Participant information

AdaCamp is an event that brings together people interested in issues facing women in open technology and culture, to share their experiences and develop ways to support and promote women in the field. The first AdaCamp event will be held in Melbourne, Australia on January 14 2012, and further events are being planned for other locations in the future.

• Attending AdaCamp
• The event
• Meals and social events
• Venue
• Transport and accommodation
• Accessibility
• Childcare
• Emergency and local services contacts for attendees
• Event policy

Attending AdaCamp

AdaCamp will have an exciting, inspiring mix of people from various parts of the “open technology and culture” world, each of whom brings something special to the event:

• work in open technology and culture: any field involving open/grassroots/community participation and sharing the results of your work for free (see our list of open technology and culture fieldsfor examples)
• can share information about women’s experiences in that field, including talking about women’s achievements and the challenges they face
• want to work together and share strategies to support and promote women in the field
• share the Ada Initiative’s feminist approach to supporting and promoting women in open technology and culture
• are young and old; students, professionals and hobbyists; from a diverse range of backgrounds; and reflect the breadth of the “open technology and culture” field.

Unfortunately, applications to attend AdaCamp Melbourne closed on Wednesday December 14. We can no longer accept additional applications. If you are interested in announcements of future AdaCamps please follow our RSS feed or join our low traffic announcement mailing list.

The event

Date: Saturday January 14.
Time: 9am registration, 9:30am start, concluding 5pm.

AdaCamp will take the format of a one-day “unconference”. We’ll come together in the morning for introductions and planning, and then split off into participant-led groups to discuss subjects of interest. Anyone and everyone can run a session, and all are encouraged to take part in this way. The schedule will be informal, and anyone will be able to add a session to it throughout the day.

Sessions may include open discussions, presentations, tutorials, hack sessions, or any other format. At the end of the day, we will come back together to discuss what we’ve learned and plan future steps.

Meals and social events

AdaCamp will be providing tea, coffee, and snacks during the day. For lunch, participants can explore the adjacent organic farmer’s market and nearby cafes, and are welcome to eat outside or bring their meal back to the conference rooms to eat.

There is a Geek Girl Dinner planned for the evening of January 14th, which AdaCamp participants are welcome to attend. Please see the Girl Geek Dinner page for more information. The Girl Geek Dinner is not an official part of AdaCamp. Please register and pay separately at the event page.

Venue

AdaCamp will be held at CERES Community Environment Park, in Melbourne’s inner northern suburbs.

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Address: Corner Roberts and Stewart Streets, Brunswick East, Victoria, 3057

Most of the day’s sessions will be held in CERES’s Van Raay Conference Centre. Some sessions may also be held at other nearby locations.

CERES is close to the 96 tram line from the CBD, and is located along the Merri Creek bike trail. We recommend public or human-powered transportation to get to this event. Parking is available at CERES and in the surrounding streets, however it will most likely be in high demand on a Saturday.

Transport and accommodation

This particular AdaCamp has been timed to occur just before linux.conf.au 2012, Australia’s largest open source software conference. We expect that some AdaCamp attendees will be travelling from overseas for that reason. You can find more information about LCA transport/accommodation on their website; the following is specific to AdaCamp only.

To get to Melbourne, fly in to Tullamarine Airport, then take the SkyBus to Melbourne’s central business district (CBD). Note that there is no good public transport to/from the airport, and taxis may cost up to $40; the SkyBus is by far the best option.

The venue is in the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne, approximately 6km from the central business district (CBD). It is located about 500m from the end of the number 96 (East Brunswick) tram line. The 96 tram runs approximately every 15 minutes on a Saturday, and takes about 20 minutes. Trams and tram stops on this line are not wheelchair accessible. Timetables are available online.

CERES is also on the Merri Creek bike path and offers extensive bike parking. Car parking is more limited, but is available onsite and in the surrounding streets. Disabled parking, as well as a short term drop off/pick up space close to the accessible entrance to the conference centre, are available. Please see Accessibility, below.

