We hope these questions and answers below will help provide you with the information you're looking for. If you have additional questions, please don't hestitate to ask! We will gladly continue to expand on the FAQs here and welcome your feedback.  You can email us any time at net2@techsoup.org

• Why did we launch the Camps pilot?
• What is our goal with the Camps pilot?
• What does 'pilot' mean?
• What is the difference between a Camp and a campfire event?
• What is the difference between NetSquared Local events and Camps?
• Who's sponsoring the Pilot?
• Is there a Challenge this year?
• Is there a global Conference this year?
• How did you pick the participating cities?
• How can I particpate?
• How can I connect with one of the Camp or campfire events?
• How can I learn more about NetSquared and TechSoup Global?

Why did we launch the Camps pilot?

After a few years hosting a Global Conference in conjunction with our open innovation Challenge, we found that we had a room full of interesting, smart, excited changemakers. But, we also had a huge portion of our global community that couldn't be int he room.

The NetSquared Community is truly global, with over 63 Local groups meeting around the world each month. There are changemakers and innovators in all of those groups with ideas about how to make our world a better place. NetSquared Camps are a way of harnessing that local power and distributing the spotlight of the NetSquared Conference to organizers around the world.

What is our goal with the Camps pilot?

Our vision is for NetSquared Camps to provide a local entry-point for entrepreneurial nonprofits/NGOs, developers and designers to demonstrate projects, build stuff together and forge meaningful collaborations. Building on the success of self-organizing formats like Barcamp and the lessons we've learned in developing an inter-disciplinary approach to conferencing over the last four years, NetSquared Camps bring people, tools, resources and projects together to help accelerate world-changing ideas.

Our goal is to create a process and platform that empowers and supports NetSquared Local organizers to host local/regional NetSquared Camps that catalyze local communities around projects and ideas, connecting people, organizations, resources, and funders.

What does 'pilot' mean?

This first iteration of the Camps model is a pilot in the sense that we are testing the waters, supporting organizers to hold events and try something new, and hoping to learn all that we can.  Being explicit and honest about the fact that this is a pilot will help us gather learnings from organizers and participants, as well as help us focus on documenting our process and experience in near to real time.  We would love for NetSquared Camps to be an ongoing, sustainable, interesting form of convening, but we are also open to the idea that what we learn in this pilot may be that it doesn't work.  We are willing to try and hope you'll join us!

What is the difference between a Camp and a campfire event?

NetSquared Camp events are fully-sanctioned NetSquared events that have a project focus and bring together local innovators and changemakers to build something together.  Camp organizers receive direct organizing support from the NetSquared team in addition to organizing resources and templates.  The campfire module is designed for organizers hosting events that don't need the level of support or resources that the NetSquared Camp model provides, but have an interest in associating their event with the NetSquared community, and promoting content that emerges from the event through NetSquared's global community.

What is the difference between NetSquared Local events and Camps?

Further to our point above about our vision for Camps: The idea of the "Camp" pilot is to experiment with new formats that organizers can take-on as they have local interest and capacity.  We limited the 'pilot' to just a handful of cities to manage quality, and ensure we can stay close to the development for this first round of events to learn and build for the next round.  In short, the difference between a 1 or 2 hour monthly event vs. a day-long 'Camp' is pretty significant.  There's a lot more to work through with regard to (a) logistics (b) content (c) outreach and so on.  All participating cities are already part of the NetSquared Local network, and are interested and invested in helping us remix the concept of a global conference.

Who's sponsoring the Pilot?

We are really thrilled to have the support of our NetSquared Camps Global Partners.  Their contributions have helped support the planning, development and creation of the Camps pilot, including the resources and materials provided to local organizers. The Global Partners are supporting the pilot at the global level; local sponors vary from event to event and provide direct support only to the specific event.  Learn more about the Global Partners.

Is there a Challenge this year?

We are currently in negotiations with various potential partners to launch Partner Challenges in 2010. We hope to learn from the NetSquared Camps Pilot and continue developing the NetSquared Challenge platform with the hope that in the future we can offer the opportunity for local Camps to include Challenges.

Is there a global Conference this year?

NetSquared Camps have been developed in response to the overwhelming and clear call from NetSquared's global Community to create a conference plan that recognizes the global reach of the Community as well as the local strength of organizers and groups. The NetSquared Camps pilot will test our method of distributing the Conference model locally.

How did you pick the participating cities?

Integral to the design of the NetSquared Camps pilot program is the self-nomination of organizers. All paritcipating cities/regions stepped forward to participate and those hosting a Camp will have committed to dedicated hours and planning responsibilities.

How can I particpate?

If you are a Local organizer, contact the NetSquared team to learn more about participating in the next round of the Camps pilot.

If you are a Local group member, contact your organizer to see if your area is hosting a Camp.

If you are a NetSquared Community member, visit the Camps page on the website to learn more about the pilot and opportunities to sponsor, speak, or participate.

How can I connect with one of the Camp or campfire events?

All participating Camp and campfire events will have a page on the NetSquared site, and will include links to the event pages, group contacts, and more.  Use the links in the left side bar to navigate to the event page you are interested in.

How can I learn more about NetSquared and TechSoup Global?

Visit http://netsquared.org or http://techsoupglobal.org

For specific questions, email us at net2@techsoup.org