together to put on the South West Ohio Give Camp (http://www.southwestohiogivecamp.org/).  If you haven’t heard of a Give Camp, it’s a weekend event where volunteer developers, designers and project managers are matched with needy charities.  These charities and non-profits often do not have enough money to afford technology services and they are in need of a simple application to help them with their charity, or perhaps just a web site so they can have a web presence.  Over the course of the single weekend the designers and developers produce solutions to these technical needs.

Leading up to the event the project managers/analysts work the charities to help scope the work to something that can be completed in 20-36 hours of time.  During the weekend the project managers help continue the communication between the developers and the charities.  The developers and designers are busy getting the projects completed.  At the end of the day on Sunday, everyone gathers to show off what they’ve accomplished. 

Give camps usually start late on Friday and go till 3 or 4 PM on Sunday.  The facilities are available the entire weekend (24 hours/day so to speak), so people can pull all nighters if they want, or they can just stop by and pitch in as their schedule permits.  The Give Camp organizers will ensure you have food, caffeine and some chances to have some fun while you work.

If you have any interest in the Give Camp, check out their website at http://www.southwestohiogivecamp.org/.  They have a FAQ up and information on how to volunteer.  Also, they are currently looking for charities to be involved, so if you are aware of any that could use this type of help, please inform the charity of the event.

I have it on my calendar and I hope to be there participating.  Are you going to be there?