Any city hotel should provide easy access to the event, especially those close to the 96 tram, which runs along Bourke St in the city and then north along Nicholson St. We can’t recommend any particular hotels and don’t have any special rates, but some you might consider include:

• Jasper Hotel (operated by the YWCA)
• Melbourne Central YHA Hostel (affiliated with Hostelling International)

Please note that the Australian Open is happening in Melbourne the week after AdaCamp. At the time of writing, hotel rooms are readily available at normal rates around the 14th, however, availability and rates may become more difficult/expensive as the date approaches, so we encourage you to book soon. Participants will be invited to join a mailing list prior to the event, where they will be able to discuss room sharing, ride sharing, and similar strategies. If you are booking a hotel room, please consider booking one with two beds and sharing with another attendee.

Accessibility and related notes

The main entrance to CERES Van Raay Conference Centre has stairs, while a rear entrance offers a partially-sloped entry suitable for wheelchairs or others with mobility issues. Disabled parking is available at the main entrance to the park, but since Saturday is a market day at CERES availability may be limited. A drop-off/pick up point near the conference centre’s accessible entrance is available for our use, by arrangement. Please contact us if you would like to use this.

A disabled toilet facility is immediately next door to the conference centre.

The Conference Centre is passively cooled, i.e. does not have air conditioning. Passive solar features, fans and natural airflow cool the rooms in hot weather. The likelihood of extremely hot weather at this time in January is quite low. If the weather is very hot, we have been told that the venue should be about 10 degrees celsius cooler inside than outside. However, please be aware of this and dress appropriately.

The venue’s rooms are relatively small and the maximum number of attendees will be 40.

We will not be using a PA system. No hearing aid loop is available.

If you have any specific questions about accessibility or related needs, please email adacamp@adainitiative.org.

Childcare

As a small event, we are not able to offer childcare. However, parents of infants are welcome to bring them along. A bathroom with a change table is available nearby. An adjacent kitchenette can provide hot water but no other facilities are available for heating bottles. Breastfeeding is, of course, welcome.

CERES is a great venue for a family outing, so if you have a co-parent or other adult who can look after your kids, they may enjoy the displays and activities on offer while you are at AdaCamp. See the CERES website for more information. Parents who wish to arrange shared child-minding or joint family activities are welcome to do so on the attendees’ mailing list.

Emergency and local services contacts

In an emergency or crisis during AdaCamp or your stay in Melbourne, you may wish to contact the following services:

• Emergency services (police, ambulance, fire brigade): dial 000 (free call) and ask for the service you need.
• Emergency services for hearing impaired people: a TTY service is available on 106.
• Sexual assault crisis line: 1800 806 292 (free call from fixed-line phones).
• Mental health advice line: 1300 280 737
• Emergency department, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Grattan Street, Parkville.

Medical contacts for non-emergencies on the weekend:

• Nurse On-Call (non-emergency triage and advice): 1300 60 60 24
• General practice clinics open on weekends in the AdaCamp area:
  • Brunswick Betta Health, (Sat and Sun 8am to 8pm), 30 Sydney Road Brunswick, phone 03 9380 2866.
  • Brunswick Medical Group, (Sat and Sun 9am to 11am, urgent issues only), 4 Blyth St Brunswick, phone 03 9387 1977.
• After-hours home visits are available from After Hours GP (Sat afternoon and night, all day and all night Sunday), phone 03 8341 1888.

Transport:

• Melbourne Metlink (public transport information): call 131 638.
• Taxis: 13CABS (call 13 2227 or 03 9277 3877 for wheelchair taxis).

AdaCamp staff may be contacted at adacamp@adainitiative.org if you have queries or problems we can assist with.

Event policy

AdaCamp Melbourne is a private event and attendance at AdaCamp is at sole discretion of the Ada Initiative.

AdaCamp Melbourne is dedicated to a harassment-free conference experience for everyone. Please refer to our anti-harassment policy for more information.

The Participant information by Ada Initiative, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.