Over the Air 36 Hours of Mobile Development

31Jan/121

Request For Proposals – Over the Air website update

COMPANY BACKGROUND

If you haven't heard of Over the Air (OTA),  it's an annual mobile developer event that brings together 600+ mobile developers, designers & enthusiasts for two days of technical workshops, inspirational talks, and an overnight Hackday. The 5th annual Over the Air 2011 will be held on Friday & Saturday the 1st & 2nd of June at Bletchley Park - the home of the WWII code-breakers who decrypted the German Enigma machine, the base of Alan Turing 'father of Computer Science', and final resting place of Colossus, the first programmable computer.

The workshops are put together by and for the developer community,  featuring new platforms, operating systems, APIs & SDKs; and tutorial sessions that feature real business cases, new insights and a healthy dollop of inspiration. Attendees are invited to stay overnight so that they can work on ideas, apps and hacks on the fly – to be entered into the various Hackday competition categories and demo’ed on the second day. It’s a great relaxed vibe of bean bags, gadgets, knowledge sharing, hacking & geeking out.Over the Air is run and managed by it’s co-founders: Dan Appelquist, Matthew Cashmore and Margaret Gold.


PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The first three Over the Air events were completely boot-strapped, and as such we built our website on a simple self-hosted Word Press template, and patched it together ourselves as best we could. With the huge success of the fourth year (a record-breaking 600 attendees and our first time in the black) we would like to give back to the community by hiring someone from amongst our midst to help us update the website to something much better than we are capable of ourselves.
The focus is squarely on the website itself  - that’s where the update is required. But although we’re not necessarily looking for a new logo, we would absolutely welcome a refresh of the design or a slightly new interpretation of it.The remit is - be creative! We’d love the website to kick butt.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE WEB SITE
  1. The website must primarily communicate all of the event details for registering, attending and participating in Over the Air.
  2. The clarity of this information, and a logical structure to support it, are foremost
  3. The Over the Air logo must have a strong position on the site throughout, and ideally we’d like to make good use of the pool of high quality photos we have from the last event.
  4. Naturally, the website must also serve as a Sales Tool for the event, attracting registrations and participation, as well as the involvement of financial sponsors.
  5. The secondary purpose is to support the community before, during and after the event via discussion Forums and Groups and other appropriate social media tools that reflect their existing digital presence.
  6. The third purpose is to provide our sponsors with a prominent presence on the website in order to showcase their involvement.
  7. Finally, we have four years of content on the existing website which we want to maintain on the website as an archive of past events.


SPECIFICATIONS

  1. WordPress - The website needs to be maintained by the three of us (mainly Margaret actually), and it needs to preserve the body of content we’ve built up over our four years of existence - it is therefore a requirement of the project that the website remain based on the WordPress platform.
    • But we’re not wedded to any templates or themes. The upgrade can be an interpretation of an existing WordPress theme, a commercially available theme, or a new one designed from scratch.
  2. Static front page - or the ability to assign sticky posts
  3. Mobile - Understandably, the website has to be mobile-friendly.
  4. Facebook & Twitter - The website must incorporate community communication tools (such as BuddyPress or better), and integrate with both Facebook and Twitter.
  5. Community tools - These should support discussion forums, and other sharing mechanisms such as wiki functionality.
    • Potentially BuddyPress if it can be implemented well, but we’re open to suggestions here.
  6. Excellent SEO
  7. Live ‘Help Me’ Form - that is activated during the event only, and can connect straight to the organisers in some fashion for a quick response.
  8. Badges & Buttons - That can be incorporated in external websites to link directly to event registration and to the event website (use case = Sponsors & Media Partners).
  9. Basic Stats - the site must be able to track and report on traffic to the site and where it comes from, across all of the posts and pages
  10. Google Analytics - must be integrated


