We can all agree that THATCamp.org and its network of attached sites is pretty great, but it has been around for a while and the concept of what (and where) a THATCamp could be has expanded a lot.  If we could start from ground 0 and build a new THATCamp.org knowing what we know now about how the events happen, who does them,  and what they can produce, how could we build something different? What ways could we build a new site network that does the best job it can do, not just at organizing us,  but also at:

• Teaching lessons learned at THATCamp
• Making information thought, recorded and experienced easily available and easy to find regardless of camp site
• Promotion of the camps and the information from them
• Allowing campers to be iterative and not repetitive.
• Provide a central area to release, maintain, and work on post-camp projects
• Whatever else you can think of

Another way to help think of this is the upcoming release of the WordPress API gives us an opportunity to ask: what would a THATCamp or DH API look like?

A place to start on APIs: github.com/jheising/HAPI/blob/master/README.md

Our resulting docs: docs.google.com/document/d/1MrHAR32hPhi_wNQmundrJaauneyyt6l7P_jJkXYgY-4/edit?usp=sharing 

If I remember right, it was Brian Croxall who suggested a session at a prior THATCamp of “Are we STILL FUCKING TALKING ABOUT THIS?!?!?!?!”

I respect the question. For future DH conversation, maybe a session with the only product (I love products from THATCamps!) being a list of questions that have been asked, debated, ruminated on, returned to, revisited, manifestoed (that’s a verb now), rinsed and repeated for a while.

Idea is to let lots of people know: questions that recur; who’s been involved in those conversations, openings to move forward on them.

What’s a good structure/practice/principle/whatever for continued DH training? Workshops at THATCamp have worked well, and I think make sense, both for newcomers to DH and for veterans. As new tools and techniques emerge, is there a good meta-practice for keeping training in new stuff a need?

By comparison, once upon a time the idea of ‘keeping up with current scholarship’ made sense. I don’t think it does. So, in DH, does ‘keeping up with current tools/technologies/techniques’ make sense?

What do such questions mean for all the people applying for and getting newly-funded DH jobs in academia?

all, i won’t be able to join you until friday after lunch, so i’ll miss the initial planning session (i may be able to check in on twitter for parts of the morning). i also don’t have a fully-fleshed-out proposal to offer. that’s partly ’cause i’m not quite sure how this thatcamp will go. we seem to have a smallish group and we also have a stated mission of thinking about or providing some of what those beyond the beginner level might need in a thatcamp, but here are some topic ideas.

on the theme:

• are we experiencing thatcamp fatigue? how to keep thatcamp interesting over the years?
• how about twitter fatigue as well? where do we turn now? if we build it, will they come?

related, i worry that the feeling of a hopeful and energizing convergence that i and some others experienced a number of years ago, through thatcamp, the dh twitter community, etc., is dissipating. maybe it’s inevitable, but what comes next?

• digital humanities is expanding, contracting, fragmenting, fracturing, sometimes infighting, and still learning its way. i’d love to have a chance to just talk about this, think about it out loud, brainstorm about what to do and where to look next. how long will digital humanities remain a viable category?
• i was hoping we could talk about the disciplines, inter/trans/post-disciplinary, and how digital humanities practice is emerging differently within them. how do we address the disciplines without getting stuck within them? (my own approach to life, the universe and everything is pretty interdisciplinary, and i’ve definitely experienced the digital humanities as a site of inter- and cross-disciplinary insight that i’d hate to lose.)
• speaking of disciplines: it looks like we have a lot of historians signed up. let’s talk about digital history, or do some digital history. on twitter, peter jones suggested making a twitter bot. i’ve read up on this a little but haven’t done it, and would be glad to collaborate on a history-related twitter bot.

other topics:

• if @edsu is willing i’d love to learn about his ferguson twitter archive and the workshops that he and others held at mith, as an engaged examples of public humanities and public history in the making.
• i’d also love to talk about critical making if anyone else is interested (i’ve signed up to write an article by the end of the summer) but i mean this in the broadest possible way: hacker labs, 3d printing, soft circuits, educational games, etc. not sure how the socks i’m knitting are “critical” making but i’ll have them with me so maybe that will fit in also.

(also, can i suggest a slight re-group and planning during the saturday morning caffeine session?)

looking forward to input from others here and on twitter, and seeing you guys tomorrow afternoon.

susan
@footnotesrising on twitter

THATCamp will be in Hazel Hall (aka the law school), on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Coffee, light breakfast, swag, and session planning will be will be at room 332. There is access to the parking garage between Washington and Fairfax streets.

THATCamp Prime will take a different approach to THATCamps by specifically inviting and appealing to experienced Digital Humanists.

The generous grant from the Mellon Foundation that fostered the development of THATCamp was designed specifically to help introduce newcomers to the Digital Humanities. Seven years, over 200 THATCamps, and countless campers later, we want to take a fresh look at THATCamp and DH by shifting from an emphasis on the needs of new DHers to thinking about what needs, projects, and conversations experienced DHers needs. As a THATCamp, it is, of course, open to all; we hope that the emphasis will make the activities very interesting for everyone!

THATCamp Prime will also be held in a new location: the Arlington campus of George Mason University.

Registration is now open! I hope to see you June 26 and 27!

Some info for travelers seeking nearby lodging.

There’s a new THATCamp being planned! The details will be published here when known. Meanwhile, read more about the THATCamp movement and browse other THATCamps at thatcamp.org.