Aide-Memoire

This year has been one of great personal challenges for me and my family. To have made it to the end of the year with all of us still on deck is a good feeling.

2009 brought home to me how truly important continued good health is, and how lucky we are in Australia with our health system.

The year saw many plans in train at the start of the year, with most of them deferred due to the aforementioned personal challenges. So it feels like I did not really achieve much that I’d hoped.

But putting all of that aside, it was a year that revealed the kindness of friends and power of online networks to create and build real relationships. Real life friends who supported me this year have made all the difference.

Another great example of that was the diverse group of people who’ve banded together for Northside Coffee Mornings – where online relationships have merged into offline ones and a supportive network has started to evolve.

The sheer number of kindhearted people who cared for & supported me, who helped me when I was down, fed me, nurtured me, worried with me, and rejoiced when the news was good is truly humbling.

Another thing that amazed me was how many people want to make make the world a better place. And how many of those people are willing to take action in that cause.

I was lucky enough to be involved in various conferences, unconferences and seminars, meeting a large number of fascinating people.

A big thank-you to all those people who were kind and inclusive, sharing ideas and working together. Special thanks to everyone who helped out with Cupcake Camp Sydney – it was great fun and we helped out the RSPCA.

Each year, instead of making new year resolutions, I pick a theme for the year. That way when I get sidetracked (as often happens) I can simply return to the theme. Also with a theme there are often many different things I can do to support it.

For 2009 my theme was simplicity and frugal living. The results here were pretty good on the whole. A big reduction in my carbon footprint; using public transport wherever possible; and living local as much as possible.

I’m still thinking about my theme for 2010, more on that later.

Through the very kind offices of @ApostrophePong (& his trusty assistant @Stilgherrian) we have a great video record of the recent event.  A really big thank-you again to everyone for getting involved.

It was so touching to see a bunch of people who linked up via Twitter join in and participate in a community event like Cupcake Camp Sydney last Friday night.

To explain: CupcakeCamp (which was invented by Ariel Waldman) is:

… an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes in an open environment.

There is some debate about the actual number of people who attended, but the consensus now rests on more than 70 & less than 100. The most amazing thing is the wonderful people who invested time and care in creating the cupcakes (see some pictures on the Flickr group).

We raised some money for the RSPCA to help animals, if you’d like to help too then here’s an online donation form. Please type CUPCAKECAMP in the Position field so we can track donation numbers.

It was cool that even people who were at another event raised some money for the RSPCA too (we did send some cupcakes over to them though ).

I love how there is something about homemade cupcakes that brings out a sense of community that we do not often see nowadays.

A huge thank-you to CBS Interactive for hosting, to our kind prize sponsors, conscientious judges, and most of all to the people who cared enough to create cupcakes and share them with other people. Thanks also to those who came along to support and eat cupcakes (that was me, couldn’t cook a cupcake to save my life).

Think it might be fun to do this again next year? Please let me know via comments.

A number of organisations have stepped up to offer prizes for Cupcake Camp Sydney. I wanted to take the opportunity to thank them for their generosity, and also to show the prizes that our cupcake makers could win.

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The Plantronics has provided one of their Discovery 925 Bluetooth earpiece.

It is a nifty designer headset for both men and women.

“Delivering exceptional audio performance, complemented by bold lines and distinctive finishes, the Plantronics Discovery 925 Bluetooth earpiece embodies technical craftsmanship previously unseen in the mobile accessories category.”

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Plantronics has also provided on of their GameCom 367 Closed-Ear Gaming Headsets.

This headset “delivers an immersive audio experience with

50mm stereo speakers and earpods that redistribute pressure for maximum comfort.

The headset features a noise-canceling mic boom which allows you to

Adjust audio levels using in-line volume

and mic-mute controls.”

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Altec Lansing have provided one of their Muzx 126 SnugFit noise-isolating earphones.

These are iPhone, MP3 and iPod compatible.

“Sound quality is excellent thanks to the use of wood and other materials to help sound resonate and gold plated plug for superior sound transfer.

The earphones also feature fashion detailing.”

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Everyone who makes or buys and brings cupcakes to share is in the running to win one of these prizes. Again, a big thank-you to the donors.

My current obsession with cupcakes and supporting the RSPCA results from two things that came together recently.

Last year I was intrigued to hear about the various cupcake camps that were being held around the world. It seemed like a nice thing to do – getting people together for a social occasion and trying to build a bit of community spirit.

I miss the kind of community gathering we used to have when I was a child. People would prepare food at home, with each family bringing a plate of food & everyone would share. We  would all gather, usually in the church hall or grounds – the adults talking & sharing news or stories, while the kids ran around burning off energy.

Also, I really like animals and supporting organisations that help animals. Then, when the RSPCA’s cupcake based campaign came out, it seemed like an opportunity to combine (a) support for a charity that helps animals in need with (b) a real life community building event.

Thus Cupcake Camp Sydney seemed like a very good idea indeed.

What’s not to like? Cupcakes, socialising, and helping animals – it is full of win on many levels.

I really hope people will come along to participate in Cupcake Camp Sydney on Friday 28 August at the offices of CBS Interactive.  We need cupcake makers as well as cupcake consumers – all are welcome.

You can register for free here.

[caption id="attachment_5955" align="alignright" width="300" caption="a @firstdogonmoon original cartoon"][/caption]Normally on Caturday this post is an amusing LOLcat.

But today it is a serious request for people in Sydney to help to raise funds to help real animals with real problems.

Cupcake Camp Sydney is on Friday 28 August 2009 – REGISTER NOW.

It’s a simple idea: bake or buy cupcakes; bring them to cupcake camp; share them with other people & enjoy a social occasion; and donate money to the RSPCA.

There’s some great prizes for our cupcake makers – from Plantronics, Altec, Ripples Cafe – and it will be fun too!

REGISTER NOW for Cupcake Camp Sydney

For Cupcake Camp Sydney on Friday 28 August we’ve got a distinguished panel of judges who are going to help us to award cool prizes:

• Mark Pesce
• Rebecca Varidel
• Neerav Bhatt
• Ema Hoffmann

They are going to be judging the cupcakes in three categories & there will be prizes for the creator in each category:

• best decorated cupcake
• best cupcake overall – based on presentation, taste & texture
• craziest cupcake

All cupcake bakers go into a draw to win a bottle of champagne too.

Follow Cupcake Camp Sydney on Twitter @cccsyd & the hashtag is #cccsyd

w00t! Cupcake Camp Sydney is on!

Date: Friday 28 August 2009

Time: 5.30 pm – 7.30 pm

Venue: CBS Interactive Sydney

We are running this as part of the RSPCA Cupcake Day fundraiser – if you are a cupcake maker you can go to the RSPCA site & sign up to receive a cupcake kit.

Register (opens a Google Docs form)

Sponsors Needed
If you’d like to help out as a sponsor please let us know – we need some prizes for the fabulous cupcakes & their bakers, & a food or drink sponsor would be nice too.

What is a CupcakeCamp?
CupcakeCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes in an open environment. It is based on similar principles as other unconferences such as BarCamps and you can find some more information here.

In this instance we are also going to try and raise some funds to help out the RSPCA as well as enjoy each other’s company and a cupcake or several.

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