Freelancing Gods 2012

So, it’s been a couple of months since the Melbourne International Comedy Festival wrapped up, and thus, a couple of months since LaughTrack went silent. I just want to write up a last batch of statistics, as well as some broader thoughts on how the site went in general.

I should have been doing this back when the festival actually finished, but some things got in the way of catching up on classifying all the tweets, and so I only actually got through the last of it yesterday.

The Leaderboard

A quick look at the top 10 (well, 11, given tied scores), going by quality:

Most of those are quite established, but it’s worth noting those who are relative newcomers to the comedy scene: Celia Pacquola and Melinda Buttle – and those who are relative newcomers to Australian shores: The Pajama Men and Jamie Kilstein.

Gains

Here’s who made the biggest gains by rating over the final two weeks of the festival (I’ve trimmed the list to 8 – there’s another 7 on the next score down):

In most of those cases, it only took a handful of positive tweets to gain some serious quality points. So again, let’s go by tweets instead of rating – because this turns out to be a far better metric for who has been getting a lot of buzz.

I’m not going to bother analyse the data from which shows were sold out – it’s far from complete.

What’s next?

LaughTrack was a fun experiment for the festival, but I’m not quite sure of its future.

It’s possibly useful for other festivals (especially those with repeat performances – so, Fringe festivals much more than Film festivals), but I don’t quite have the passion for those festivals compared to the MICF. In other words, I’m probably not going to commit the time to keep the site up-to-date for the Melbourne Fringe (for example) without some personal incentive.

The classification system also needs a lot of work. I spent many, many hours classifying tweets, because automating that kind of intelligence into a website is far from easy, and I couldn’t get it to a reliable state without human interaction. I could open the classification out to everyone who visits the site – and if I run this for next year’s MICF, that’s quite likely – but again, it’s additional work.

And it’s worth noting that most tweets that LaughTrack picked up were not reviews – there was a lot of noise, and very little signal (which is the main problem with automating classification).

So where does that leave us? Well, I’m definitely interested in reprising LaughTrack for next year’s Comedy Festival, and hopefully can get the people behind the festival to send some data on ticket sales through.

As for other festivals, I’m going to need some financial support to dedicate any time to adapting and maintaining the site. If you’re interested in sponsoring development on LaughTrack for a festival, then please do get in touch.

I would love to hear feedback on whether you found the site useful during the festival, and how it could improve. From a personal level, I know I found new shows to go see purely by reading the thousands of tweets that came through.

Just under two weeks ago, we ran the third Trampoline – an informal unconference which brings people from a variety of disciplines together to share what they find amazing.

The day is filled with 20 minute sessions on whatever people who are there offer to discuss. We get a fantastic mix of topics: health, technology, education, dance, meditation, music, media, juggling, comedy, entrepreneurship and more. In true unconference style, none of this is planned beforehand – no speaker is given preference, there’s no keynotes.

All three thus far have been in Melbourne. We’re definitely interested in sharing the love to other cities (but nothing’s locked in yet). That said, it’s a pretty safe assumption that Melbourne host its fourth sometime towards the end of the year.

From a personal perspective, I find these days amazingly energetic and inspiring (granted, I’m a little biased, being one of the organising team). It’s provided me (and many others) an avenue to connect with interesting, passionate people they wouldn’t normally meet. It’s just one of many things happening in Melbourne that solidifies my belief that it is truly – if you’ll excuse the hubris – a global cultural hub.

If you’re interested in keeping an eye on future events, add yourself to the email list, and maybe follow the official Twitter account. There’s also a set of videos – the bulk being from the latest Trampoline – on Vimeo, and a growing set of photos on Flickr.

I’m pretty stoked with how well received Trampoline has been thus far, and looking forward to making the next one even better. Would love to see some more new faces there too, so if you’re keen, jump on the list or get in touch!

Another week has passed, so time for some more LaughTrack statistics.

First up, acts with the best ratings improvements since the start of the Festival:

That list is almost identical (ignoring the order) to last week… essentially: those who did well to start with, have solidified their position.

So let’s look at the differences just in the last week instead.

This list could be considered shows with potential: towards the end, it only took two positive tweets to get them onto the list.

So, let’s now look at who has garnered the most positive tweets. Again, since the start of the festival:

Some big names there, though good to see some relative newcomers appearing too (Ursula Martinez, Melinda Buttle and Celia Pacquola).

As for the increases over just the last week:

Not much difference in the names this time around…

But what can you take away from this?

• Ursula Martinez was an unknown before this festival. She’s just added three extra shows, which matches the buzz she’s received.
• Melinda Buttle is another festival newcomer who has been getting a lot of buzz.
• The big names draw the tweets – but Wil Anderson and Tom Green have both finished their festival runs.
• The Pajama Men won the Barry Award for the best show last year in their first festival, and they’ve followed it up with another fine offering, going by numbers (and reviews).

