Raspberry Pi Big Birthday Weekend 28 Feb – 1 March 2015
Raspberry Pi turns three (three!) next month and we would love you to come to our birthday party!
The party is so huge and packed full of stuff that we couldn’t fit it into one day so we’ll be taking over the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory on Saturday 28th February and Sunday 1st March for the Raspberry Pi Big Birthday Weekend. It’s going to be a buzzing behemoth benchmark of a birthday bash. Blimey!
There will be captivating talks, animated hands-on workshops, informative show and tell sessions and chatty panel discussions. There will be a marketplace to buy the latest Raspberry Pi add-ons and other cool stuff. There will be competitions, prizes and goodies galore and a chance to chat with the Raspberry Pi team over a nice cup of tea. There will be gardens bright with sinuous rills and little, fez-wearing monkeys riding unicycles. You really don’t want to miss it.
This is *exactly* what it will be like. But with fewer pancakes.
Each day will be different so feel free to come to both. As well as two days of all things Pi there will be an actual fill-yer-cakehole party from 4.30pm to 7.30pm on Saturday evening with food and drink (including a surprise birthday beverage).
So whether you’re a seasoned Pi person, whether you got a Pi for Christmas and would like to learn more or whether you’re just wondering what it’s all about then come along—we’d love to meet you. The Raspberry Pi Big Birthday Weekend is going to be a joyous celebration of creativity, technology and community so get your tickets now! Tickets are a scandalously reasonable £2.50 and entry is free for under 16s.
Get involved!
The party will be a celebration of all things Raspberry Pi which of course includes the amazing Raspberry Pi community. We’d like you to get involved and we are looking for people to:
- give talks about Pi-related stuff;
- run workshops or help run one;
- take part in show-and-tell especially if you have interactive stuff or crazy inventions;
- help run the day by spending a couple of hours as a marshal.
If you’d like to do any of these things (or have any other suggestions) then please get in touch. And if you’ve not done anything like this before then this is the perfect opportunity to help out, delight and inform us or just show off :) The party is being organised for us by Tim Richardson and Michael Horne—who are responsible for the excellent CamJams—so drop them a line and get involved!
We’ll also be running the Pi Wars obstacle course as first seen in the December CamJam so bring your robot along if you think it’s hard enough.
We’ll have a birthday webpage up shortly where we will post updated details of speakers, workshops and activities as well as detail on transport and other logistics. If you don’t want to register yet but would like to be kept informed then sign up for the mailing list.
See you there!
54 comments
Vincent Willcox
Hi,
Booked my tickets! Will be the first time I have managed to attend! I’m part of the Ipswich Makerspace and helped about 1% with TractorBOT
Really excited and looking forward to coming!
Pithagoros
£2.50 and free for the kids is amazing. Given that you could easily have asked a lot more than that and would still have sold out, your lack of avarice is truly heartening in these times.
Peter Green
Note that it actually seems to be £2.50 for each day of the main event and then another £2.50 for the evening party. Plus those prices seem to exclude eventbrite fees.
Still a bargin at £9.63 total mind you.
Clive Beale — post author
Though if you fill up on cake and fizzy pop you’ll save £13.58 on dinner so it’s like we are actually *giving you* £3.95.
Dave Akerman
You had me at “cake” :-)
Ben Croston
You had me at ‘beverage’ :)
Eli
Monkeys wearing fezzes? That’s so….. cool!
Liz Upton
We reserve the right not *actually* to have any monkeys wearing fezzes.
Leo White
How about Pi powered robotic monkeys in fezzes?
Liz Upton
If you build one, we’ll give you a present.
Leo White
Its tempting… and I did spend the last 10 minutes looking at monkey toys and fezzes… although I’m supposed to be adding lasers and working cannons to my pirate ship before moving onto new robots!
hmm decisions decisions…
AndrewS
Does your pirate ship actually *need* to be more dangerous?! ;-)
Leo White
Well I didn’t win the PiWars sumo challenge so obviously its not yet dangerous enough :)
Liz Upton
I couldn’t believe you didn’t win. That thing’s a beast.
Leo White
I forgot to bring along my anti-wedge shaped robot device (i.e. a metal plate to reduce my ground clearance), although I’m not sure if that would have helped much as Metabot had a lot of pushing power!
Maybe for the next PiWars we can have a ‘tug of war’ event to see which robot has the most pulling power… or just pulling against a force meter to avoid any more David vs Goliath match ups!
AndrewS
That first sumo match was definitely one of my highlights of the day :)
Leo White
Being our first event of the day I was busy thinking “don’t break it, don’t break it” as I tried to gently nudge Pyrobot out of the arena!
Clive Beale — post author
Fezzes are easy. The unicycle training may take a bit longer.
AndrewS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEOO_PktH4Q
P.S. Did Rachel make the invite?
Clive Beale — post author
No, I did. In my best writing and everything.