TOOLS AND FUNCTIONALITIES

  • Essential Details:
    • When, Where, Getting There, Register
  • Menu Items:
    • Programme, Speakers, Hackday Challenges, Sponsors, Blog, Resources
  • Front Page Content
    • news
    • latest article
    • sponsors
    • latest tweets
    • dates
  • quick links to
    • register to attend
    • venue information
    • programme
    • workshop proposal submission
    • speaker information
  • more news
  • articles (think longer form entries created by our speakers, combined with video - like TED)
  • Videos (uploaded in wordpress and brought in from YouTube by tag)
  • photos (brought from flickr automatically by tag)


BUDGET & TIMELINE

  1. Our budget is between £1,500 - £2,500, depending on the scale of the redesign proposed
  2. Once we’ve made a selection, you can dive right in right away, and we’ll pay you half up front and half upon completion of the project.
  3. There is no particular deadline, but reasonable speed will be appreciated.


TERMS AND CONDITIONS

  1. Over the Air Events Ltd must own, have full access to and have the right to customize site code.
  2. Please submit your proposal to all three of us: margaret@overtheair.org, matthew@overtheair.org, and dan@overtheair.org


STAFF RESOURCES

  • Margaret will be your point of contact/ project manager, but all three of us will be involved in all final decisions.
  • There are no other technology staff, vendors or internal staff that you need to work with.


FORMAT FOR PROPOSALS

  • Choose whatever format you feel does your ideas and proposal justice
  • Make sure you cover all the basics: design, costs, testing, number of iterations, time required
  • Please attach your CV or biography, some links to your portfolio and at least one reference
27Jan/120

WhyMCA hackday in Bologna – Feb 4th

On 4th of February 2012 in Bologna reality is going to be hacked. WhyMCA, in collaboration with Microsoft and Nokia, is proud to announce the first Italian hackaton focused on interaction between mobile and reality.
It has been 3 years since Ricardo, Alfredo, Andrea and Paolo (who many of you will have met at OTA10 and OTA11) founded WhyMCA in Italy  as a Mobile Barcamp where professionals and passionate can meet together in an informal event. Since 2009 lot of things have changed and their main focus has moved on to mobile developers and designers - resulting in two developer conferences, four happyhours about cross-platform topics (from mobile gaming to in-app monetization and OpenData) and the first Italian mobile hackathon.

Now the team are ready for the next challenge: Hack Reality, a hackathon where attendees have the opportunity to create hacks on real stuff, mixing together mobile devices with controllers (Arduino, OpenPicus, Netduino), Augmented Reality (Wikitude), games (LEGO MINDSTORMS, Kinect), 3d printing, domotic systems and more. Everything will interact, everything will go mobile, everything in just one day.

The aim is high and tickets have sold out, but we thought you might enjoy watching what more than 80 Italian developers and designers will come up with at the CNR of Bologna on the 4th February.

Visit their site http://www.whymca.org and stay tuned!

 

Riccardo Bosio Riccardo Bosio@ riccardobosio
Alfredo Morresi Alfredo Morresi: @ rainbowbreeze
Andrea Piovani Andrea Piovani@ andreaaa_p
Paolo Sinelli Paolo Sinelli: @ pasine
12Dec/112

Mark the Date – June 1st & 2nd, 2012

We've booked a date for the 5th annual Over the Air, so get it in your calendars now!

Boistered by enthusiastic cheers of approval, we'll once again be holding the event at Bletchley Park, launching the Alan Turing Centenary year celebrations in style...

26Oct/110

Mozilla Festival discount for OTA Attendees

The Mozilla Festival — Media, Freedom And the Web is on it's way to London town, and Dees (@cyberdees) is offering attendees of OTA11 a 50% discount when you choose the Student & Partner Community Member option when registering to attend.

The event will be held at the fantastic Ravensbourne College opposite the O2/Millenium Dome during November 4-6. Think 400+ developers, designers, journalists and kids looking at the Future of Journalism...

And you gotta love their byline: "Less Yak, More Hack"!

http://mozillafestival.org

 

26Oct/110

Power of One discount for OTA Attendees

As an attendee of Over The Air, the organisers of the Power of One Conference are offering a special 50% discount, just use the code OTA when booking at http://p0wer0f1.com (yes, the newsletter said 20% - it's now 50% FTW!)

