I'm bored

[patrick]

Yeah I'm board any one down in Mississippi wanna start a hackerspace? Preferably someplace around the Stennis Space Center.

[Luis E. Rodriguez]

You should lobby to have one IN the center!

Luis E. Rodriguez

[Travis Smith]

Well man, you know how to do it now.  :)  I'll help with the stuff that works over the internet if you like.

Travis

[patrick]

The thought has crossed my mind to get it at the Stennis Space center but I seriously don't they are going to let people horse around sensitive government areas.

[Stephanie Jensen]

Patrick - What's the first rule about Fight Club?   :-)

[patrick]

Not sure that applies in this case.

On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 7:33:50 PM UTC-5, patrick wrote:

[patrick]

Okay so Say I wanted to approach NASA about starting a hackerspace at Stennis how would I word the proposal?

For instance should it go.

Dear NASA Administrator,

Over the last few years online social networks and media have become prevalent through out the world. Recently NASA has begone to promote it self through in this area via twitter facebook and google+. Through these means NASA has begone engaging the public inviting them to come to launch/landing parties for certain missions. In the last few years what used to be online only groups have started meeting in the physical space. One such transition is the Hackerspace also called a Makerspace. A group of people come together to share ideas and home projects, they collaborate on other projects to further their knowlege in as many skills sets as possible. These groups of people have a thirst for knowledge and further understanding of the things devices and systems around them. They see a problem and solve it by what ever means they have availible. Often time they do not have access to the latest technologies but only discard junk. They come together with various skill sets and transform these discarded items into a solution. Through this practice knowledge is freely transferred. I propose a Hacker space at the NASA Stennis Space center, where employees and civilians can come discuss ideas, problems, solutions.

I personally come from the Omaha Maker Group. The Omaha Maker Group exists to facilitate a place where people can explore Technology, Science and Art.  We operate a community workshop in Omaha, Nebraska and have bi-weekly meetings where people can collaborate, share resources, create, and learn together. An inventor, artist, scientist, student, educator, hacker, maker, hobbyist, or just curious about how things work, come to the Omaha Maker Group.

The Omaha Maker Group is only one of thousands of Hacker/Maker spaces around the world. I believe a hackerspace at the stennis space center and other NASA centers will be good for NASA employees and the local communities that support them.

Please contact me if you would like to discuss this further.

Sincerely,

Patrick Pecoraro



Okay guys what do you think help me edit this. If I'm really going to go with this. This letter needs to be SOLID before I send it.

On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 7:33:50 PM UTC-5, patrick wrote:

[Travis Smith]

Patrick,

Not bad for a first draft.  A few things:

1. Is there a woodshop or other hobby shop already at the facility purposed for recreational use?  If so, it may just be a matter of engaging the shopkeep and proposing new technologies gradually and influencing him/her toward the makerspace concept.
2. Cite precedence. DARPA is heavily interested in makerspaces.  makerspaces.com is their baby, I believe (I have extremely mixed feelings about this, though).
3. Work your way up the chain.  Don't start at the top, as a negative reply from the top stops anyone below from saying yes.
4. Engage the reader to meet with you, rather than leaving the ball in their court.  "I would like to meet with you to discuss the potential for this community and look forward to your reply."   Or something.
5. begone = begun, various other spell check things.  Use active voice (John kicked the ball not the ball was kicked by John).
6. Of course, should the hackerspace end up at Stennis, you're definitely not going to get access to the same shops used for rocketry.  That would be akin to me asking to use the machine shop where they service my jet.  I'd be laughed out of the room.  I believe a space already dedicated to recreation is probably your best bet, and then you can gather materials similar to how we did it here in Omaha.

Bottom line:  If NASA is anything like where I work, no one wants to take risks that could endanger the mission or their jobs.  Make it as easy for them as possible, and start at the bottom.  If possible, spin it so that they can use involvement to advance their career.  In the military, something like this would be used as a bullet point for an award application since it involves volunteerism (guess what I did!).  Maybe you can use that.

Travis

[patrick]

Travis all your points are valid I wrote it on a brake at work wasn't putting much work into it just wanted to form something quick. I'm thinking about looking for a property manager or a PR person to start out with. If the group was a non profit I could see NASA giving old tools that have been upgraded to the space. I don't expect to use an existing shop. There are at least a few buildings that are not being used though im not sure what future plans they have for them either. I encourage any one here to make augmented version of my current letter. or their own if they want to help out. Also I need to see if i can post flyers and see if there is an employee interest to get things moving. If there is then it would get it a lot further than if it was just me proposing it.

On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 7:33:50 PM UTC-5, patrick wrote:

[Dan Linder]

I would suggest you talk to someone within NASA that does community out-reach engagements (i.e. school visits, promotional tours, etc).  They might not be local, but they might also know of other NASA sites that have done similar public work.

Dan

--
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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"
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    -- from the Satires of Juvenal
"I do not fear computers, I fear the lack of them."
    -- Isaac Asimov (Author)
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[patrick]

I've put the letter into a Google doc any one with the link can edit it. Please feel free I would love to have Makery members contribute to this project it can be a OMG expansion SSC (Stennis Space Center) chapter if you will.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rKHk5xRcfO5VdhqTv_E31NizgHvjjIr5VPA51TiJNTM/edit

On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 7:33:50 PM UTC-5, patrick wrote:

[patrick]

As I mentioned on the member fees thread, I finally found out who at nasa I need to contact about starting a Maker Space. I also have a few engineers who are interested. If any one would like to look over my letter one more time I think  i'll send it early next week.

Here is the google doc:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rKHk5xRcfO5VdhqTv_E31NizgHvjjIr5VPA51TiJNTM/edit

On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 7:33:50 PM UTC-5, patrick wrote: