Archive:Events/Space Extension Party/Planning

Date

Sunday February 6, 2011 at 1:00pm

Publicity

Calendar events

• Facebook event
• Upcoming event
• Hackspaces.org Event

Media coverage

• Blog coverage:
  • Digital Shoreditch have agreed to blog about our party on their site - tom
  • 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 (note 27/01: it's on Londonist now)
    • 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
  • Ask cory to give us a plug on BoingBoing
  • 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. (Wired love to be astroturf?)
• Listings websites:
  • Time Out (contacted by Gilda 27/01)
  • Spoonfed (contacted by Gilda 27/01)
  • Wozzon (listing added by Gilda 27/01)
  • FreeLondonEvents (submitted by Gilda 27/01)
  • http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/ (submitted by Gilda 27/01)
  • http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/ (submitted by Gilda 27/01)

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

Cleaning

• Since our move into unit 23 there is still a lot of stuff that needs to find a home.
• Currently there is quite a bit of 'junk' just sitting in the middle of the floor.
• We need a strategy to clear this up in time for the party.

Suggested strategy

• Hold a 'cleaning day'.
• Plan and purchase any additional storage solutions before the cleaning day.

Maintenance

• Ensure that the Makerbot and Laser cutter are fully operational

Improvements

• 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.
  • how quickly could be build a blimp and float it above the space on string? tom

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.
    • bang up a table next to the cutter and I'll include them in the talk - tom
  • 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
  • I'd like to do a kinect / VJ set with the projector if i can get it done in time = Oni
  • Ditto, we should set up a projector somewhere with the kinect and show off stuff, your Pin Wall thing comes to mind :) tom

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
  • Brain-computer interface
  • 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	timm
17:30	BBQ begins
18:30	Demonstration of sparkles, hopefully with music synchronised beats	eb4899

• 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
• Now weve got a thermal cycler for PCR we should definitely do the "biohacking" talk

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
• astronaut food
• dry ice
  • any luck with sourcing this for making icecream?