Power Of One is a celebration of a tipping point. The power is now with the small agile organisation that through technology can change the world. This one day event is designed to motivate and inspire entrepreneurs and developers.

The event will be looking back at past experiences of starting tech businesses from scratch and looking forward to new possibilities and opportunities that abound, and will help you find the best ways to get your ideas heard and how to get funding to turn them into reality.

Tickets are only £99 + VAT (minus 50% with your discount code), which includes the conference, plenty of coffee, food, and a party at the venue after the talks with free beer.

You will also be one of the last people to set foot inside the iconic Battersea Power Station before it closes for long-term for redevelopment.

30Sep/110

The OTA11 Competition Entry Form

The OTA11 Hackday competitions have now opened and the entry form is live. Your submission needs to be made by  lunch at 13:45 so that the judges have time to discuss all of the entries before the live demo's at 14:50.

Mobile apps, mobile web, mobile widgets, mobile device hacks... pretty much anything with a mobile spin is welcome. If you've gotten a brain wave for something that doesn't quite fit - let us know about it anyways, we have an 'other' category for just that purpose.

The demonstrations slots will be 90 seconds - that's right 90 seconds. You have a short time to show us what you've built so go straight for the good stuff. The Marquee will not have wifi, so if this is a crucial part of your hack - let us know in advance so we can set up with a hotspot.

You will be called on stage one at a time to show your stuff, after which the judges will leave to deliberate.

 

28Sep/110

Bring the Kids to Over the Air and visit Family-Friendly Bletchley Park

Competition Presentations at Over the Air 2008Kids have always been welcome at Over the Air. One of our young attendees famously helped to demonstrate an accelerometer-based “sword fighting” game on stage during the competition presentations at our first event, and returned in 2009 to participate in a “teenage dragon's den” panel.

Kids are especially welcome at our Competition Presentations on Saturday October 1st starting at 14:50 in the Marquee Tent. Kids are free to register. Just bring them along to the registration desk when they get here and we will give them an all-access badge for the event. Besides the Over the Air sessions and competition, we are also running free tours of Bletchley Park, and you are also free to visit the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley.

The weather forecast for Friday and Saturday is looking beautiful, making Over the Air 2011 an excellent opportunity to bring the whole family out to Bletchley Park. (Many have told us already that they will be bringing their kids - including the organisers!)

Although we have the Mansion booked out for the event, the Park is situated on 29 acres of lovely green trees & lawns (now just starting to turn), and there are plenty of other things to do and see - for children of all ages as well as adults.

With this weather, you may find yourself spending more time in the children's corner or walking the grounds than in the various museums, but it will still make for a great day out.

Bletchley Park - Block-B Exhibition Centre

Officially opened in June 2004 by HRH The Duke of Kent this exhibition centre, housed within one of the original wartime buildings, tells the 'Complete Bletchley Park Story'. The museum depicts the incredibly complex processes of interception, decryption, translation, interpretation and analysis that were needed to produce the vital intelligence that proved so important in ending the war. Block B houses Stephen Kettle's famous Turing statue, and there is also the orientation room were you can view a short film that offers an overview of the site. It is also home to admissions and the Bletchley Park gift shop.

Check out the Young Codebreakers Zone for some great resources to inspire kids before hand.

The Toys and Memorabilia Collection

A large varied collection of playthings and domestic artefacts related to everyday life in the 1930's to the immediate post-war period. There are toy soldiers, model trains, model vehicles, Britain's lead farm and garden, and make-do-and-mend toys, dolls and teddies. Those who are studying or are interested in the National Curriculum 'Britain since the 1930's' will find this collection of much interest.

Model Railway

Always popular with all our visitors this display features a working model railway, complete with tunnels, miniature trees and junctions.

The Society's club room is open to the public from 12.00 - 16.00 (12.00 - 17.00 in Summer) on most Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year. There are usually two or three layouts in operation, including a 'Thomas' layout which is always popular with children. There are also modelling exhibits and displays about the real railways' contribution to the Second World War.

