See 2012 Camp for the previous year's info, used in organising this camp.

This page serves both as an information page for attendees, and details on how to run UCC::Camp for future organisers.

Event Poster

poster.png SVG of the drawing of Tux

Posters were placed in the UCC Clubroom and Cameron Hall.

http://www.ucc.asn.au/cgi-bin/ucc_camp_register.py

Attendee information is sent to committee-only@ and contact information is saved to a file. The file is later used to email attendees. It should be printed to have a copy of emergency contact details at the event. The script can be edited for next year; it is at /services/http/cgi-bin/ucc_camp_register.py.

Script as of 2013

Tickets

There are no physical tickets. Electronic tickets can be bought through dispense. The sign up script provides instructions for payment via direct debit.

Facebook event

https://www.facebook.com/events/486241124795980/

What it is

Let's put a whole heap of computer nerds in one place for a weekend and see what happens! We'll make sure there's (guaranteed dial-up speed) internet, the rest is up to the people attending. Lanning will definitely happen, but there will also be some people there who are doing hardware/software hacking and coding. Besides that, it's just a great chance to meet some like-minded people and network.

Ideas

  • Spotlight

  • Frisbee

  • Tech talks

  • Project groups

  • Movies

  • Rock Band
  • Lanning
  • Other console games

Ideas that are struck through didn't actually happen in 2013.

Internet Connection

More information on the Camp Internet connection is available. Discussions can be found in the tech@ archives. There is also discussion in the committee@ archives.

Timing

Start on the afternoon of Friday, July 19th. Stay Saturday and Sunday, and then leave Monday morning. This is during semester break and should be convenient for most people.

Organisers met at UCC on Friday, July 19th at 7am (in theory). See this email describing the plan. With a few changes in timing, the plan was roughly followed.

Attendees arrive at the camp on Friday, July 19th at 4pm.

Meal preparation began an hour or so before the meal. Some of the dinners needed long cooking times and the preparation work was done with the breakfast for that day.

Cleanup began at 8am on Monday, July 22nd, and was finished by 10am. Organisers and attendees met at Hungry Jack's in Mundaring for a discussion of how successful the camp was and what should be improved.

Location

Camp Leschenaultia near Chidlow. http://www.camplesch.com.au/

Map: http://goo.gl/maps/lfbBT

What Attendees Should Bring

  • Sleeping bag + pillow
  • Computer + non-surge protected powerboard
  • Headphones with cable slack
  • Inter-meal snacks
  • Drinks (tea, coffee, water are provided)
    • No alcohol will be sold at the event
    • No hard liquor
  • Earplugs if you're a light sleeper
  • Clothes for 3 days
  • Shoes
  • Towel
  • Clothes, toiletries, and all that other crap stuff that you need to survive for 2 days
    • Don't forget deodorant!
  • Munchies for between meals
  • SNES games

This list was also emailed out a couple of days before the camp.

Note: We should have clarified the "earplugs" point, as many people thought it was a joke and then regretted not bringing earplugs.

Additions to the list for 2014

  • Computer with ethernet port - We don't provide a wireless network

Meals

All meals will be catered for, except Monday morning breakfast.

  • Friday dinner: pasta with sauce/pesto, garlic bread, salad
  • Saturday breakfast: weetbix/nutri-grain/corn flakes, baked beans, toast with butter, orange/apple juice, porridge
  • Saturday lunch: BBQ (sausage, bun+butter, beer onions, tom sauce, mustard, bbq sauce)
  • Saturday dinner: Guinness Stew, scalloped potatoes and salad
  • Sunday breakfast: bacon, fried eggs, toast with butter+spreads, two types of juice
  • Sunday lunch: BLT wraps (lettuce, tomato, bacon (2pp), mayo, burrito)
  • Sunday dinner: pea+ham soup with bread + butter, butter chicken with rice
  • Monday morning: leftovers or people get breakfast themselves
  • Tea, coffee and milo available at all hours

[BOB] oversaw cooking. Organisers and several attendees helped with cooking. Everyone was encouraged to wash their own dishes, but when this became too inefficient volunteers would take over.

Spreadsheets for some of the meals:

[BOB] has the final copies and the final shopping list for all meals. Pester him to update this page.

