Saturday House is not aiming to make a hacker space.
Our themes are:
* Community.
* Action.
* Business.
* School.
That is, what we're making is broader.
The prototype to look at is BUCKETWORKS.
http://bucketworks.org/
(And yes, Bucketworks needs and has a paid staff person. James
Carleson and Jenn Turner made the importance of this role very
clear to me. It may come "later," but it will certainly be there.)
There are many people in Saturday House who want to make, and will
flourish in, a hacker space; I'm happy to point several to you.
We've been pointing people to Hackerbot Labs for years. That's just
not what we're making, though; It's just not Saturday House.
DorkBot is investigating a hacker space as well, (I think,) right now.
It'll be easy to find the money and the people. I bless your efforts. :)
On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 10:13 AM, Charles Paul <[email protected]>wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I know that you said to hold off on talking about a hacker-space for a
> couple of months, but I think that the time is now. I feel that Lion
> may feel that this is a conversation that needs to incubate further,
> but I will have to politely disagree.
>
> Downtown Seattle desperately needs a hackspace. A space where people
> can come together and hack on projects with each other. There is
> Hackerbot Labs, but they are painfully located to far SODO. Seattle
> Wireless Networks provides a good forum for geeks to come together and
> talk freely, but their current location is also a business office.
>
> I found out about Saturday House via the latest 2600 magazine (where
> you are listed as a HackSpace in Seattle), and was saddened to find
> out that the space has closed down...
>
> Some thoughts -- Noisebridge, in SF, is a very successful hack-space
> that is outgrowing it's current location... but it has enough
> dues-paying members to facilitate the search for a larger space. As
> the same sort of inspired technical community exists inside Seattle
> (albeit a much smaller one), finding a space downtown and making it
> accessible for hackers seems only natural.
>
> As for finding enough money for staff -- Why would we need staff,
> per-se? I cannot think of a hack-space that has paid staff. People
> should have means of income to support themselves, and the space
> itself should be self-supporting through dues and incidental sales of
> beverages and the like. If people don't have work, they would at
> least have a face-to-face network of peers who could assist them in
> the pursuit of a living.
>
> As an aside, take a listen to the inspiring talks from the Last HOPE
> about building hacker-spaces:
>
> http://www.thelasthope.org/media/audio/16kbps/Hacker_Space_Design_Patterns.mp3
>
> A quick search through Craigslist finds numerous spaces available for
> under $1500.00
> http://seattle.craigslist.org/search/off/see?maxAsk=1500&minAsk=1000
>
> We would probably need at least around 50 dues-paying members to
> support a space like that. Would that be a reasonable target?
>
> Take Care,
> Charles Paul
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, May 19, 2009 at 7:07 AM, Lion Kimbro <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > Definitely!
> > Let's talk about it offline, and meet by phone or in person soon.
> >
> >
> > On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 9:40 PM, josh kopel <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>
> >> Lion (and Saturday House at large),
> >> This sounds wonderful.
> >>
> >> I am writing because several folks from the Seattle Dorkbot (CCed
> >> because I am not sure they are on the Saturday House list) are also
> >> working on a plan for a permanent community work/meet/learn space much
> >> like what you are describing.
> >> Our goal is to foster the technology/art crossover, and to provide
> >> access to equipment normally out of reach of individual makers.
> >> We have been discussing a multi-purpose place with some rental desks and
> >> some shared workshop facilities.
> >> Perhaps it would be good to get together to compare notes and combine
> >> efforts?
> >>
> >> Josh
> >>
> >> Lion Kimbro wrote:
> >>> Hello, Saturday House!
> >>>
> >>> 3 Announcements:
> >>>
> >>> 1. We're looking for a place on Saturday!
> >>> [Possibility: Daniel's house.]
> >>>
> >>> 2. Saturday House Description:
> >>> Community, Action, Business, and School
> >>>
> >>> 3. Planning for a "Seattle Bucketworks"
> >>> (rough plans)
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> == Location ==
> >>>
> >>> Do you have a location we can use on Saturday? Saturday House needs
> >>> you! (And your living room!)
> >>>
> >>> Presently, we're looking at using Daniel's apartment this Saturday,
> >>> but we're not sure if that'll go through.
> >>>
> >>> Help!
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> == Saturday House Description ==
> >>>
> >>> I'm looking for help and reflection on a Saturday House description
> >>> for our website. While I have moments of being inspiring, now, at
> >>> 9:10 PM, is not one of them. {:)}=
> >>>
> >>> All help on the description will be greatfully appreciated.
> >>>
> >>> Here are the 4 key elements I'm working with:
> >>>
> >>> * Community -- Saturday House is a very large community of people.
