One of the things I love about putting together a BarCamp is that those who attend a BarCamp are responsible for making the event what they want it to be.

BarcampMilwaukee4 is going to be a lot more of an Unconference than usual. We're busting to make it a great event, but economic realities have made the "participatory" element of Barcamp more important than ever.

So let it be said, that you, dear Barcamp attendee, are responsible for making Barcamp into an experience that you will enjoy. Think about what you need to ensure you're going to be comfortable, connected, and engaged-- and then bring those things. Or make arrangements to bring those things. Or bring money to buy those things. Just don't expect that those things are going to show be there for you.

I plan to bring my own coffee pot, coffee maker, cooler of drinks, a power strip, cables, chairs, and tables, I also plan to bring some snacks, coffee, and things to share.

That's the thing about a participatory conference, right? It's not just about the Law of Two Feet and about getting great gifts of knowledge and t-shirts from your community. For Barcamp to work, you have to give back, too. If everybody took care of their own needs, and then ensured that they were also contributing to the comfort, connection and engagement of their neighbor, Barcamp could be held in a dark cave on top of a flagpole, and it would be great.

The organizers of BarcampMilwaukee, great people like Jenn, Ashe, Pete and Kevin, have given largely of themselves this year, and I, for one, am going to work as hard as I can to ensure that I live up to the standard of giving of themselves (and their time and their effort) that these folks, my friends, have set.

Will you?

Sometimes, I just can't believe that @AsheDryden puts up with Pete and Me. Well... me.

Anyway, I've agreed to take on the title of "T-Shirt Czar" for Barcamp Milwaukee 4. This is a thankless job, because it will be nigh impossible to follow in the footsteps of the mighty Mike Rohde, but the good news is that I'm not actually going to try.

Here's the thing: With the caliber of designers involved in Web414-- BarcampMKE's sponsor organization-- I can manage this T-shirt thing and hopefully let the designer do the design work-- let me run around making the phone calls and moving the data.
So watch this space for t-shirt contest ideas. If you're a hot-shit designer in the Milwaukee space, shoot me a note, because otherwise I'm going to end up designing the t-shirt and it will probably have skulls or birds or pirates on it. That's supposed to be discouragement, people.

Let the t-shirt ideas flow, friends. Lets go!