Raspberry Jamboree 2017

tl;dr A Raspberry Jamboree, a bigger Raspberry Jam with two tracks of unconference talks and workshops. Free event on May 27th. Tickets are available here The ink is still wet on the contract for this event, with details only finalised at 12:00pm 4/4/2017!

So what is the Raspberry Jamboree?

For one day we shall run two tracks of talks and one track of workshops. This style of event is called an “unconference” and it differs to the normal conference in that there are no speakers, we provide the facilities for the community to tell everyone about their project.

In every room we shall have equipment ready for you to deliver your talk, and for our workshops we shall have a suite of pi-topCEED units, kindly loaned to us by local pi-topCHAMPIONS.

We have stalls, so bring your pocket money!

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The pirates from Sheffield on the Sea...aka Pimoroni will be there with a stall full of wondrous treasures!

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We have ABX Labs with a plethora of pocket money bargains for your Raspberry Pi, micro:bit, Codebug and Arduino!

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The micro:bit Foundation will be there, showing what the micro:bit can do in robotics, home automation and much more!

When will the event be?

Saturday, May 27th. 9am until 5pm.

Where is the venue the Raspberry Jamboree?

Manchester’s Central Library at St Peters Square has kindly offered their venue for this event. We will have access to three performance spaces which come with audio / video facilities, projectors and large screen televisions. The venue also has free WiFi and we encourage everyone to use it and tweet about the event as it happens!

Who will be giving the talks?

Apart from the opening and closing talks every other talk slot is filled by YOU! Yes, you! Tell everyone about your cool project, how you started hacking with the Raspberry Pi or crowd source ideas for new worksheets for your Jam/Code Club/School.

The only rules to adhere to are

1st Rule: You do talk about Raspberry Jamboree. We need people in the community to say how amazing a Raspberry Jam is! So tell everyone that you know, tweet about it, post on Facebook, and help us spread the word.

2nd Rule: You do blog about Raspberry Jamboree. See above, the more exposure the Raspberry Jamboree can get, the better it will become. Plus, we always love to get feedback after the event and read about your experiences.

3rd Rule: If you want to present, you must write your topic and name in a presentation slot. We'll have boards outside every room ready to capture your talk details.

4th Rule: Only short intros – ok, so maybe this should be more of a guideline, but you only have a small card to write your talk on, so having a short snappy title would be advantageous.

5th Rule: As many presentations at a time as facilities allow for – maybe more, if you can find a quiet corner somewhere…..

6th Rule: No pre-scheduled presentations, no tourists – the organisers will not agree to reserve talk slots for anyone prior to the event, and if you’re coming to present, we expect you to stay for the rest of the day and participate in other people’s talks as well. The only exception to this rule are the workshops, as we need to schedule these to ensure the volunteers delivering them have the time and resources they need to prepare.

7th Rule: Presentations will go on as long as they have to or until they run into another presentation slot – Our slots will be 30 minutes each, so 20 minute talks work well as you still have time for questions

8th Rule: If this is your first time at a Raspberry Jam, you HAVE to present – Ok, you don’t really HAVE to, but try to find someone to present with, or at least ask questions and be an interactive participant

9th Rule: The rule of two feet – If you find yourself in a talk that wasn’t what you thought it would be, get up and leave. No one will be offended, and you will often see people wandering in and out of rooms mid presentation. Just try not to disturb anyone as you do it.

10th Rule: Have fun! – If you’re not, you’re doing it wrong

What about the workshops?

The workshops are entirely free of charge, and we shall be releasing a list of workshops in the next few weeks. Expect sessions covering GPIO hacks, Python programming, Robotics and Minecraft. The workshops shall be the only content that is fixed before the event, everything else will fall into place on the day.

Workshop Form

If you would like to run a workshop, we have a handy form that you can fill in to tell us all about your great workshop.

Workshops Confirmed!

Workshop Schedule

10:00 - 10:30 PatternCraft (Gemma Latham)

10:40 – 11:30 Game Design with Scratch (Alan O’Donahoe)

11:40 – 12:30 Make the real world talk to Minecraft (Dave Ames)

13:30 – 14:20 Minecraft hacks with EduBlocks (Joshua Lowe)

14:30 – 15:20 Python functions, classes and modules (Martin O’Hanlon)

15:30 – 16:00 Get outdoors with the BBC micro:bit (Katharine Childs)

Workshop places will be on a first come first serve basis, further details for each workshop can be seen below.

PatternCraft

Programming with the PatternCraft analogue to digital punchcard reader, explore using binary to write text, create instant builds in Minecraft or compose your own music with PatternBeats.

Game Design with Scratch

Use Scratch to design and build your own game, suitable for all ages/experience levels.

Make the real world talk to Minecraft

Using Python, and the GPIO pins we'll use simple components to trigger events in Minecraft from the real world.

Minecraft Hacks with EduBlocks

Use the power of EduBlocks (A visual python block based programming language) to control the virtual world of Minecraft on the Raspberry Pi.

Python functions, classes and modules

This workshop is for those who want to take their Python programming a little further. Write knock knock jokes and get to grips functions, classes and modules, you will learn how to use them and why they are important.

Get outdoors with the BBC micro:bit

How to use MicroPython to code a BBC micro:bit to create outdoor activities such as a thermometer, stepometer or compass.

Who can come to the Raspberry Jamboree?

…ANYONE!

Tickets are free, you might even get some great swag to take home.

Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Where can I get my tickets?

You can get your FREE tickets here

>>>TICKETS<<<

Who are the organisers?

Raspberry Jamboree is brought to you by...

Claire Wicher

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Claire Wicher (née Dodd) is Chief Kitten Wrangler at MadLab, the organiser of BarCamp Manchester, an annual ‘unconference’ for over 200 people to informally share and discuss ideas, & CodeUp UK, a monthly mentoring program helping adults learn to code for free. She is also a STEM ambassador, Raspberry Pi Certified educator, National Coding Week ambassador and pitopCHAMPION.

Les Pounder

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Everyone knows Les, he has organised such events as Oggcamp and Barcamp Blackpool and he is well known in the Raspberry Pi community. Les is a STEM Ambassador, CPD trainer and lover of baked goods.
Les loves hacking robots, doorbells and random items bought from Poundland.