> >>> The boundaries is not "Who comes on Saturday," or even "Who's on
> >>> the list?" It is large.
> >>>
> >>> * Action -- We are working to become action oriented. We have
> >>> recognized that the "slow and steady death" scenario of Saturday
> >>> House is when everyone has laptops out. When we are active, our
> >>> voices become joyful, youth returns, friendliness increases, and
> >>> form strangers draw in closer -- so we have observed. Our idea
> >>> is, "If we become more active, will these good things increase?
> >>> How can we stir more action?" Presently, we persue two routes:
> >>> Activity days (on the 1st Saturday of the month,) and Projects
> >>> (activities focused on each Saturday.)
> >>>
> >>> I invite YOU to lead an Activity day or a Project. My offer is
> >>> to help to ensure that it happens -- to help collect resources
> >>> for you, to announce it (if you like,) to connect you with
> >>> people, to help in coordination however I can. The same goes
> >>> for projects as well.
> >>>
> >>> "Action" is to be interpreted broadly: Even research questions
> >>> and meditations can make "action." But it requires some locus
> >>> of focus.
> >>>
> >>> * Business -- Saturday House has a long tradition with business
> >>> society in Seattle. Business is a focus of Saturday House,
> >>> though I myself have not been much involved in it. The Six Hour
> >>> Startup community grew from the space made available by Saturday
> >>> House, and has grown much larger, beyond the Saturday House.
> >>> Nevertheless, this theme is very much a theme served by the
> >>> Saturday House.
> >>>
> >>> * School -- Saturday House began with the inspiration from the
> >>> Sudbury School method. The idea is that we are all learning,
> >>> both by ourselves, from self-study, and from and with others.
> >>> Some prefer the metaphor of the "Academy," others a "College."
> >>> Regardless, the theme is of study, learning, and growth, in
> >>> service of the larger society of the world.
> >>>
> >>> I'm presently working to develop this into an articulated page for
> >>> "About Saturday House." On that page, too, there well be key words,
> >>> with everything from "Open Source" and "Electronics," to
> >>> "Mathematics," to "Sustainability," to "Drawing," to "Learning" and
> >>> "Reflection," and on and on.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> == Planning ==
> >>>
> >>> Finally, our intention is to make a space, inspired by Bucketworks,
> >>> (perhaps even *called* "Seattle Bucketworks," James willing,) and
> >>> involving many, many, many communities in the larger Seattle area.
> >>>
> >>> My plan is to visit, with others (including Daniel,) every community
> >>> we can think of in the Seattle area, and invite them to discussion
> >>> about locating a space. (We presently have a list of about 20
> >>> groups, and I invite all of you to send me still further people to
> >>> add to the list -- or add it to the EtherPad or Wiki.) I'm
> >>> presently talking with several groups, and will greatly expand that
> >>> number: I hope to talk with at least one new group a week, myself,
> >>> and I hope that effort will be matched (at least in part) by others.
> >>> We will arrange a dinner gathering, to discuss a shared space, and
> >>> then later, the financing of such a space. We will need a space
> >>> large enough for all of our dreams, and enough money to pay someone
> >>> to staff it full time.
> >>>
> >>> It will be *AWESOME.* We'll talk about this space on the list in the
> >>> relatively near future (say, within a month or two,) but please hold
> >>> off for now. That said, I invite you to talk about it with us on
> >>> any Saturday at Saturday House.
> >>>
> >>> The plan is roughly:
> >>>
> >>> 1. Begin, immediately, talking with as many groups as possible
> >>> about our plans, and asking if they could see themselves
> >>> participating in it.
> >>> 2. Near the end of July, or in August, convene for a large group
> >>> dinner or gathering of potential stakeholders, leaders from
> >>> different communities, to get to know one another, to share
> >>> enthusiasm about the space, and to share dreams. Hopefully we
> >>> will have worked out the technology of sharing dreams by this
> >>> point.
> >>> 3. In September or October, collect funds for initial payments, and
> >>> find the space. My thought is that the process of actually
> >>> acquiring the space should proceed fairly quickly. That's how it
> >>> was with the SODO space at least, and that's my understanding of
> >>> how houses are bought as well: It's a quick process.
> >>>
> >>> I do not know yet who will staff the space, and how that will work.
> >>> Obviously, there is much I need to learn to make this real.
> >>> However, there are many among you who are skilled, who have done
> >>> things like this before, and I have the support of other communities
> >>> (such as Bucketworks) who have done what we aim to do. These plans
> >>> are not final, and I am happy to hear any input, though preferably
> >>> in person.
> >>>
> >>> It's going to be an adventure!
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Sincerely,
> >>> Lion Kimbro
> >>>
> >>> >
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >> >
> >>
> >
> > >
> >
>
> >
>
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