WordCamp Louisville 2012

Scott Hack, who participated in StartUp Weekend Louisville with me, was kind enough to point me to info about WordCamp Louisville-- All day on October 13 at the Holiday Inn Louisville East1325 South Hurstbourne Parkway. 

I'm a Blogger user, and even on Blogger, I am very conservative with what I do. But WordPress is used for all kinds of web development (even, I am told, our CityAnchor site... isn't it sad that I don't know for sure?). 

From the WordCamp website:

WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress, the free and open source personal publishing software that powers over 25 million sites on the web.... WordCamps are attended by people ranging from blogging newbies to professional WordPress developers and consultants, and usually combine scheduled programming with unconference sessions and other activities.

The schedule is packed and looks great for people with short attention spans:

• 8 to 8:45 Check in, Network, meet fellow attendees and nosh on a light breakfast.
• 8:45 to 9AM Opening Remarks from Organizer and message from Jason Clark with VIA Studio
• 9:10 to 9:45AM – WordPress and E-commerce ( Johnathan Davis )
• 9:50 to 10:25AM – Foundation of Plugins and Themes ( Tammy Hart )
• 10:30 to 11:00 – Deploying WordPress ( Jason McCreary and Nick Temple )
• 11:05 to 11:35 – Frameworks and Child Themes ( Bill Rice )
• 11:40 to 12:15 – How not to suck as a freelancer ( Drew Poland )
• 12:15 to 1:15 LUNCH
• 1:20 to 1:55 – WordPress Security ( Juston Jones )
• 2:00 to 2:30 – WordPress Mobile ( Hal Bugriss )
• 2:35 to 3:05 – 24 Ways to Make WordPress FAST ( Jason McCreary )
• 3:10 to 3:45 – The State of HTML5 ( Wesley Reitz )
• 3:50 to to 4:25 – bbPress : Plugin development done right ( Pippin Williamson )
• 4:30 to 5:00 –
• 5:00 to 5:10 – Wrap up!
• 5:30 to ???? – After party at TBD

I'll be working at Flea Off Market with my Louisville, Not Kentucky peeps, otherwise I'd go. It's only $20, and as Scott says, "like most conferences, material between sessions and networking are just as valuable..."

At risk of sounding like a broken record and being "that person" in the Louisville Tech/Start-up scene... I have to point out... eleven fantastic speakers/presenters... but only ONE woman. 

For more information, visit: http://2012.louisville.wordcamp.org/

Who's In Town: National Archery in the Schools National Tournament

The National Archery in the Schools Program started in Kentucky in 2002 and has worked to advocate adding competitive archery into schools' PE programs ever since. They provide 4th-12th grade curricula that follow National Physical Education Standards to schools and mentor and recruit coaches of International Style Target Archery.

And they're in town from May 11 - 12 for their National Tournament.  I asked John Gautier of the NASP a few questions about their visit.

And let's just get this out of the way, I did not fall down on my job as your favorite blogger (or second favorite?... third?... just 'area blogger'?). I asked the folks from the National Archery in the Schools National Competition if the HUNGER GAMES was driving kids in droves to the sport of archery.  Jon's response, "We feel that NASP has contributed to the popularity of Archery, so the exact opposite of what the media announces. Archery has been around for a very long time and NASP has been in the works for just over 10 years." I'm not sure what that means. Does he mean that the NASP has made archery so popular that Suzanne Collins included it as Katniss's hobby?

The rest of the interview was equally... terse... But still, it sounds like a fantastic-- HUGE-- event! And, what a spectacle it probably is. It's at the Expo Center. I'm sorry I can't give you more information but their website is also... clear as mud.

LOU: What goes on during the tournament? Can you give us a brief overview of the event?

Gautier: The Nationals is a culminating event. NASP archers from all over the US have competed at the Regional & State level tournaments and advanced to the Nationals. The NASP World tournament at ESPN's Wide World of Sports follows this event in October each year and draws NASP archers & teams from the US, Canada, New Zealand & South Africa.

LOU: The website refers to the event as "Where Olympic Journeys Begin"-- just how close are the medal-winners to earning a spot on the Olympic team?

We have partnered with the US Olympic Committee to help promote the 2012 Olympics, NASP archers have a very good chance of advancing in Archery as they are receiving an excellent start with NASP.

LOU:  How many competitors do you expect? How many people total?

