I was sharing my Geek Camp preparation anxieties with a friend this morning.
“It sounds interesting,” he said, “but I couldn’t do it because I’m not geeky enough.”
The first year we did Geek Camp, it’s possible I knew more than the kids participating, but every year since then I’ve watched them gain on me in technical and cultural know-how. In the last two years, a few of them have actually lapped me. Now, I come to geek camp ready to learn. The adults at Geek Camp are here to facilitate exploration and collaboration. Some of us have extra tech skills we will happily share, but there is no “geeky enough” bar set for participants or helpers.
We do have some guidelines for exploration, although we try to keep them as minimal as possible. This is summer, and mostly, we just want to have fun. Over the years we have honed the guidelines into the following:
- Try new things. This is a chance to try things you may not even know you like doing. If you usually direct, try following someone else’s lead. If you’ve never tried a sewing machine, now’s your chance to give it a whirl. Being a geek involves taking risks and making mistakes.
- Respect your surroundings and community. We are a lot of people in a tiny space. We also have a cat we try to keep inside, and breakables here and there. There are designated spaces for technology in order to keep it all safe. There are youngsters participating, particularly in the first two weeks. Media consumption needs to be kept G/PG during camp.
- Collaborate. There may be projects here that you’d like to try on your own, and we’d be happy to send some resources/links your way for you to do that, but while you’re here, find someone to share your projects. You’ll get to know new people and benefit from their perspectives. All geek camp projects are open to everyone here, whether for dabbling or in-depth work.
- Be kind. Along the lines of tiny spaces, sharing projects and new people, kindness is the most important ingredient.
Our campers will be using social media throughout the week. Geek Camp has an Instagram account, a twitter account, a youtube station, a facebook account, and a few others we will share throughout the week. As a group, we talk about how to decide what to share with the world, but we strongly encourage you to have those conversations as a family as well. Any content made during Geek Camp will be uploaded to the community accounts. Kids who have their own accounts and want to upload media to them can do so at home– we’re more than happy to send them the content once camp is done.
Bring lunch and your curiosity and jump in! We’re ready!