I’ve also started tracking which performances are sold out – but there’s no point offering stats on that, because my data is far from complete. However, some of the smaller names regularly selling out:

• Celia Pacquola
• Hannah Gadsby
• Anne Edmonds
• The Bedroom Philosopher

Nick Cody, Daniel Burt, Vigilantelope and Clodhopper: Miami all sold quite well too – but they’ve finished their runs.

Last week, I launched a website I’ve been working on in my own time: LaughTrack. It follows what people are saying on Twitter about the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and provides ratings on whether the crowd thinks a show is good or not.

I’m not going to get too caught up in the site itself right now – that deserves a separate blog post, and I’ve not found time for that.

However, I just wanted to report on the acts that have had the most buzz over the course of the opening week:

I chose the top ten, but there’s quite a few that jumped up to 53, so you get a few extra.

It’s worth noting that those last five gained just three positive tweets. So, at this point it doesn’t take too many tweets to get someone jumping up the board. However, the higher the rating is, though, the slower the rating increases, so let’s look at who got the most positive tweets as a comparison:

Again, a top ten, with one extra because of the same increase.

It’s interesting that almost all on the first list are comedians still making their stamp on the comedy scene. The second list has several more established acts. Only Celia Pacquola made it into both.

Of course, the older tweets were from other festivals – in particular, the Adelaide Fringe and the Brisbane Comedy Festival, which both happened in the lead-up to Melbourne’s Comedy Festival. So these numbers are far from perfect (but then, divining quality from Twitter isn’t a science anyway).

Hopefully you’ve found this somewhat interesting (well, if you’re a comedy buff) – expect more reports as the festival progresses. If you’re in Melbourne, I hope you’re making the most of this fabulous time of year!

At a recent Melbourne Ruby meet, I was asked to speak about my travelling freelancer lifestyle, and the talk was recorded. I feel a little self-conscious about the topic, but perhaps you’ll find it interesting.

Massive thanks to James Healy for not only recording the talks that night, but producing the neat slides-and-video output. I’m looking forward to the Melbourne Ruby channel building up a good collection of sessions.

Also: I’ll be posting a review of my month working on Thinking Sphinx soon.

This weekend, there’s going to be a Rails Camp. In October, there’s going to be a Rails Camp. Then in November, there’s going to be a Rails Camp. That in itself is pretty freaking cool. What’s even cooler is that they’re in Maine, England and Australia respectively.

Definition

If you’re not quite sure what Rails Camps are – they’re unconference style events, held away from cities, generally without internet, on a weekend from Friday to Monday. The venues are usually scout halls or similar, so the name is slightly inaccurate – most people don’t bring tents, but sleep in dorm rooms instead.

Also, they are events for Rubyists of all level of experience – and not just focused on Rails either. Anything related to Ruby and development in general is a welcome topic for discussion.

The weekends are made up of plenty of hacking, socialising, talks, and partying. Alcohol and guitar hero usually feature. A ton of fun ensues.

Rails Camp New England

A quick rundown in chronological order: first up, from the 17th to 20th of July, is Rails Camp New England. This will (as far as I know) be the first Rails Camp in North America. We’ll be up in the middle of Maine, at the MountainView House (a bit different from most Rails Camp venues) in Bryant Pond.

Unfortunately, if you want to come to this camp, we’re all sold out. Let me know anyway, just in case someone drops out (although it is late notice).

Rails Camp UK 2

Building on the success of last year’s first UK Rails Camp, a second one has been put together by Tom Crinson out in Margate, Kent.

If you’re anywhere in the UK, or even Europe, you really should be keeping the weekend of the 16th to 19th of October free. In fact, go book your spot right now.

Rails Camp Australia 6

Last on this list is the original Rails Camp, that started back in June 2007, run by the inimitable Ben Askins. We’re returning to Melbourne (the host of the second camp, in November 2007), but this time we’re down by the beach in Somers.

November 20th to 23rd are the dates for this, and going by the names of confirmed attendees, alongside what looks to be an fantastic venue, it’s going to rock just as much as the last five (and quite possibly even more). Feel like booking your place?

For all of these events, you should beg, borrow or steal to get your hands on a ticket. The energy, intelligence and passion of past camps has been amazing (which is why I do my best to spread the word), and they are a breath of fresh air compared to the staid and structured setup of RailsConf and most other technical conferences.

Thanks to John Barton, Max Muermann, and Jason Crane for the photos above.

Born out of a discussion about BarCamps, Rails Camps and the value they could bring to those not so technically minded, Melbourne will be hosting the first Trampoline on Saturday, the 28th of March.

This is something Mel, Steve, Bei and I have been discussing for a few months now – bringing one hundred inquisitive people together to discuss interesting and amazing ideas covering various disciplines. In true unconference style, the schedule will be determined on the day by those who are there – you don’t need to be an expert in your field to share what you think is awesome.

We’ve got some fantastic space at DonkeyWheel in the CBD lined up, and already half the tickets are taken (so if this sounds like fun, I recommend registering sooner rather than later). People are already sharing the topics they want to share and hear about, and that discussion will ramp up as we get closer to the event.

