During my time at the table today I had no problems engaging people. We had interest from a fellow that wants a venue to do talks and possibly classes ( i can't recall at the moment what the topic was but it was relevant to our goals ), a half dozen people who already knew who we were and showed interest in showing up, 3 or 4 hardware guys who were both impressed with ben's NES mods and interested in our work spaces and tools, and a whole raft of people who succumbed to nostalgia and camped at the NES.
The blinkenlicht worked just as planned. All it took was an invitation to make one of the glowies and a lot of people hunkered down and took to figuring out the most simple of circuits. Once walked through the process, the kids took to experimenting and I talked about Skullspace with their parents. These are folks who are bringing their little kids to cons. They are nerds, geeks, engineers, and just the sort of people we can be talking up the organization to. I will agree with Colin in that our 'brand' is not out in the open. Having to identify ourselves as a hackerspace as the preamble to each conversation takes some of the wind out of our sails. It might even be enough to have a banner/poster that says something along the lines of "Skullspace: Winnipeg's Hackerspace". Having people walk up to the table with a question on their lips is easier than having to break the ice with every encounter. We can do better, and I believe we will. p.s. - This is not a reason for a strikeforce.. move away from the keyboard Ian. On Sun, Nov 3, 2013 at 1:37 AM, Roswyne <[email protected]> wrote: > I disagree - people willing to work the booth should be encouraged, and > offered help if they say they're having trouble explaining SkSp to people. > This is a learning opportunity. > > I think a little preplanning will help a lot - consider why you go to > SkSp, or why other people go. For example, even though I haven't used the > 3d printer, I could briefly describe how a group of members pooled their > money to buy a 3d printer kit and assembled it themselves, and give a > couple of examples of things that could be printed on it. Similarly I > could give a quick description of what I've seen and heard about CTFs. > > We could also have more tangible items, possibly even for giveaway, or > sale near cost. Being able to demonstrate how to use the would be even > better. This could be stuff made on the 3d printer, little solder kits, > demos of how to add LEDs to clothing, etc. > > Doing minor repairs (or having video clips showing people doing this) > might be interesting. What about how we (well, Colin0) set up our own > fobbed access system and videocameras, which can be streamed over the > internet. It's not all of what SkSp is, but it's part of what SkSp can be. > > On Nov 2, 2013 8:53 PM, "Ron" <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Then you shouldn't be working the booth. We need our most extroverted >> people, otherwise there's no chance. Also some cool stuff sitting there >> for people to check out. Did we get the pile of blinking lights? >> >> I personally hate it when vendors ask for contact info for a "draw", >> which is code for "we're going to spam you forever". >> >> Ron >> >> On 2013-11-03 01:10, [email protected] wrote: >> > I don't know about the other guys at the table, but I kinda suck at >> being talkative and marketing to random people... Some congoers just pass >> by and evaluate us in 2 seconds, it's good to have a way to identify >> ourselves in that time as 'not just guys who have a nintendo and cards >> against humanity'. >> > >> > Also maybe have a prize drawing where they need to leave contact >> info... AW has one of those for a free month membership and it has 100+ >> papers inside, wow. I volunteer a pile of Cisco 800-series routers for the >> draw. >> > >> > >> > -----Original Message----- >> > From: Ron <[email protected]> >> > Sender: [email protected]: Sat, 2 Nov 2013 >> 19:57:41 >> > To: <[email protected]> >> > Reply-To: [email protected] >> > Subject: Re: [SkullSpace-Discuss] Displaying Skullspace's identity >> > >> > Are there people at the table? Isn't the point of having volunteers >> > there to tell people about it? >> > >> > It'd be cool to have stuff on the table, as well, but we sorta suck at >> > having stuff. :) >> > >> > Ron >> > >> > On 2013-11-03 00:42, [email protected] wrote: >> > > #incomingbikeshed >> > > >> > > I'm at the C4 booth and we have a nice sign (draped below a table >> where it's not really visible, especially when people stand in front) and >> nice business cards, but they just say our name and 3 unmeaningful words, >> nothing says that we are a hackerspace or what that entails. I'm still sick >> and not feeling too creative, any suggestions on how we should represent >> what we do and interest people in it? >> > > >> > > >> > > _______________________________________________ >> > > SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List >> > > Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss >> > > Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >> > _______________________________________________ >> > SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List >> > Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss >> > Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >> > _______________________________________________ >> > SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List >> > Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss >> > Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >> _______________________________________________ >> SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List >> Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss >> Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >> > > _______________________________________________ > SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List > Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss > Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ > -- -- ) thor.robinson; ) icon/phreshlyspun/ppca/skullspace -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.12 GMU/O/AT/! d- s+:+ a C++++ UL++++ P L+++@ E---- W@ N! o K? w--- O- M-- V? 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