Love see something like this happening. Maybe a good start and catalyst.
IMO think a nice big Octagon table would be great, maybe even Hexagon or both. The gaming group would have better input as to which.
Pre-Covid for a while we used to have lots of pick-up card games later at night. But that was also when a lot of people came by the Space because it was enjoyable to hang around. 10-12 people in the old common room after 10PM- 1AM was not unusual.
Lots of folks stopped by on the way home for an hour or so rather than sit in traffic. There were lots of really great discussions and sort of mini-classes that used the white broad to either teach a concept or people working/debating out a solution to some project. People working on small projects such wire jewelry, small assembling 3D printers, etc.
It would be great if things like that could be encouraged to come back it was a great dynamic between members. Much of the volunteer community hung out there. On Thursday tour nightâs if they needed more guides, someone would come back and ask and one or two would help with the surge. Lotâs times someone would come in from the shop asking for help and someone would go help. I couldnât tell you how many cars got pushed up the ramp when 5-6 folks got up to help with a short 5 minute task.
How many of you remember a certain member who would come in, point at the room âFood? Food?â Small hordes of us would go somewhere to eat ⌠usually after 90 minutes of discussion where.
I like that. That makes it a lot more flexible. I would definitely go octagon vs hexagon. Hexagon would limit the game play. Not that I think weâre that likely to get that many folks playing all at once, but 8 gives you more options. Frankly, I donât think the Common/Nothing Room is a good place to play a serious DnD campaign. There is just too much traffic most times of day. I mean, who wants to get whacked by a board that somebody is carrying in? And, the traffic is enough that Iâd think DnD folks would prefer to take over Interactive, or the North Lobby Classroom if they wanted to play
The room itself is going to putz with any effort to make more homey than it was. 2 of those tables should be good, and the traffic going through shouldnât have to play âdodge the tableâ more than absolutely necessary. (And whack the fewest number of people as they struggle bring in supplies.)
This is a long-needed step in the right direction with the Common Room. Thereâs a room dedicated for computers, so anything that reduces the âbank of PCâsâ footprint in the Common Room, and initiatves like this to introduce more opportunities for actual member communion is fabulous. Perhaps consider a couple of tables that can accommodate 4-6 people each. Octagonal tables, or even tables with hinges that can fold up into the walls of the Common Room might work.
Right now the initiative to reduce computer offerings isnât a totally hideous idea. Weâre slow, so only one design computer thatâs not part of the classroom is probably adequate. Weâre not very good at attracting folks who will teach the programs necessary to run the various CNC machines, so the computer lab is largely unused. The last person who taught got a job in Austin.
I consider the decision to reduce the computers in the former Common Room as a ticking time bomb. If we get the membership we want, we wonât have the computer setups to keep them. Those design machines were much busier pre-pandemic.
The âPC Roomâ is actually set up to be a classroom. Right now thatâs not an issue, because there is rarely a class being taught. However, if we do get a class, we dump any potential users into the limited availability of the two remaining computers in the not-Common-we-donât-want-your-type room. Again â right now weâre slow. (And I donât think one of those computers is set up for design.)
If we want to get ambitious, we also install an overhead, down firing video projector to be able to do live map or game updates as the game is being played. There have been various demos of this on Hackaday going back years, if not decades.
I had made a round wood and padded felt poker table top that ended up at Ladybird for a year or two before it moved on. Depending on my availability I can help with the design/construction of a new gaming table.
@j801496 had the great idea of moving a temporary gaming table over. We have puzzles now and games in the cabinet. Please let me know if there are any games people would like to see.
One of the the things that has been lacking in the common room is a place where someone can set up their own computer and work on projects. We used to have all the tables with wired ethernet and power. I found that very useful, but the recent version of the common room has precluded that since every single table was covered with design computers.