EMF CAMP — 2016 / GUILDFORD
The EMF camp happened just a month ago and I’m still missing it, it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had as part of the tech community. A few weeks before the camp I saw on codebar slack an opportunity to win tickets to the EMF camp so I applied and since I apply basically for everything I also forgot about it. Until I got an email from these lovely people to let me know that I actually won tickets. I felt amazing and super excited, I have never been to a camp that wasn’t a music festival of some sort and I had no idea what to expect! I was so happy! I managed to borrow a tent, get a raincoat and sleeping bag for cheap and here I come! I was really excited to go and although I read some things about previous years and what it will look like I had no idea about the level of awesome I was about to enter.
So the camp. I arrived with other lucky codebar attendees on Friday afternoon and after I set up my tent I was ready to go and attend talks and do workshops.
The number of interesting talks and workshops were overwhelming. Just to mention a few there were talks about medical imaging technologies such as MRI, the origin of the badge, the mathematics behind Simpsons, robotics, artificial intelligence, ethics in games and see robots. See the full list here. There were workshops for hacking, security and creative activities. You mostly had to choose between good or better or make a schedule to be everywhere. There was a really cool pub as well with many types of beer, for normal prices and very kind staff who were mostly volunteers. Huge thank you for them!
And the badge. Well, the badge was the highlight of all this. As part of your ticket you received a super badge that turned out to be an arduino/microcontroller that you could program using python. It had to be assembled together but after we did that you can start playing with it. It had a mini joystick and some basic built-in functions such as the schedule or app list and of course snake!! One of my favourite workshops was where I actually got to hack my badge and install a torch on it and solder the elements too! So I ended up making a working torch on my badge. The camp after dark became a magical place with various light installations and fairy lights over tents, an 8bit disco in the back with a mesmerising light shows and many more brilliant ideas. Anywhere you went you just felt this was a bit like Christmas, but we had more beer and it was so hot all day.
So from workshop to talk and interesting chats we stopped sometimes to collect some freebies or chill and charge in the lounge or just explore the various villages. The weather was beautiful we had WiFi and power everywhere like it was just part of the air. What else do you need? The camp was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I definitely will go in 2018 again!