Accommodation

Dormitaries, $25 per person per night. So we are aiming for at least 25 people. The capacity of the venue is 80, and it's slightly cheaper if we have more than 50 people.

Exactly 25 people attended; the same number (but some different people) as in 2012.

Total cost

The total cost per person for the camp is $115. Past experience tells us that few university students are prepared to pay that much, even though it includes all food. As we have done in previous years, UCC plans to subsidise the cost for its members down to $80.

Any member of the UCC is welcome to contact the Treasurer for a breakdown of costs.

Rough estimate:

  • Cost: $1800 accomodation + $600 food + $200 for internet = $2600
  • Revenue: 25 * $80 = $2000
  • Net loss: $600

Contact People:

  • Sam Moore, matches AT ucc DOT asn DOT au
  • Andrew Gozzard, gozzarda AT ucc DOT asn DOT au

Volunteers

  • [BOB]
    • Soup nazi, bringer of firewood, organiser of minions, killer of millipedes
  • Committee (in attendance): [SAS], [SZM], [GOZ], [RNZ], [XON]
    • Soup slaves, cleaning, etc
  • Anyone who wants to help
    • [SLX] deserves a special mention for helping with preparation and cleanup for every single meal
    • [TPG], [SLX], [*OX] helped setup the network
    • [DTK] didn't actually go, but he lent us the mast for the network
    • Almost everyone at the camp helped with cleaning and/or cooking at at least one meal

Terms

Some booking terms can be found at http://www.camplesch.com.au/bookings.html
Numbers attending should have been confirmed by July 7th so that catering can be organised.

In reality, the numbers were confirmed on July 18th. But when you do catering, use spreadsheets so you can just change the number. All food can be brought on the day of the camp; stop over at Midland on the way to the camp.

Organisation Issues

Risk Assessment and Event Management Plan

This is the EMP that 2012 Committee had submitted for the 2012 camp. Apparently there were multiple issues with this form although it was eventually approved.

After consultation with the Guild Events Manager, we submitted a low risk EMP; this was handwritten, since the electronic form is broken. We also submitted a seperate Risk Evaluation Form. This was submitted with the EMP on 2013-06-11 after being sent to the committee@ mailing list for comments.

We were unable to advertise the event outside of UCC due to the apparently lengthy nature of the EMP approval process.

Notes:

  • The UWA High Risk form is here

  • The low risk form is what we were told to complete. Next year it will probably be different.

  • Blank copy of the Risk Assessment document.

  • [MRD] was unavailable at short notice; [BOB] acted as first aid officer during the camp.

Issues with EMP approval

After an incident at an unrelated event run by another club, we were asked to change our event to be either 18+ only, or entirely alcohol free. This request came on 2013-07-11; about a week before the camp.

We agreed to restrict further signups to the camp to 18+ only, but sought exemption for the two underage attendees who had already paid. We offered to obtain permission forms for these attendees. [SZM] never received a response to this email sent on 2013-07-12. [SAS] obtained verbal agreement with the Guild President and Events Manager that the two underage attendees could attend the event (permission forms did not appear to be required).

On the day of the camp (Friday 19th July) at around 3pm, during setup, [SZM] received a phone call from the Acting Guild President asking if a permission form could be obtained for one of the two underage attendees, and if someone with a working with children check could assume responsibility (the other being in the presence of a parent). [SZM] assumed responsibility for the underage attendee. The parent of the underage attendee sent an email giving consent to the Guild. UCC does not have a copy of the consent form.

Next year it would be good (if possible) to get the EMP approved early enough to actually advertise the event.

Mailing List

Email correspondance related to the camp mostly went through committee@ which makes it harder to find emails in the list archives.

Email correspondance related to the setup of the camp network went through both tech@ (archives) and committee@.

Some emails were sent outside of the lists and are not archived; eg: Correspondance with Camp Leshenaultia, the Guild Events Manager, etc. Please contact [SZM] for more information on any conversations that can't be found in the list archives.

Next year we should have a dedicated mailing list for the camp organisation. This will make things a lot easier if the event gets audited.

Advertising

In SOC meetings it was mentioned that we shouldn't advertise events at all until the EMP was approved. However due to the delay in the EMP approval process, we advertised the event on Facebook and the UCC announce mailing list.