I’ve been stewing on a few blog posts about Cambodia, but this is a higher priority.

In case you’d missed the news, the state of Victoria (in Australia) has been suffering from some devastating fires over the weekend. Over a hundred people have died, and that number’s certain to rise as the fires are put out and areas can be accessed by emergency crews. Towns, such as Marysville, have been razed.

If you’d like to donate, the Red Cross’ website seems to be the best place, from what I’ve read.

To get a good idea of how bad things are, it’s worth browsing the latest Boston Big Picture post, which features photos of the fires and destruction.

Photo taken by Warren, on Flickr, with a Creative Commons licence.

Yes, I know it’s been quiet here – there’s several decent blog posts on the way though. I just wanted to post a quick reminder for any Discworld fans in or near Australia that Nullus Anxietas 2 is happening at the end of February, and will be awesome fun. There’s also a discount of $15 off attendee prices (a Hogswatch special) if you get in before the end of the year (going by AEDT/Melbourne time, of course).

The above little clip was done by the fantastically talented Snowgum Films (also responsible for Run Rincewind Run).

A quick post for any Discworld fans that may peruse this blog.

Nullus Anxietas 2, the second Australian Discworld Convention, will be happening from the 27th of February to 1st of March 2009, in Melbourne, Australia. The first (in February 2007) was a fantastic success, which is why we’re doing it again.

While Terry Pratchett sadly can’t make it over this time around – he’s cutting down on travel because of his Alzheimer’s – we’ve still got some exciting events happening (including the follow-up to Snowgum Films’ Run Rincewind Run – watch it if you haven’t already).

Details are a bit thin on the ground at the moment, as we work on fleshing out programme ideas, but if you’d like to come along, registering in the next few days scores you $15 off the already-low early-bird rate of $120 ($100 for concession holders).

If this sounds like your kind of thing, but you’re not close to Australia and can’t justify the journey, you may want to check out the UK version – which has been going for over a decade now (although this year’s is already sold out), and the upcoming American edition.

Another quick Comedy Festival show review – The Hound of the Baskervilles’ Every Film Ever Made. A chaotic hour of film references and banter, which is extremely entertaining, if a bit scattered.

The same three local comedians (Tegan Higginbotham, Adam McKenzie, and Rob Lloyd) performed an adaption of the film version of The Hound of the Baskervilles in a similar style at last year’s festival, and they’re just as delightful this time around. Probably useful knowing a decent portion of well known films though (like The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Godfather, Casablanca, Titanic, Back to the Future, and, err, 8 Mile).

Definitely worth seeing if you can spare the time – and it’s always good to support some local up-and-coming acts. I wouldn’t say it’s brilliant, but it’s a massive amount of fun.

The Comedy Festival is running again here in Melbourne – which is one of my favourite times of the year. Just saw my first show this afternoon – Daniel Kitson and Gavin Osborn’s The Ballad of Rodger & Grace. In short, it was amazing, funny, heartwarming and beautiful.

Kitson is a fantastic wordsmith, sometimes using words that don’t get used enough, and using otherwise common words in clever and different ways. Osborn provided a touching and emotive soundtrack to the story Kitson wove, filling in a different perspective.

I know I’ve raved about Kitson before – and I’ve got a different show of his for this festival that I’m yet to see, so I likely will rave again soon – but do yourself a favour and go catch one of his shows (this one is only running for a few more days, but his solo festival show runs until mid April). He is one of the finest comedic talents out there – and a masterful storyteller to boot. Osborn’s music just adds to the brilliance.

RailsCamp 2.0 finished earlier today – and I think it’s safe to declare it a fantastic success (even given my bias).

Massive thanks to Ben and Karen for their hard work getting everyone fed and co-ordinating people in the kitchen (and the RailsCamp bus from Melbourne to Sunnystones). Thanks too to everyone who helped at various points – both in the organising and over the weekend.

Finally, thank you to everyone who came along – these camps are so much fun because of the calibre of people who attend, and their willingness to share ideas, code and laughs.

Will be posting a version of my talk at some point soon… once I’ve recovered from the weekend.

In case the few readers of this blog are not aware, there’s a RailsCamp happening just outside of Melbourne, from the 23rd-26th November (not far away at all). It will be a weekend of hacking, chatting, food & drink, and very likely some gaming (along the lines of GuitarHero and WiiSports), taking a similar approach to barcamps. The first one, back in June near Sydney, was a fantastic success, and judging by the current list of attendees, I’m expecting it to be much the same.

We’re edging closer and closer to being sold out, so if you’re considering coming along, I recommend signing up as soon as possible. Day passes for the Saturday and Sunday are also available.

I went to see Daniel Kitson’s C-90 tonight. Absolutely amazing storytelling – and a lovely counterpoint to his regularly brilliant stand-up shows. There’s only one day left of the show here in Melbourne (and I’m guessing it’s sold out), but if you ever get the chance to go see him, do so. He’s pure genius.