InfoCamp Seattle Blog

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“You can’t imagine how refreshing it was to escape the predictable halls of academia, the sterile corporate world and boring confines of a government building,” said one participant after InfoCamp Seattle 2008.

Indeed, the venue for InfoCamp Seattle in 2007 and 2008, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, was a wonderful place to hold an event. But when over 200 people showed up for InfoCamp in 2008, Youngstown was barely big enough. The space squeeze was mentioned often in responses to our post-InfoCamp survey. People said things like, “Some sessions were crowded (but I guess that’s a good thing!)” and “Youngstown is great, but we may be outgrowing it!”

So when we started planning for 2009, we began to search for a new place to hold InfoCamp.

First, we drafted a list of criteria, including:

• Big enough for 200+ participants, with an auditorium, breakout rooms, and a place to eat meals
• Located in Seattle (not suburbs – it is “InfoCamp Seattle,” after all)
• Good parking and/or transportation options
• Wireless internet
• Non-stuffy atmosphere
• Affordability
• Availability of good dates and times

Second, we reviewed answers to the survey question that asked, “What other venues would you suggest for future InfoCamps?”

A wide range of suggestions were offered: local community colleges and universities, convention centers, hotels, neighborhood centers, the Vera Project, the Seattle Center, the central branch of the Seattle Public Library, Discovery Park, the top of the Space Needle, and the Pacific Science Center.

We investigated every suggestion from the survey responses and many others, including the Burke Museum, the ACT Theater, Town Hall, Museum of History and Industry, Georgetown Studios, and the Columbia City Cinema.

None of these, however, met all of our criteria. Rental costs ruled some out, because we want to keep InfoCamp affordable for participants. Other possibilities were dropped after we toured them and found that the size, atmosphere, or layout just wasn’t right for a lively gathering such as InfoCamp.

It was after one of these unsuccessful tours, while gathering in a bar in Georgetown, when we found our solution — the Cleveland High School building!

Michelle, one of InfoCamp’s organizers, who works at Cleveland, threw it out while brainstorming over beers. We noted right away that Cleveland met several of our criteria: it’s in Seattle with a large parking lot (and on a bus line), it has an auditorium and breakout rooms (classrooms), and so on.

On a tour of the facility, we were wowed by the beautiful auditorium that seats up to 500, the large, high-ceilinged classrooms, and the unique atmosphere of the historic building that’s been newly remodeled.

The only drawback that we could see was the rule against alcohol on school property. So, we appreciated the school’s proximity to Georgetown, an ex-saloon town that’s now a neighborhood full of artists, music, and breweries. Within a half mile of the school are a bunch of Georgetown bars and restaurants, where we’re heading for the InfoParty on Saturday night. The price and available dates worked, and we liked the idea of InfoCamp’s operating costs supporting public education in Seattle. So, we decided to go for Cleveland!

We hope that the Cleveland High School building works as well as we think it will for InfoCamp Seattle 2009. As the event approaches, we’ll post more info, including details on how to get there. Please let us know if you have any questions or suggestions about the venue for InfoCamp Seattle 2009!