The poster for the camp was designed by [SZM] based on the 2006 camp poster. Copies of the poster were placed in Cameron Hall and also at the GigaLAN. Some posters with corrected spelling and "July 2013" in place of the "7.13" version number were also printed. Due to the lack of EMP approval we didn't bother trying to place posters around campus.

Meetings

The Camp was discussed in the following committee meetings in varying levels of detail:

Meetings specifically related to the Camp were held:

  • 2013-06-09 - Completing the EMP and Risk assessment forms; [SZM] and [BOB]
  • 2013-06-24 - Practice setup of the mast; [SZM], [DTK], [SLX], [GOZ]
  • 2013-07-13 and 2013-07-14 - General wheel meeting that also covered the camp network; [SZM], [BOB], [*OX], [SLX], [TPG]
  • 2013-07-16 - Work on the menu [SZM], [BOB]

Thoughts

See 2012 Camp for the advice going into the camp.

This is based on the post mortem discussions held immediately after the camp.

Good Stuff

  • Internet - Was on two seperate plans. When we used up the quota on the first plan we changed to the second.
  • [DTK]'s improvements to the mast; could set the direction of the antenna
  • Beatentrack (2012 Camp server) was reused; minimal setup required
  • Bringing extra switches

    • Remember to bring the RJ45-RS232 connector with the switch that needs it

  • Food was good, less overcatered than 2012

    • Note for chefs: Gas is turned on in two places

    • "No computers at mealtimes" rule was good
    • Brought our own knives + sharpener, but still needed more
  • Venue was good.
  • Setup was good.
    • Core network equipment all arrived in one car, and was the first stuff to arrive
    • Arriving really early at UCC. Well, some of us did.
  • Projector placement
    • Thanks [TRS] for lending a screen
  • Time of year was good
    • No millipedes this time!
    • Surface spray was acquired, but not used due to lack of millipedes
  • Actually gave the guild the EMP earlier than last year
    • Not that this helped
  • Most people helped with cooking/cleaning with minimal prompting/shouting
  • Scholarships to encourage people to attend
  • Multiple people had first aid and RSA qualifications

Bad Stuff

  • Mast was unnecessarily high. Needed to take the whole thing down to change the sim card to the second plan.
    • We had 3G signal at ground level anyway

  • The event was too close to TerraCon

  • An extra car and person would make the shopping easier
    • More than one person should have a copy of the shopping list
  • Two course meals are too much
  • One of the first aid officers listed on the EMP didn't attend
    • Make sure the person will contact us if they aren't going to attend; phone them a week in advance
    • First aid kit was almost forgotten; thanks to [*OX] for remembering
  • No tech talks
    • People didn't seem to want them though
  • No outdoor activities
    • People definitely didn't want these

  • Computers must have ethernet ports! NO WIFI

  • Forgot the IEC cables box
  • Club should get its own Projector screen
  • Storage containers for left over food should be brought
  • Issues with cable length; improve network arrangement
    • Full gig switch was not fully utilised
  • syslog filled /var with DNS failure
  • Needed spare cable ties
  • Needed more duck tape (don't just borrow [GOZ]'s)
  • Guild is useless at approving EMPs
    • Automatic script to pester the Guild
    • "If we don't hear back, we will assume it is approved"
    • Get in really early
      • Like, January
      • So we can actually advertise
  • Needed a better block splitter
  • Get Beanbags from UniSFA the day before. They agreed to lend them, but they were in a locked room.
  • Should have brought a paper copy of the EMP, Risk Form, and Attendee list
    • It was on [SZM]'s laptop, but computers (especially [SZM]'s) like to break
  • A roster for cooking/washing might be good
    • Stuff got done, but often by the same group of people
  • Numbers were low (lack of advertising?)
    • 25 people was a good number; suggested upper limit of 35
  • Should have a list of occupants for rooms so that we can find people quickly
  • Beatentrack's cache of steam games was out of date (or non-existent)
  • Abalone's copy of ApexDC++ needed updating
  • Given the current state of UWA/Guild politics, the camp will probably be 18+ in future
    • Good luck getting the EMP approved next year

CategoryEvents

uccwiki: UCCCamp2013 (last edited 2014-08-09 23:43:47 by BobAdamson)

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