Fair enough. I’ll work out a plan with Education, present it to the committee on the 30th and see what amendments need to be made.
In case anyone else reads this and is concerned about me missing a committee meeting: I had a conflict that I could not reschedule. I announced that I was going to miss the meeting several times on Discord. If it happens again, I’ll announce it on Talk as well.
There were three people at the meeting. You and one other voted to keep the museum.
Patrick showed up and abstained on that vote. If you want to call that several, go ahead. It’s misleading.
it’s more than none and I’m fairly sure if we had actually put this up on the agenda with the proper amount of time for our committee to review there would have been more votes.
If it seems like I’m calling things out or trying to jockey for a take over; its not my intention. There’s been two meetings on the calendar which didn’t happen and as your own appointed co-chair of the Hackerspace committee; I’m just concerned that things are starting to fall back into the same problems we had SDC, or being fair here VCC.
For my part, I LOVE the museum, and the idea of the museum. I don’t make frequent use of it, nor are the things Hackerspace Committee does, nor will do, my catnip, but I like that things like this happen at my DMS. I think the ethos of DMS requires this element. I think having at least a small, rotating, retro-display is good, and keeps even folks like me, who are NOT your primary draw, stopping by and engaged more frequently than we otherwise would. Raffi’s vision might work just as well, but I really admire Dwight’s resourcefulness in assembling the Museum in a climate which was not friendly to it (pre-expansion space crunch), and would hate to see it go…
That’s certainly a hypothesis you can test at the next committee meeting.
You’re not a co-chair. I’ll look through the board meeting minutes, but I’m fairly sure the that the threat of being dissolved happened at the meeting when we merged VCC and SDC.
The committee spoke; voted and they said it stays.
The committee did not speak. You and one other person spoke.
Any member can call a committee meeting, not only the chair or vice chair.
It was on the calendar. It met. It voted.
In my book, the vote sticks unless it is overturned by a future vote.
FWIW, had I known, I would have voted KEEP.
I would have to agree with Jast - the museum is neat and I like it [assuming we have space and someone to maintain it].
I think the real issue is the VCC/SDC/Hackerpace group doesn’t really have a clear vision of what it is. You guys talk about what you like/want big picture but really lack on details. Having a place to develop an Arduino/RaspPi project is fine - but I don’t understand that need [I have all that stuff now - I’m missing the vision of how having it set up at the Space is worth while or makes it easier].
I’m guessing on what your vision is… but “Hackerspace” to me alludes to old/vintage stuff, lock picking, crypto, etc.
For classes I would look more at:
You guys also talk about different on going projects - do they get actively worked on, are there regular scheduled work sessions? How about taking a “OpenCat” [yes I subscribe to Make magazine] and developing that - building on the platform, adding sensors, developing AI, and doing it in a manner that the participants are able to take those learnings and replicate them on their project at home [or at the meeting]. It would also mean documenting things so someone could read up so they don’t have to be at every meeting to stay up to speed.
I think there is a lot of opportunity and possibilities - I would urge a clearer definition on what the group wants to be. My thoughts don’t matter one iota - I don’t have the time [or knowledge] to contribute. I would also be careful to not just cater to the IT professional [which we have several] - several of the posts look interesting but require too much time to decipher ;).
@TSki Very valid points and yes that’s been my vision for this committee form its inception. Some of those classes are not very popular here at the space but we’d be glad to support any of our community members that wishes to post them.
The other classes and ideas are either already on the calendar or going back on the calendar shortly.
regular scheduled work sessions
Weekly office hours has been available on wednesdays 7pm from the start of the year and are standing events.
My thoughts don’t matter one iota.
Actually I’m glad you shared your thoughts here and they’re quite valuable. Thank you!
This OpenCat project sounds very interesting. We’re currently working a hackathon with seeed kits but we’d love to hear more about this opencat project.
Lets just be honest VCC & SDC were mainly the same group of people that is now Hackerspace & yeah the BOD doesn’t mind dissolving all of it.
Make it useful.
3D Fab are get permission from education to make stations.
Problem with it Hackerspace is stuff isnt modern enough to use over ones personal laptop.
It’s also not old enough with wow factor to bring enough nostalgia.
It’s lost in the middle somewhere
Quick brainstorm on modern stations.
Then you can keep the museum for fun like cool ass decoration in the old front entrance
Yes, yes, yes - please do this! I spent many years as a tech trainer, and I would LOVE to be able to teach classes in a computer lab.
This could also provide community outreach to have people come in to build Etsy shops, learn to code, write their resumes, learn to touch type, etc. etc. etc.
If showcasing old tech helps us get grants, let’s keep it. Yesterday, I pulled out an old Dell laptop with a monitor port, hdmi port, a blu ray DVD port, and 4 usb ports. We need to remind people of what computers are supposed to look like as manufacturers are taking away more and more features.
I like it too. I also like ice cream. Ice cream is neat. But we’re not an ice cream parlor. I have yet to hear an argument of how having an exhibit of vintage computers fits into our mission or the broader DMS mission.
I’m going to assume you’re not trying to be a condensing ass - especially since I don’t have a dog in this fight and was thinking you guys needed more definition on what you guys wanted to be. What is the mission of the “Hackerspace” committee - I can’t help discuss how it does/doesn’t fit in your mission when I don’t know the mission of the group. But if you have the room and person(s) willing to maintain it, why remove it - what are you needing the space for?
And while we might not be an ice cream parlor, ice cream can be used to build community - sort of like our potlucks. DMS’s mission is pretty broad - we can’t be just a club, but “maintain spaces suitable for technical and social collaboration” is part of it. We aren’t just a place with a lot of neat toys/tools; we are a neat community with lots of creative people in addition to a ton of neat toys/tools. And museums do have some educational benefits, even if they are only cabinets of curiosities.
Our mission is listed under Purpose here:
https://dallasmakerspace.org/wiki/Category:Hackerspace_Committee
I made fun of a bad idea. It’s important to do so.
We need to do a few things well. Doing a lot of things poorly or leaving them incomplete has been one of the principal shortcomings of the committee.
I went through and removed the inactive projects from the wiki page. I think I still have some cleaning up to do there. But there were a lot of cobwebs.
Again, few things well, not many things poorly.