 

Bletchley Park Garage

There are two 1930's Austins on show from the film The Eagle Has Landed featuring John Standing, a direct descendant of the Leon family. The Talbot and the 1938 Ambulance (now owned by the Trust) were both used in the film Enigma. A 1940's garage forecourt shows the cost of fuel, etc, and tools used during this period. Some post-war cars are displayed to compare design styles and are of much interest to visitors. The garages were built to house the numerous vehicles that came to Bletchley Park every day during WW2, including the vast number of dispatch riders who brought the originals of the coded mesages intercepted at the Y Stations across the country.

And much more:

Bombe Rebuild Project

Enigma Collection

Colossus Rebuild Project


The National Museum of Computing


 

27Sep/113

Free train tickets to Bletchley Park

Photo By stevecadman on flickr

We have some good news. London Midland have kindly worked with us to offer 150 free train tickets to Bletchley Park from London Euston. We have 75 tickets on the Friday and 75 tickets on the Saturday. They are returns that will allow you to travel out on the Friday or Saturday and come back on either day - magic.

There will be a team of Over The Air Runners (look out for the people wearing black t-shirts with the OTA logo on the front and STAFF written on the back) who will have the tickets and details of the trains. They'll be stood right in the middle of the Euston Station just in front of The Body Shop. They will be at the station from 7am until 1pm on Friday and Saturday.

The tickets will be released on a first come first served basis - so get there nice and early for your free train ticket.

If you've not registered yet there are a few places left - head over to the registration page - and remember, you can register at the event and make your donation in cash.

13Sep/110

Camping, Bean bags or hotel?

Bletchley Park by Draco2008, on Flickr

The greatest thing about proper hack days is that you get to work as long, or as little, as you like. I find the small hours of the morning my most productive time - hanging around Bletchley Park overnight at Over The Air is going to be one of the coolest work spaces I've ever used.

The problem is at some point I suspect we'd all like to get our heads down for a couple of hours - so to aid in that I've had a little dig around to find some hotels, and even better, we've arranged with Bletchley Park to allow you to pitch tents on the front lawn. (yeap that nice green bit right in front of the house). You'll also be able to grab a bean bag and find a quiet corner inside the mansion or the marquee - so don't forget your sleeping bag.

If camping is not your thing then there are a few hotels nearby that may be worth considering - we're in no way recommending any of these places - they're just near.

Hotels:

 

10Sep/110

Ignite Bletchley Park

Even if you can't join us for the full OTA11 event, you should definitely try to make it out to Bletchley Park for Friday evening, as we will be introducing an exciting new element to the programme:

Ignite is a global event, organized by volunteers, where participants are given five minutes to speak about their ideas and personal or professional passions, accompanied by 20 slides. Each slide is displayed for 15 seconds, and slides are automatically advanced. The Ignite format is similar to Pecha Kucha, which features 20 slides displayed for 20 seconds each. The presentations are meant to "ignite" the audience on a subject, i.e. to generate awareness and to stimulate thought and action on the subjects- Wikipedia

 

The event-within-an-event is being organised by Ignite Cardiff's  very own Claire Scantlebury, and the submission form is still open for speakers to come along and volunteer to give a five minute talk. The rule is - you can't talk about yourself or your job (so no blatant self-promotion is allowed) but if you're passionate about something or want to talk about something cool and innovative then just fill in the form behind the link above and we'll be in touch.

See you on Friday night!

Opening Speaker - Bill Thompson

We are thrilled to announce that our opening speaker is Bill Thompson of the BBC, who will be taking a philosophical look at the way the proliferation of online and mobile has changed society and will introduce the Digital Public Space as a concept which will potentially change the landscape of society and the internet.

New media pioneer Bill Thompson is a journalist, commentator and technology critic based in Cambridge, England. He has been working in, on and around the Internet since 1984. He contributes to other publications both on and off-line, including The Guardian and The New Statesman. He writes a monthly column for new net users for BBC WebWise, and a technology column for Focus magazine

Bill appears weekly on ‘Click‘ (formerly ‘Digital Planet’ and ‘Go Digital’) on the BBC World Service and occasionally on other BBC radio and television programmes. You can find him online, working in one of Cambridge’s many cafés, or at the bar of the ICA.

http://www.andfinally.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/billt

Ewan Spence

Ewan  is known for his strong views on mobile technology and ensuring assessibility to it all; a love of trivia; the new media landscape on the internet; the effect technology and communication will have on the public conscious and existing businesses.