A. Over 8,100 NASP Student Archers

LOU:  Can the public attend this event? If so, what would be the most exciting time for someone to attend?
A. Yes, it is open to the public, there is a nominal gate fee per person per day. The most exciting time would at anytime, however the very last competitive flight that leads up to the Scholarship shoot off will be feature as well as the awards ceremony.

WHO'S IN TOWN?: KY State Rabbit Breeders Association Kentucky Cup

MINI-BUNNY (click photo for source)

For the second installment of Loueyville's new series WHO'S IN TOWN? the more important answer to the question is this:


BUNNIES!! Lots and lots of sweet, little, cute, cuddly, soft, fuzzy bunny rabbits. These aren't even your run-of-the-mill cutie-patootie bunnies-- these are champion bunnies. These are gold-medal-worthy bunnies.

What a soothing, delightful alternative to the sometimes nerve-jangling Thunder over Louisville airshow, huh? Go out to the fair grounds and see some bunnies? Sounds like a good plan to me.

The Kentucky Cup is from 8am-4pm and is open to the public at the West Pavilion of the Expo Center.

I had some questions about the Kentucky Cup, and Christy Frey-- vice-president of the Kentucky State Rabbit Breeders Association was nice enough to answer them.

LOU: The Expo Center's calendar lists the event as the "Kentucky State Mini Rabbit Breeders Convention." And that confused me. I assumed it was a convention of "mini-rabbit" breeders. But from your website I take it to mean it's a "mini-convention." Can you clear this up for me? Also, there is such things as mini-rabbits, right?

CHRISTY FREY: You are correct about the name. It is the KSRBA Mini Convention. We are also calling it the Kentucky Cup. The smallest breed of rabbit is the Netherland Dwarf and Brititannia Petite. Their maximum weight is 2 1/2 lbs. The largest rabbits are the Flemish Giants, Giant Angoras, French Lops and Checkered Giants. Their maximum weight can be over 20 lbs.


What goes on during the Convention? Can you give us a brief overview of the event?

During the show, American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) sanctioned judges will be judging one breed at a time to see which rabbit is the closest to that breeds standard. There is 47 unique breeds recognized by the ARBA. Hopefully we will have many of these breeds at the show. These 47 breeds are distinguished by color, size, and many other characteristics.


How many breeders do you expect? How many rabbits? 

We do not have an exact number, but we are expecting many rabbits and exhibitors from many different states.


Why did you choose Louisville for this event?

We chose Louisville for the location. It is centrally located in KY and has I-64 & I-65. Also the fairgrounds has an excellent facility. We have been advertising the Thunder over Louisville and other tours of famous places around Louisville for the exhibitors to look into doing. The show will be starting at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. It should run late into the afternoon.


Welcome to town Rabbit breeders (and more importantly, your RABBITS!!)! Enjoy Louisville. The KSRBA website is here: http://www.ksrba.webs.com/


Want to know more about the WHO'S IN TOWN? series on Loueyville? Click here. Our last installment was about Handbell Ringers. Read that here.

WHO'S IN TOWN? Handbell Ringers April 12-15

When I saw that the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers Area V Spring Festival-- aka "Bellebration"-- was coming to Louisville next weekend, my little head went kablooey! What the...? Who ARE these people? How can there be such a thing? I was delighted... "delighted"doesn't even begin to cover it. I am endlessly fascinated with people who are devoted to obscure things.

I immediately hit their website and read up on their many competitions, scholarships, youth initiatives. And the idea for this new series-- WHO'S IN TOWN?-- was born. Because if the handbell ringers had come and gone and I was none the wiser... I would have been bummed out.

And honestly, who knows how obscure the handbells really are? This season on the Zooey Deschanel show "The New Girl" an entire episode centered around a handbell competition. Maybe Zooey can do for the handbells what other Manic Pixie Dream Girls have gone for the ukulele.

I fired off an email to the Handbell Ringers to see if I could find out more about the upcoming Bellebration, and I got this fantastic response from Area 5 Secretary, Wendy Ransom.  

LOU: What goes on during Bellebration? Can you give us a brief overview of the event? 

WENDY: Bellebration is a handbell festival hosted by Area 5 of Handbell Musicians of America (There are 12 areas that make up the national organization).  Area 5 covers a five state area-Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and West Virginia. Handbell choirs from all over the 5 states will gather in Louisville for a 2 day event featuring a combination of massed rehearsals and hands-on classes on various handbell techniques. Approximately 400 musicians are expected.

