[Noisebridge-discuss] Re: Expanding Noisebridge

Rachel McConnell rachel at xtreme.com
Mon Mar 9 21:46:09 UTC 2009


Also:
* more power tools in the shop
* more than 3 (tight) workspaces in the electronics lab
* a few more spaces in the chill/laptop-class area (currently people
have to sit on sofa arms & backs, the floor, etc)
* a coat closet
* a corner to stuff bags into, even
* space to work on projects that are bigger than a breadbox
* outdoor bike racks?

Realistically, it will take us at least 5-6 months to do any expansion.
 In 5-6 months our space needs will be even greater.  It is therefore
not too soon to start thinking about it, which costs no money ;)

Having certain events at other locations will surely be necessary but I
hope it is never more than a temporary stopgap measure.  There are a
couple of reasons. First, because it's not reasonable to ask people to
have a permanent weekly meeting at their house (and changing the
location weekly increases the minimum attention requirement
drastically).  Also, and perhaps more importantly, because as things
move away from Noisebridge physically, they will also tend to drift away
psychologically, decreasing the value of Noisebridge for everyone.

Rachel

Christie Dudley wrote:
> Is the concern conflicting scheduling issues?  I know we're coming up on
> that, with more and more events being scheduled but I think there are
> other issues at hand too.  I've participated in several discussions
> about wanting more space for larger events.  It would also be really
> fabulous to have more space to put stuff, like shelves for all the new
> members we're going to have in the coming months.  (OK, and all the junk
> we pick up off the street.  Maybe we can skip some of that.)
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 2:23 PM, Adam Skory <askory at gmail.com
> <mailto:askory at gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
>     Ian, I think that's a great idea! I'm not in charge of the ML meeting
>     so it's not up to me, but anyway thanks for the offer!
> 
>     This really touches on the suggestion I've been wanting to point out
>     but holding back on so far.
> 
>     It seems to me that, while there are lots of excellent things that
>     could be done with more space, the biggest motivation for more space
>     right now is conflicting events. Some of these events (particularly
>     circuit hacking or bio-hacking stuff) really need the infrastructure
>     at the space. Many others (such as Mandarin corner) just need a
>     convenient and quiet enough place for people to meet, ideally with
>     tables, chairs, wifi and really ideally a projector and/or whiteboard.
>     It seems that the need for more space is most strongly limited to
>     weekday evenings as well, while much of the rest of the time NB is
>     relatively empty.
> 
>     Increasing membership and revenue with the eventual goal of a bigger
>     space is a very good idea, and if the current economy means we can
>     find a stupid bargain somewhere lets go for it. But, in the meantime,
>     I think we ought to take advantage of all these places I keep hearing
>     as suggestions for farming out events and save our monies.
> 
>     -skory
> 
>     On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 12:22 PM, Ian F <ian at slumbrparty.com
>     <mailto:ian at slumbrparty.com>> wrote:
>     > Sorry I'm late to the conversation, but is one of the reasons for the
>     > expansion request conflicting schedules of subgroups? If so, I
>     would like to
>     > offer my loft for the wed machine learning sessions as an interim
>     solution.
>     >
>     > My apartment is located in Soma, has more room than NB, has a
>     projector,
>     > awesome Internet (web-pass), and rockband :)
>     >
>     > Let me know,
>     >
>     > Ian
>     >
>     > On Mar 9, 2009, at 3:36 AM, Rachel McConnell <rachel at xtreme.com
>     <mailto:rachel at xtreme.com>> wrote:
>     >
>     >> Paul Böhm wrote:
>     >>>
>     >>> we should do it!11
>     >>> what's our best shot at raising the money?
>     >>
>     >> More members.  A one-off won't do it, we will need double the income
>     >> consistently.  A larger membership is the only possible way we can
>     >> permanently increase our income to a useful degree.
>     >>
>     >> OK I lied, if someone has an extra security deposit and year's
>     worth of
>     >> $3k/month just lying around that they'd like to contribute, that
>     would
>     >> work too.  At least, it would work for a year, during which time we'd
>     >> need to ... get more members.
>     >>
>     >> We are growing, but at a rate of something like 1.5 new members a
>     month.
>     >>  If that keeps up we'll be able to move sometime in 2012.  Suppose we
>     >> had a goal of, say, 10 new members a month.  That would easily let us
>     >> move by October, which month is conveniently located on our lease
>     >> termination date, allowing us the greatest number of options as
>     to Where
>     >> to expand.
>     >>
>     >> We won't be able to do this by Oh Wow, Yay, Let's!  It will take
>     >> concerted effort.  It will take (shudder) active proselytization.
>      Here
>     >> are some starter ideas:
>     >>
>     >> * Everyone bring one person by to visit the space this month
>     >> * Have we notified all of our geeky mailing lists about Noisebridge?
>     >> * How about the IT or web department at work?
>     >> * Would flyers on telephone poles be useful (where)?
>     >>
>     >> What else?  If we do some kind of Media Blitz we'd best
>     coordinate our
>     >> efforts for maximum effect, so let's talk it over a bit and see
>     what we
>     >> think.  I will put an agenda item up for Tuesday.
>     >>
>     >> Rachel
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> 
> 
> -- 
> -- 
> Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err.
> ~ Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi
> 
> If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what
> they do not want to hear.
> ~ George Orwell
> 
> Freedom is the will to be responsible to ourselves.
> ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
> 
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