Want to help us raise the tech tide in Memphis? If you’re an online marketer, content creator, or developer, and you want to share your expertise with your community, we’d love to hear from you!

We are currently soliciting proposals for presentations for the Fall 2012 TechCamp on November 3, 2012 at Southwest Tennessee Community College. We’re looking for knowledgeable speakers who can educate their fellow Memphians on the following topics…

Online marketers:

• Advertising/PPC
• Google Analytics
• SEO
• Constant Contact

Content creators:

• Website conversion optimization
• Social content strategy and planning
• Blogging
• Mobile content creation

Developers:

• Native mobile (iOS, Android, Windows Phone)
• Mobile web (HTML5, JavaScript)
• Backend server (ASP.NET MVC, PHP, Python, Rails, Node.js)
• Web client (HTML5, JavaScript)
• Cloud (Google App Engine, Windows Azure, Amazon Web Services, Heroku, Salesforce)

If you can speak on any of these topics, or if you have another idea for a TechCamp presentation that you’d like to share with us, just fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch!

What you need to know:

• Presentation sessions will be 45 minutes in length, including Q&A time. We recommend a 30-35 minute presentation that leaves 10-15 minutes for questions and discussion.
• Presentations must be educational in nature. Commercial solicitations are prohibited.
• Presentation rooms will be equipped with a projector. Presenters must supply a laptop with their PowerPoint file (or other media) and any handouts or other materials that are part of the presentation.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up now to raise the tech tide in Memphis!

You asked, we answered! The Fall 2012 TechCamp conference has added two 101 level tracks to the schedule!

It is important to conference organizers that we grow, change and adapt each conference in ways that will best serve attendees. We know that some of the attendees at the Spring conference wanted to learn the basics of online marketing, content creation and what it means to be a developer. So, we incorporated their feedback and have added an Introduction to Online Marketing & Content Creation track as well as a So, You Want to be a Developer? track.

Below is an overview for each 101 track:

Online Marketing/Content Creation

This 101 workshop will introduce the fundamental concepts and components of establishing and growing a brand online through a website, social media channels and content creation (blogging, video, photos, etc.). These fundamentals include:

• The importance of online marketing
• Website basics
• Social media basics
• Content creation basics

Developer

This 101 workshop will introduce the fundamental concepts and components of web development.  These fundamentals include:

• Basic programming language concepts
• How the Web and HTTP work
• Mechanisms of web applications
• Databases
• Browser-based client

To wrap it all up, we will assemble the fundamental pieces into a functioning guestbook application.  All the code used & developed will be available for attendees along with the links to resources (all free) used to build the application.

We will also be providing valuable “next step” information for attendees wishing to pursue web programming even further.

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Attendees taking part in the 101 sessions will start their days at the same time as other sessions, break for lunch at the same time and be able to take part in the afternoon panel discussions, GEEKweek promos and closing comments.

Please visit our Topics page for more information on the practitioner sessions.

Along with the change from BarCamp to TechCamp, the Spring 2012 conference also included the introduction of 3 defined tracks: Online Marketing, Content Creation and Developers.

To give you an idea about each of those tracks…

• Content Creators, Curators, and Consumers - Bloggers, website administrators, podcasters, musicians, film makers, photographers – those who create and those who sift through the infinite amount of content on the web and try to make sense of it all.
• Online Marketing - Across a wide spectrum of skill and experience levels, including the most popular social media platforms; geared to small business do-it-yourselfers, those managing online engagement for others, and individuals wanting to learn more about social media and online marketing.
• Developers – Native mobile (iOS, Android, Windows Phone), Mobile web (HTML5, JavaScript), Backend server (ASP.NET MVC, PHP, Python, Rails, Node.js), Web client (HTML5, JavaScript), Cloud (Google App Engine, Windows Azure, Amazon Web Services, Heroku, Salesforce).

The Fall 2012 conference will again include these same 3 tracks, plus will also include 2 additional tracks dedicated solely to introductory level information on content creation, online marketing and becoming a developer.

