Archive:Events/Space Extension Party/Planning

Date

Sunday February 6, 2011 at 1:00pm

Publicity

Calendar events

• Facebook event
• Upcoming event

Media coverage

• Blog coverage:
  • I'll get on to the Londonist and Makezine to write a blog post nearer the time (2-3 weeks?). We got a really good response from them in the past. --Teabot
    • I spoke to Matt from Londonist a while back about Hackspace so I'll drop him an email. He promised to come along at some point! Russ
  • Also try the Thingiverse blog - could link to our things
  • Suppliers' blogs: Earthshine, Oomlout
  • Others: Any sewing/knitting/lock-picking blogs?
• Special guest appearance: London Hackspace visitor Cory in his capacity as the author of 'Makers' - perhaps cutting/desoldering a ribbon cable to open the new unit :-)
• We've received a little interest from mainstream media in the past. Should we approach these organisations to try and get some coverage? Perhaps even more relevant now given the 'siliconroundabout' hype.

Advertising

• Is it worth buying some online ads? We tried Facebook last time - was it a success? I have a free Google Adwords voucher if that is of any use --Teabot
• Flyers in local hardware stores
  • Hamar Acrylic
  • 4D models
  • C W Tyzack
  • Travis Perkins
  • Leyland SDM

Preparation

• We could improve accessibility for new members with more interior signage. We could label areas, large tools, projects - perhaps have the signs on the ceiling for easier navigation of the space.
  • in the style of tube signs :p
• Produce a map of the space and time table of events so that visitors can find their own way around if they so wish.
• Better exterior signage to get people to the space would also help - more signs at the entrance to Cremer Business Centre for example.
• Ensure that the Makerbot and Laser cutter are fully operational

Can we get some footage of general day-to-day shenanigans and hackery that goes on and maybe have a looping projection of it running during the day? Fridgehead

Displays

• Would be nice to have some kind of project display area to showcase what kind of things are done at the space. Projects with immediate appeal:
  • Anything Kinect related
  • The Quadcopter build
  • Lasercut stuff - There have been some beautiful builds lately: puzzle box, Tetris/Mario pieces etc.
  • 3D printed stuff - some members are building RepRaps currently?
  • The laser projector, with or without the laser harp
  • I'll see if i can bring in Evil Bear - Fridgehead

Demonstrations

• Last year's event was a little unstructured. We could make it more inviting with a running timetable of short talks, presentations, and demonstrations. This would reduce time-spent with individual demonstrations and introductions. Sample topics:
  • Tools (Laser cutter, Makerbot)
  • What is an Arduino etc.
  • How to pick a lock
  • What is Bio-hacking
  • Projects (?)
• Might be nice to highlight some of the other skills practiced at the Space for broader appeal:
  • Sewing
  • Knitting
  • Bio-hacking
  • Lock picking

Is the old dirty workshop getting repurposed? It could make a good demo/presentation space

Sample schedule

Please note: I completely made this up - so it may be crap. Assuming 15 minute slots giving a 15 minute break between talks:

When	Title	Who
14:00	London Hackspace - an introduction
14:30	Arduino overview - an example project (the board?)
15:00	Rapid prototyping with a Laser Cutter	Eb4890, Fridgehead
15:30	3D printing with the Makerbot
16:00	Introduction to hackspace systems (doorbot/electric meter/IRC/etc) ??
16:30	Bio-hacking - A short introduction
17:00	Lock-picking as a sport
17:30	BBQ begins

• I like the idea of the "rapid prototyping using a laser cutter", perhaps we could have an "improv" moment with a member of the audience yelling out an object and 15 minutes later we've got it prototyped in perspex - I volunteer for laser cutting/inkscape/sketchup demos - Fridgehead
  • In which case you should run it as you see fit - I really like the improv idea! - "Whose spline is it anyway?" --Elliot
• We could overlap some things, we have the space, makerbot might need longer to build something. I'll help out on the laser cutting, but I'm not so hot on boxing/3d stuff. Also it would be good if we had longer scheduled workshops/tutorials soon after the open day to get people working quickly. I'll postpone my inkscape tutorial until after the open day. --Eb4890

Promotional materials

• Free Hackspace keyrings?
• nametags!! Not only are they cool if lasercut but they'll be handy for new people - tomw

Food & drink

• Licensed bar
• Unusual beers
• Hacker cake contest - think: circuits, robots, gaming
• BBQ - Solexious
  • we should shape the bbq food in geeky ways - tomw
• crazy icecream cocktails