How do I organize my own THATCamp?
There’s plenty of advice for THATCamp organizers in our Help documents. After you’ve read through that and looked through some old THATCamp websites in our THATCamp Directory (try filtering for past THATCamps), why then you can go right ahead and register a new THATCamp.
All THATCamp organizers must agree to abide by THATCamp policies, which include an anti-harassment policy. See also “Is my event a THATCamp” below.”
Is THATCamp a nonprofit organization?
No, THATCamp is not a registered nonprofit; it has no official organizational existence. The “THATCamp” name and logo are trademarked; the trademark was originally held by George Mason University (which is itself of course a nonprofit) but has been transferred (in 2015) to the Corporation for Digital Scholarship. The trademark allows control over who can use the “THATCamp” name and logo, but they are licensed to anyone who agrees to the (easy) terms on our Registry page. (See also below.) Each THATCamp raises its own funds, recruits its own volunteers, and is run in its own manner. THATCamp is hyper-decentralized: the only full-time THATCamp employee ever was Dr. Amanda French, THATCamp Coordinator for 2010-2014. Her salary was paid for by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. All original THATCamp code is GNU-licensed, and all original THATCamp text, images, audio, and video are Creative Commons-licensed.
Is my event a THATCamp?
The term “THATCamp,” as mentioned above, is trademarked. You can call your event a THATCamp as long as you register it and agree to the terms, which are as follows:
I agree that our THATCamp will be…
- FREE or CHEAP to attend (registration fees of up to $30 USD are fine)
- OPEN to anyone who wishes to apply or register (no restricting registration to members of a particular institution, association, organization, discipline, or rank)
- PUBLIC on the open web (sessions can be blogged, twittered, photographed, recorded, and posted)
- SELF-ORGANIZING (no program committee: all participants together will set the agenda, either before or during the unconference)
- PARTICIPATORY and spontaneous (most sessions are group discussions, productive co-working sessions, or joyous collaborations of any kind; there should be few if any prepared, monologuing presentations, papers, or demonstrations with the exception of skills training workshops, and even workshops should generally allow for hands-on exercises by the group)
- SAFE for and welcoming to all participants; THATCamps are required to adopt our anti-harassment policy and to abide by its procedures.
How do I sponsor THATCamp?
Sponsorships are available to corporations and non-profits. See our Sponsors page for a list of past THATCamp sponsors and for more information about the benefits of sponsoring THATCamp.
Any other questions about THATCamp? Post them on the THATCamp forums and someone from the community will reply within a couple of days.
