In 2013, I spent over a month in Grand Rapids visiting Geek Group. For the first week, I spent a lot of time talking with Chris Boden, and was particularly interested in all of the extraordinary claims made about his Makerspace. I later returned to Dallas with a perspective about him that was… unkind.
At the time, it appeared that organizations that didn’t exist were regularly donating money. The bylaws were locked down, guaranteeing Boden total control of the nonprofit, with virtually no ability for the board to remove him. And given that he would leave for the day by disappearing somewhere upstairs in the building, I suspected that he had a residential suite hidden on the premises.
I never suspected Bitcoin would kill off his organization.
https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/geek-group-founder-discusses-criminal-investigation/1688295507
I like the way your post says “Chris Boden Facing Prison” and then has your photo to the immediate right of that statement. If someone didn’t know who you were, he might think your face was Chris Boden’s!
Rat farts! Now my photo’s next to yours!
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Apparently, Boden removed the original YouTube video where he implicated himself, but some of it found its way on Reddit.
He’s claiming that an organized group of “haters” misrepresented him as “Al Capone” for selling Bitcoin.
https://www.reddit.com/r/grandrapids/comments/ad3m0c/the_fcc_unfriendly_version_news_cant_air_im_going/
I see Geek Group as a case study for how an organization with unchecked powers can falter and fail. While Dallas Makerspace may have developed a somewhat accusatory culture that occasionally spirals into threats of criminal and civil prosecution, I feel that as a result, we remain fortunate to have never approached the level of impropriety evident in Geek Group’s unchecked leadership.
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My first dealings with something that could be called a makerspace was with the Geek Group in the late 90’s. Having dealt with him over a good period of time, I completely believe the charges.