Niall Saunders
Fez-wearing monkeys? Is that the best task you could find for Jonathan B?
Got a spare couch Mr Bell? Can I put a tent up in your back garden?
Cheers,
Niall
wally
I always wanted a stack of pancakes like that!
Jongoleur
Its nearly THREE years since we made the Farnell and RS servers collapse in a cloud of smoke???
I don’t believe it!
Well, I do, but Happy Birthday Pi, anyway!
The Pi Hut
Can’t wait! Might have to dust off the old “Birthday Suit”
Liz Upton
Ew.
ukscone
don’t forget to iron it. It’s looking really wrinkled
ukscone
Is Lisa Mather repeating her stirling job as Swag bagger in Chief again? She’s scarey when she’s on the prowl for party swag :)
Liz Upton
She is, I fear. (We are exceptionally grateful; Lisa’s amazing.)
sheroy
This is what it will exactly be like with a fewer pancakes but more raspberry pie’s and pi’s.
Hove
Ah, now the leap year 29th February 2012 Birthday makes sense – 2 parties every none leap-year!
Tim Rowledge
Sounds like an excuse to have another Pi party here on the west coast of Canada. The last one was plenty of fun and that was ‘just because’. Having a birthday to celebrate just adds to the pleasure.
Christine Harvey
Oh no! That’s the same weekend as the Raspberry Jam in Leeds :( I have a Raspberry Pi clash!
Liz Upton
This is a *really* special event; and unlike Jams it won’t be repeated this year. We’d love to see you, and you’d miss some really outstanding stuff – I hope you decide to come!
Michael Horne
That’s okay! Go to Leeds on the Sat and join us on the Sunday!
Jonathan Morris
Sadly, I don’t live in England. :(
Jonathan Pallant
Awesome. Steve needs a power upgrade in time for its second outing.
Liz Upton
*Mr Burns voice* Eeeeeeeexcellent.
omenie
Hi Liz – I’m totally on for synthesizer-based demos, talking, hands-on and the like. Things are moving on. Although 28th is my anniversary, will require delicacy … can you cover travel and expenses? Drop me a line.
cheers
Phil
Liz Upton
Afraid we can’t travel expenses for speakers – but I may have an answer to that. Check your mail!
Tim
If I didn’t live 3 hours away I’d be there. Thanks for the invite! Can you send me a piece of cake please?
Gee ‘The Rabid Inventor’ Bartlett
Does anyone know if Byron’s delivers??
Cake
Fizzy pop
and the worlds best burgers :)
have to visit them when in Cambridge
Gee ‘The Rabid Inventor’ Bartlett
not to mention:
Hacky, Makey , Raspberry Pi , workshoppy goodness
ukscone
no but he does a grand line in purple prose
Liz Upton
We also have Five Guys. I’m completely unable to decide which I like best.
The Raspberry Pi Guy
Five Guys is where it is at
Michael Horne
There’s a Byrons in Centre MK. My first time. Won’t be my last!
David Rolfe
Don’t talk to me about MK… quite a few years ago now I caught a bus from there to Cambridge to attend one of the first (I believe) Jam’s… and that was after a long train journey!
The alternative for me involves a 3 hour (or more) car journey which includes going round Birmingham on the M42, which is never fun.
Anyone fancy me giving me a helicopter (or light aircraft!) ride from Shobdon airfield?
(For those who haven’t heard of it, it’s a small airfield in Herefordshire, not that far from the Welsh borders!)
Liz Upton
MK has a Krispy Kreme. Which means I can’t go to MK any more or I will get diabetes and die. (Same goes for the Grand Arcade in Cambridge as of late last year.)
Ben Willis
Currently working on a PC version of Raspbian (not having very much luck yet I am afraid). Hopefully I can make it to the party! Did you say Monkeys with fezzes??!!
Ron Lansverk
I would love to drop in and wish ya ‘ll a happy birthday, but your neck of the woods is just a wee bit to far for me to manage…coming from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis – Saint Paul, Minnesota.
But toast yourself from those of us in America who are learning right along with our kids.
Regards,
Ron
josh long
ill be there
jamie pilsworth
raspberry piiiiiiii
aisha
I’m booked for Sunday, traveling up from London for the day.I’m already beginning to get anxious, you see I’m a woman of a certain age who can remember seeing the 1st silicon chip, the first version of Windows in schools and the fun when the BBC micro appeared.
I left the classroom just as the Pi entered, but have retained my keen interest in the new computing curriculum, although I strongly disagree with the direction the subject area has lurched into.
My problem is will there be space for fringe refuse-nix like myself? I’m even wondering if I’ll be allowed in without my own personal robot?
Seriously, I really hope the event will have a comprehensive diversity element, not just posh families, a la the Robert Robinson 1960 BBC quiz show.
Liz Upton
Oh good grief yes, you’ll fit right in.