Minutes for 5/21 meeting

[Braden]

[ Hopefully these are acceptable... never taken minutes before.  I tried to make it more of a summary, to keep the length readable.  If you want specifics, feel free to ask... or, come to the meeting. ;)  -- Braden ]


Minutes for 2012-05-21 meeting of Davis Community Workshop / Hackerspace.

Attending: Allan H, Angel Y, Braden P (Recorder), Darin W, Glenda D, Jesse D, Jordan VA (Facilitator), Larry F, Mark C, Michael F, Mick B, Patrick S, Paul U, Robbie M, Steve I, Steve E

Meeting began at 7:00pm.

Agenda was reviewed.  Call for agenda additions.  Patrick added filming of meeting and "In The Studio" appearance.

Filming of the meeting.  Patrick asked permission to film portions of the meeting for B roll of a future episode of DCTV's "In The Studio" interview program.  No objections were voiced.

Name of the space.  "Davis Community Workshop" is only a neutral placeholder name.  The negative image of "hackers" makes the term "hackerspace" cause a loss of time and energy to explain during outreach.  We could still associate ourselves with the larger "hackerspace" community via the eventual website, where it would be easy to provide an immediate link and explanation.  We discussed how to generate a list of names.  Consensus was to brainstorm over email and record the list on a Davis wiki page.  We'll deal with how to choose from the list once it exists.

Recap of Spacecamp and Maker Faire.  Braden summarized his time at the Spacecamp meeting of maker/hackerspace facilitators and founders.  He listed the varied models of the 11 represented spaces, and some suggestions from a breakout session about starting a space.  Jordan recounted talking with some hackerspace members at Maker Faire from PS:One, Hacker Dojo, and Noisebridge.  Robbie talked about American Steel.  Others talked of attending Maker Faire.

Space.  The discussion continued on topic of the different types of spaces that exist.  Talked some about security in the space, and what beyond locked doors could be used to protect tools.  Some talk of what spaces are available in Davis.  Olive drive spaces brought up as large and less than $1/sq.ft.

Startup / Money.  Other groups started collecting dues before they had a space.  Suggestion that we could do this plus offer membership discount for those who paid in before there was a space.  Other models for funding: Davis Food Co-op, Davis Studio / Torpedo Factor Art Center.  Could start classes before there is a space.  We could start a list of potential spaces, of what people would like out of the space, and of what they could put into the space.  We will make a wiki page for depositing this information.  Stress was put on the need for good management for the space.

Mission / Governance.  Discussion turned to trying to develop a shared group identity.  The aforementioned list of what we'd like to put into and get out of a space helps here.  Also, finding a project to do together had good support as a way to generate a group identity.  We added projects as another thing to list on the wiki page.  

Meeting closed at 8:15pm for project show and tell.