We've settled on dates and a location for the 2012 Public Lab barn raising which we're all really excited about! This year's barn raising will be in Cocodrie, Louisiana from November 2-4, 2012 at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium facility and you all are invited!

You may be thinking, "what does raising a barn have to do with Public Lab?" The barn raising is the closest thing that we currently have to a Public Lab conference-- but with an emphasis on "doing stuff together" rather than just presenting/talking. In the spirit of bringing a community together to collectively raise a structure such as a barn, Public Lab is borrowing this term and coming together to develop tools, toolkits, supporting materials (such as guides and tutorials), test the tools and develop new research directions and projects. Participants represent a wide range of interests from social scientists and community organizers to technologists and designers. This is a great chance to meet others, share ideas and get involved in organizing the Public Lab community!

We're running this as an "unconference" so what we do during the weekend is up to the participants, but broadly, we'd like to focus in on developing out tools/ideas that relate to what could be considered an oil spill toolkit. Please add session topics that you'd like to have on the wiki page and list your name under any topic that you'd be interested in participating with.

On the barn raising wiki page, there is a bunch of helpful logistical information including a list of current attendees and session topics, lodging options, travel information, food (some of the best in the world!), weather and a list of useful items to bring with. Please take a read through this page and if you still have questions feel free to email me at shannon@publiclaboratory.org.

If you're ready to come on down (or if you're considering), please fill out this Google Form. I need to reserve beds at LUMCON for everyone, so I'll need to hear from people by October 10th. As this is an open event, please feel free to forward this invitation on to others who you think might be interested in coming.

As a final plug from a local about how great this event is going to be, we're going to be about 1.5-2 hours from New Orleans in one of the most beautiful places your can imagine, aptly named with the Cajun word for crocodiles as Cocodrie literally sits in the middle of the Louisiana wetlands. If you've ever been to a Public Lab event, we work hard, but also like to have fun, so the weekend will include cookouts, fishing from the dock and access to canoes to take a ride through the waters surrounding Cocodrie. The barn raising is also the weekend after Halloween and a bunch of us will be in New Orleans for the holiday, so if you're able to come down earlier, there are also good times to be had with other Public Lab folks in the city.

Looking forward to seeing some of you here and meeting others for the first time! Shannon