He has been active in this space for over ten years, working for a number of sites, publications and media companies, some for long periods of time, others for commissions, one-off pieces or a series of articles or shows.

As Scotland’s first podcaster, he's been a prominent voice in the rise of podcasting and new media online, picking up a BAFTA nomination for my coverage of the Edinburgh Fringe along the way.

At Ignite Bletchley Park, Ewan will be talking about 'Everything I ever needed to know about European politics I learned from the Eurovision Song Contest'

www.ewanspence.com
http://twitter.com/#!/ewan

Alistair MacDonald

Alistair is a self-confessed geek with a fascination for transport. By trade he is a real-time software developer and radio travel presenter, two completely different skills that often get mixed up in his "pet projects". Currently Alistair is working with the start-up Usable HQ Ltd.

At Ignite Bletchley Park, Alistair will be talking about 'The Metro Simulator. Simulating a light transport system on a web server'

http://www.agm.me.uk/blog
http://twitter.com/#!/alistair

Terence Eden

Terence Eden has been working on the mobile Internet since long before it was fashionable. He consults on QR codes, mobile strategy, and mobile security matters.

His work has featured in Wired, The Guardian, The Register, and Now Celebrity Weddings.

At Ignite Bletchley Park, Terence will be talking about 'QRpedia - linking museums and Wikipedia with QR codes'.

http://shkspr.mobi/blog/
http://twitter.com/#!/edent

 

James Hugman

James is a geek living in Brighton. Despite being on the internet since 1991, he doesn't have a tan, and is not an anarchist. At Ignite Bletchlye Park, James will be talking about 'The Technologies of a Modern Revolution'.

http://hugman.posterous.com
www.twitter.com/jhugman

Chris Monk

Chris is a carer, educationalist, once a teacher and now volunteer at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park.  He is keen to encourage young people to learn about computing and whenever possible to get them to experience learning outside the classroom.

At Ignite Bletchley Park, Chris will be talking about 'Kids can't code' and has asked that you show your support for the National Museum of Computing by tweeting using #tnmoc.

www.tnmoc.org
www.twitter.com/ChrisMonk_oo

 

Dr Alex Blewitt

Dr Alex Blewitt is passionate supporter of both OSGi and Eclipse, having first been introduced before the release of Eclipse 1.0, and getting involved in the open-source project just before the OSGitransition happened with the release of Eclipse 3.0. He was nominated (and a top three finalist) for Eclipse Ambassador in 2007, as recognition of his contributions as chief editorEclipseZone.

Alex spent many years working with Java, having founded International Object Solutions Limited in 1997, just after Java 1.1 was released. Now he spends his time development on mobile platforms at Bandlem Limited, which he founded in 2010. Alex currently writes for InfoQ covering both OSGi and Eclipse, and continues to develop modular applications in his spare time. His ObjectivEClipseproject was used as the basis for the Sony Snap Developer IDE, and many are using the ZFS port on OSX, which he maintains. In what little time he has left over, he spends with his young family and has been known to take them flying if the weather's nice.

At Ignite Bletchley Park, Alex will be talking about 'Git and Gerrit for Distributed Code Review'.

http://alblue.bandlem.com
www.twitter.com/alblue

Imran Ghory

Imran used to work in the city figuring out how currencies worked, until he discovered that it was much more fun to make up your own job. He now focuses full-time on geeky side-projects, drawing a web-comic and blogging. He accidentally built up expertise in the startup world so occasionally does consultancy and lecturing in the field.

At Ignite Bletchley Park, Imran Will be talking about 'Cracking Cryptics'.

http://www.imranghory.org
www.twitter.com/imranghory

Switch to our mobile site