The event has two levels of handbell musicians. Tins who perform generally easier music and Coppers who perform more complex or difficult music. Each group has 2 unique pieces they perform on their own and then 3 pieces for the entire massed choir. The groups rotate through divisional rehearsal, massed rehearsal and then time in classes. Classes include topics such as, basic ringing technique, high bell technique including four in hand, bass bell technique, musicality, handbells in worship, and others. (note- bells range in size from approximately 2" in diameter weighing less than a pound to approximately 11" in diameter and weighing 11lbs. Different sizes have different techniques.)

Why did you choose Louisville? 

We aim to rotate the annual festivals around the 5 state area to make them accessible to members. We host 2 each spring and aim to host them in areas in opposite locations. Our other festival this year was held in Akron, Ohio on March 16 & 17. It is also a bit about price and what any given city has to offer in a convention center. The event is short. It begins on Friday at 4 and is over by 6pm on Saturday. Having dining options in the vicinity of a convention center is important due to the need for 400 people to get out, eat, and get back to the event in a relatively short amount of time. It is also nice to have an entertaining city for those who opt to stay over Saturday night and return home on Sunday.

Aside from your Bellebration events, what are you most looking forward to doing while you're in town? 

It has been a number of years since we hosted our event in Lousiville so we are looking forward to heading to a different city and a generally bigger one than our usual venues.

Are there any events associated with Bellebration that the public can attend? 

Yes our closing concert is open to the public. It is at 5:30pm on Saturday the 14th at the Kentucky International Convention Center. The concert will run approximately one hour. Seating is general seating and our concerts are usually well attended.

You can learn more about the guild at http://handbellmusicians.org/ and more specifically about Area 5  http://area5.handbellmusicians.org/

Glass Arts Society Conference 2010: Louisville Glasses up for GAS

You can put art right up there on the list of things I know nothing about (also on the list: technology, theater, and 'birthin' no babies.').  I'm grateful to have attended a university that required all students to take an art appreciation course in order to graduate, but my formal art education ends there.  So my appreciation for art begins and ends at "I like what I like."

It used to be that I didn't particularly like glass arts, but the fact that Louisville is a glass-arts-rich community, with Glassworks and Flame Run leading the charge, has done much to change that.  Last Friday's Downtown Trolley Hop, in particular, introduced some truly exquisite glass arts exhibits in advance of this weekend's 40th annual Glass Arts Society Conference. 

Most of the Market Street exhibits will be up through the summer, so I urge you to get out there and check them out.  Of particular note, in my opinion, is the joint exhibit at Zephyr and Swanson Reed called "Glass Uprising."  

As I said, I like what I like when it comes to art, and usually what I like lends itself to the spooky/moody side.  Give me an exhibit that looks like stuff that came out of the twisted little mind of Spike from "Toy Story 2," and I'm usually on board.  At Zephyr, the work of Stephen Paul Day and Sibylle Paretti gave me the good creeps.  Tim Tate's multimedia/tech/glass work at Swanson Reed was both eerie and darkly humorous (The sculpture "My Love Live Thus Far" featured a tiny video screen endlessly looping the implosion of an enormous brick building.).  Check out the "Glass Uprising" link above to view some of their work.

The fact that Louisville is a glass-arts-rich community makes it a no-brainer to host the 40th annual Glass Arts Society Conference.  The list of exhibits associated with the 3-day event is impressive and exciting.  Seems like just about every gallery and museum in town has gotten on board with this event.  

Other events associated with the conference include a Glass Armonica Ballet Performance by the Louisville Ballet Civic Company.  (Fun Fact: the Glass Armonica-- one of the creepiest-sounding instruments ever created-- was invented by Benjamin Franklin.  It was originally thought that the sound of the glass armonica drove its players to insanity, but it turns out it was the combination of friction and water that helped the lead from the glass leach into the players' systems, giving them lead poisoning.)  Check out the event list for information.

Also up for the GAS Conference and continuing sporadically through July is ShoeString Productions' staging of Tennessee Williams's "The Glass Menagerie" at the Water Tower.  Check out the website for dates and ticketing information.  I'm personally very excited to see this particular play in this particular unconventional location.

This post really doesn't do the magnitude of the exciting glassy stuff going on in town justice, but the GAS website does an excellent job noting all the events and exhibits, so I'll direct you there.