Check out this brief but powerful video created by Bill Selak about the Edcamp phenomenon. In our view, it does an excellent job capturing the essence of the Edcamp experience. Well done, Bill!

Edcamp Chairman Dan Callahan presented this talk at the Summer 2012 Massachusetts Teacher Association conference. It’s brief but Dan does a terrific job sharing the Edcamp story and ethos! Well done, Mr. Chairman!

(click to watch online)

On Tuesday, November 13th, at 7pm EST, an experienced panel of Edcamp Organizers will share tips, tricks, and guidance about the “finances” of an Edcamp event.

How do you set up a bank account?

What are the best ways to get sponsors?

Learn that and more in this half hour Google Hangout.

To join the Hangout online, click here.

[From the Edcamp NJ Organizing team]

Dear edcampNJ Registrants,

edcampNJ is less than a month away and we are making final preparations for this exciting professional development opportunity. While we will not be deterred from these important preparations, we are sensitive to the difficulties that many of our schools are experiencing due to the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.

With this in mind, we are organizing an opportunity for all participants to donate to support our schools’ recovery while showing their support for edcampNJ. Please visit edcampNJ.org site to purchase an edcampNJ shirt with a Hurricane Sandy Relief message on the back. All funds above the cost of the shirt will go toward providing supplies to schools in need in New Jersey. Deadline to order shirt is by Sunday, November 11, 2012.

In addition, we have also collectively established the #NJED Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Drive to help educators in their time of need. Please visit this website http://www.teachercast.net/hurricanesandy. If you are in a district in need of support or supplies, simply fill out the form and you will be included in this project. If you are able to help a school, please view the spreadsheet and reach out to help. We are all in this together.

We look forward to seeing everyone on December 1st at Linwood Middle School in North Brunswick. It promises to be an exciting day and an opportunity for NJ educators to learn and to show their NJ strength, spirit, and determination.

Sincerely,

The edcampNJ Team

Interested in learning more about running an Edcamp? Watch the first Edcamp Organizer On Air Hangout with Edcamp Organizers across the country. This 30 minute event covers topics such as: getting sponsorship, finding a team, securing a venue, and running an Edcamp within your school. More Edcamp Organizer On Air Hangouts are coming soon!

… for being so generous!

Dan Callahan, Chairman of the Edcamp Foundation Board of Directors shares the exciting news: “We are thrilled to announce our first strategic partnership. SmartBrief, Inc. is a provider of educational newsletters on a wide variety of topics (including education), and is home of the brand new Education SmartBlog. In addition to providing a generous donation of funds that will allow us to reopen our Mini-Grant program soon, SmartBrief will be providing free advertising for Edcamps targeted at local SmartBrief newsletter subscribers, to increase event attendance and therefore help advance the Edcamp movement.”

SmartBrief‘s free newsletters are read by nearly three million people in 25 key industries every day. Popular topics that will likely be of interest to those reading this announcement include Education, Leadership, Social Media, Technology and more.

Please show your support for SmartBrief by signing up for these high-quality, timely newsletters and encouraging others to do the same!

We will soon provide instructions explaining how Edcamps can run geo-targeted ads promoting their events on select SmartBrief newsletters. These ads will enable Edcamp organizers to to reach influential education decisionmakers in their target area. This is huge, and it represents the first time Edcamps will be advertised outside of normal social media channels.

We are very, very excited about our partnership with SmartBrief and we are convinced the geo-targeted advertising will improve attendance at local Edcamps, helping advance the movement.

Thank you, SmartBrief!