RefreshBCS

It’s been almost two years since that pivotal night when Aaron, Roby, Bill, Ryan and I were huddled around a table in Houston digging through a mound of chicken wings when we decided that we would stop bashing our local area for it’s lack of community. We threw caution to the wind, payed attention to the chip on our shoulders and dug our heels in.

Two months later we had native Houstonian Erica O’Grady come and speak to a surprising group of 35 or so folks at the very first RefreshBCS. Honestly, we figured we may be able to get a dozen folks to show up with half attending just to show support. But that was not the case. They showed up because they were genuinely interested in a creative/web community.

It became vital to promote our fledgling community and stick to it. Every month to be bigger than the previous with new faces. Each member of the community saw that if we all worked together and each did our part we could do something extraordinary.

As time went by, we had more and more folks show up and contribute. Some presented to the group, and other times put their feet to the ground and rallied those not aware.

By January 2008, nearly a year after the first RefreshBCS, we decided to call in all of our support from around the state and host BarCampTexas. Flyers, posters, emails, facebook notifications were sent out by the dozens hyping the event. We had well over two-hundred people attend from around the state and local area. We didn’t just represent BCS, we blew people away with the talent and conduct we showcased at our event. BarCampTexas was Bryan/College Stations big splash onto the Texas stage.

Over the past year, we have grown and sought after more community support. We’ve collectively grown as a community. This past weekend, the Bryan/College Station community hosted DesignCamp – the first Design-centric “BarCamp” in the world.

What was really surprising was that a majority of the attendees were not from out of town, but here locally. Seventy percent of the participants were from here in our local community – a vast difference from a year ago when it was inverted.

Stepping back and looking at what we have done over the past two years makes me, as a member of the greater whole, proud. To see everyone “get it” and take pride in what we do.

I wanted to say thank you to all of my friends for being there and contributing to making our lives better in lil ol’ Bryan/College Station. We have built a very strong and robust community of folks who continually show their support.

-Cody

Are you a designer or someone looking to get introduced to some creative individuals? You should attend Design Camp!

It’s happening next Saturday, January 17th at the Astin Mansion in Downtown Bryan. We’re expecting to have creative types from all over the state in attendance, so we hope we can get some of the locals out to the event as well. To top it off, the event is run in the Barcamp style. What does that mean for you? Its free and you’re guaranteed to find something interesting to take away from the event!

If you want some more information on the event make sure to check out the following:

Facebook Event – Make sure you say you are attending here and send myself or Roby a message with your t-shirt size if you want one. If you don’t let us know you’re coming we can’t guarantee you’ll have a shirt.

Design Camp Website – Here you can find information, maps, sponsor information, and you can also use the contact form on this page to send us info, or t-shirt sizes as mentioned above.

Blogs – Roby and myself both have posted to our sites about the event as well, so help us spread the word by linking people to this post, our website, or our blogs so that we can spread the love.

Hope to see you next weekend,

Michael Cummings