It is important to conference organizers that we grow, change and adapt each conference in ways that will best serve attendees. Incorporating feedback from the Spring 2012 conference plus working towards growing the online and tech communities in Memphis led us to adding these new 101 tracks to the mix. Attendees sitting in on 101 sessions will start their days at the same time as other sessions, break for lunch at the same time and be able to take part in the afternoon panel discussions.

Please visit our 101 Tracks post and Schedule page for more information.

Building off the success of the Spring 2012 TechCamp Memphis conference, we’re excited to announce that TechCamp Memphis is returning Saturday, November 3rd and again being held at Southwest Tennessee Community College!

Doors open at 7:30 am.

Conference runs 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Be sure to follow us via Twitter, Facebook and Google+ to catch all the TechCamp news!

The countdown to TechCamp Memphis is on!

Our conference tracks were announced, presenters and their sessions were selected and posted, and now it’s time for the TechCamp committees to complete our final preparations.

What we’d really love from you, our attendees, is to hear which sessions you are planning to attend. You are free to change your mind between now and the day of the conference, but learning a bit more about which sessions most interest you will help us to determine which conference space to assign to each session.

Completing the survey will only take a few minutes, and can be found at this link.

Thanks for your time! We’re looking forward to seeing you all at TechCamp Memphis on May 12th.

CC Robert Lender via Flickr

The Topics and descriptions for the all-day TechCamp Memphis event on May 12.  There’s something from everyone, from beginners to developers.  Presentations will be grouped into three tracks so attendees will have at 3 least content choices for each session time slot.

Be sure and register today.  The Early Bird Special ends April 30.

A large part of the open conference concept is participant driven content.  While we have lots of great talent stepping forward to do presentations at TechCamp Memphis, we would really appreciate knowing what you, the participants, would like to learn more about.

Please take a moment to complete a short SURVEY to let us know YOUR interests.  If you are interesting on doing a presentation, go to the Topics page and sign up.

Grab your ticket NOW for this spring’s TechCamp!

Register through the TechCamp Memphis Eventbrite page.

Individual admission is $20, corporate admission is $35 and student admission is $5.

And for extra savings, register before April 30th for special early bird discounts!

Please visit our registration page for more information and other ticket types.

Be sure to follow us via Twitter, Facebook and Google+ to catch all the TechCamp news!

The Spring 2012 TechCamp planning is well underway. With its new format of 3 designated tracks, we are now accepting presentation submissions on topics relevant to Developers, Content Creators & Curators and Online Marketers.

Each conference session usually lasts around 30 minutes, with another 10 minutes or so for Q&A. Sessions can be a traditional presentation with slides, or a panel discussion.

The deadline for presentation submissions is Friday, April 20th.

Have a great idea you’d love to share? We’d love for you to submit it! Please visit our submission form at bottom of the Topics page.

Please visit these links for more information on the 3 tracks, to volunteer or to register now.

TechCamp Memphis will direct its content toward a wide spectrum of technical interests:  developers, content producers and curators, and everyday users.  TechCamp is Saturday, May 12, for 8:30-4:30.

There will be 3 parallel tracks running throughout the day:

1.  Content Creators, Curators, and Consumers - Bloggers, website administrators, podcasters, musicians, film makers, photographers – those who create and those who sift through the infinite amount of content on the web and try to make sense of it all.

2.  Online Marketing - Across a wide spectrum of skill and experience levels, including the most popular social media platforms; geared to small business do-it-yourselfers, those managing online engagement for others, and  individuals wanting to learn more about social media and online marketing.

3.  Developers - for the true geeks, topics could include  sessions like: Data encryption, Developing against SQL injection and other hacks, Mobile payment development, jQuery primer, .Net, PHP, Native mobile apps, etc.

There will be a number of sessions within each track, so TechCamp participants will have plenty of  choices for the sessions most beneficial to them.

Everyone is welcome, so whether you are an expert or a newbie in any of these areas and want to learn more and interact with other techie folks, come to TechCamp Memphis!

Joe Spake is a Memphis Real Estate Broker, consultant, blogger,  photographer, and social media activist