CenPhoCamp was great, but we gotta keep going

First, a big thanks to Yuri Artibise and Tyler Hurst for conceiving of CenPhoCamp and bringing it to fruition. Sure, there were a few things which could have been done better, but seriously, it was a free event that two guys put together because they love CenPho and what it can become. No one really has room to bitch. Besides, the value it offered to the community was more than worth any rough edges.

It was great to see how many people cared enough about CenPho to take several hours out of their Saturday to come and talk about it. I loved catching up with friends and making new connections. I loved learning from other presenters and learning from the attendees in my session.

A lot was talked about and many ideas were discussed. That’s awesome. But as my wife Tracie pointed out, and as Tyler’s mentioned more than once in a blog post, discussion and ideas aren’t much without actions. CenPhoCamp must be a beginning of more great things, instead of just being a source of awesome discussions.

I heard a lot of ideas in my session and many people made great points. I certainly loved being exposed to all of it, and I need a couple of days to assimilate everything I heard. But in the end, I need to find an idea which can turn into DOING. I hope other attendees will do the same.

  • For what it's worth, I'm already doing tonight.

    How do we begin to measure whether things actually get done from these conferences ? If it's measurable, we can tell what works and what doesn't.
  • I'm not really sure how, or even if, we can quantitatively measure outcomes from an event like CenPhoCamp. Maybe we don't. Maybe the real measurement is the public consensus as to what CenPho is. If a lot of work happens but many residents of the valley still view downtown as a wasteland that's deserted after dark, then the number of lots filled in, the number of businesses opened and the number of events held doesn't matter. But if we do manage to really change the public view of CenPho, then the amount of work, large or small, is worth it.
  • We need to find our Cheers.
  • We have our cheers.. It's called Gangplank. Of course, you probably think it's too far.
  • Gangplank is a good place, but for some it is too far. It's 42 miles from my house, nor is it easily accessible by public transit. So for me, it is too far.

    Yes, moving Gangplank to a location directly on the new BRT route which connects with light rail will help with the transit accessibility, but it's still out of the way for anyone who doesn't live in the east valley.
  • Currently location is technically on the BRT route. We walked to the ground breaking. Metro Phoenix spans over 144sq miles. There is no such thing as "central" or "close". It's about making hard decisions to get the things you want. We chose to put Gangplank where the most people who would use it are located.
  • Ah, I forgot that the current Gangplank is actually straight north of the new location.

    I've hoped for the West Valley to get some momentum behind attracting more tech companies and people, but that doesn't seem to be happening. For better or for worse, the East Valley is the tech side of the area.

    Social media helps take away a lot of the geographic barriers that Phoenix has been faced with, but it can't take away all of them. There's still a lot to be said for being close to where most of the people and resources in your field are located.
  • You can't cater to everyone. There are plenty of things people give up to live when they choose.
  • Gangplank is still intimidating to a lot of people.
  • People will make excuses. That is one of the lamest ones.
  • In Phoenix, social media is our Cheers in many ways. But we still need to get together face-to-face.
  • Oh, and the more you hold people to what they say, the more likely it will actually get done.
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