We would like to update you on the next steps for Project Bamboo and to invite interested institutions and organizations to join us in the next phase of planning for the Bamboo implementation project.

Project Bamboo launched in April 2008 with the first workshop at Berkeley. We held three additional instances of Workshop One (Chicago, Paris, and Princeton), and in the process met with over 360 arts and humanities faculty, computer scientists, librarians, information technologists, and others from over 90 colleges, universities, and private and public organizations who were interested in advancing arts and humanities research through shared technologies. We sincerely thank all of you who joined us in these discussions as the insights and recommendations you generated about scholarly practices in the humanities, and the directions that Bamboo might pursue, have been invaluable. That said, we are pleased to announce that the data from all instances of Workshop One have been posted on the Bamboo Planning Wiki for public discussion (http://wiki.projectbamboo.org/display/BPUB/Home).

As some of you know the response to the invitation to participate was far greater than we had expected and as a result, a number of institutions and organizations that wanted to participate in Workshop One were unable to because we didn't have enough physical space to accommodate all parties. The program team has been committed to creating opportunities to participate in Project Bamboo even if an institution or organization was not able to participate in Workshop One. The first step was to remove the Workshop One participation requirement to move on to Workshop Two. The second step has been to create virtual and non-workshop-related ways to contribute. It is important to remember that the central goal of the project is by September 2009 to form a consortium of institutions and organizations who can work together to support and develop shared technology services to advance arts and humanities research. To accomplish this goal within the planning project timeframe, we need both broad and focused input from the community.

Through the rest of the planning project, we are asking the Bamboo community to help us analyze the data we collect and refine the concepts and ideas that will eventually define the scope of Bamboo. These activities will occur on the wiki and/or virtually between workshops and are open to all interested parties, whether or not they've participated in a workshop. To begin, we have created four activities related to the data collected in Workshop One (scholarly practices), and we are asking you to explore them on the wiki (http://wiki.projectbamboo.org/display/BPUB/Home) and contribute your thoughts as the analysis will feed directly into Workshop Two and future planning activities. Your input is crucial as it will help us build a roadmap of shared technology services, initiate the first round of Bamboo demonstrator projects, and outline aspects of the organization that will underpin implementation.

For the remaining face-to-face workshops, we will shift from the broad input of Workshop One and toward focused guidance and direction. Now through the end of the planning project we are seeking workshop participation from institutions and organizations that have serious interest in building a consortium based on the input provided by the community. By the end of the planning stage, we hope a subset of these institutions and organizations will form both the core of the implementation project and the Bamboo consortium that will lead, guide and help sustain the effort into the future.

Workshop Two will take place during the week of October 13 and will likely be in Berkeley, San Francisco or Seattle. We are currently working through the meeting logistics and expect to finalize the date and location of the workshop by the end of August. With Workshop Two, we have set the first stage of requirements to participate. In order to participate in the next phase of the Bamboo planning process institutions and organizations will need to:

(1) contribute to the development of the Bamboo community by using the Bamboo wiki to interpret and organize data about scholarly practices, refine Bamboo future directions, and/or analyze possible consorital models;

(2) create a local Bamboo team at your campus or organization made up, as possible, of humanities faculty, information technologists, librarians, and/or others who you believe can effect change in support of digital humanities at your institution/organization;

(3) submit a letter from a senior campus or organizational leader that indicates and illustrates support for participating in the Bamboo Workshops Two and Three; and

(4) cover workshop travel and lodging costs for your team.

Given the interest in Bamboo by over 120 institutions and organizations (90 of whom participated in Workshop One), we will have to limit size of the teams that can attend the second workshop. For colleges and universities, the team must include at least one humanities faculty leader and one leader from the IT and/or Library organization, and may also include one more faculty member or other key campus leader (for a minimum team of two and a maximum team of three). For organizations and industry, the limit will generally be one person per organization. We want to stress, however, that we strongly encourage institutions and organizations to create local Bamboo teams made up of larger numbers of representatives who can support the team attending the workshop and gather and share ideas and opportunities at your local institution.

We ask institutions and organizations fill out the application to participate in Workshops Two and Three by midday Friday, September 5, 2008. The link to the application can be found on the Project Bamboo website under the "Join Us" link (http://projectbamboo.org/join-us). After we review the applications, we will let all who have applied know no later than Monday, September 12, about the status of their application and ability to attend to Workshop Two. Decisions will be made based on completeness of the application, the four criteria outlined above, and available space. For planning purposes only, please let us know by August 22 (or earlier) if your institution or organization intends to apply (institutions can still apply even if you do not send us early notification of intent). To let us know of your intent to apply, send an email to bamboo_event_coordination@lists.berkeley.edu on or before August 22.

We have been extremely encouraged by the interest and enthusiasm of those who have participated in the first Bamboo workshop. We are heartened that many individuals and institutions want to find new ways to work together to develop cyberinfrastructure for the arts and humanities. We hope that those who participate in the next stage of Project Bamboo will continue to help us define a community-driven project that will enable the participation of many more than those who can attend face-to-face workshops.

Thank you again for your support and interest, and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to email us directly.

Sincerely,
David & Chad
Co-Directors, Project Bamboo