Meeting Update

[James Wade]

Morning All,

Despite the few people that actually turned up it was actually a good meeting.

Tom brought down his Raspberry Pi to take a look at, while I discussed some ideas I had for it. Ian brought down a milkshake from McDonalds, not enough for all of us though! ;)

Joking aside though, we found some common goals and discussed a 3D printer as a good starting point for a group build project.

Ian mentioned the possibility of using a room at say a working men’s club where we could be supplied with food and drink.

We also mentioned the need for a workshop, with actual workspace and actual tools.

It may be worth getting in touch with the local universities or colleges such as Staffs Uni and Stoke College (Burslem) to see if they can provide us with the facilities in an evening in return for engaging their students or whatever.

I felt that as we're currently down to meet two days of a month it may be a good idea to set one as a social meet (to discuss) and the other as a workshop meet (to get things done).

Last night was most definitely a social, but it was a good starting point.

With the return of Simon next month I think things could start to get really interesting.

If you have any ideas going forward, I know we'd all love to hear them.

Cheers!

[Simon Halliday]

Hi!

Good to hear it was a successful meeting, the Pi is going to be revolutionary, one of the guys Im working with has been messing with one and is looking at using them to control broadcast cameras.

Just out of interest, who managed to make it along?

I agree on having different meetings, we should have a social only meeting, even when we have a fully stocked workshop.

On the subject of a proper workshop, Ive got some feelers out at the moment, but I didnt want to say too much until I have any news..

The TECC have been very generous to us, but the space isnt ideal, especially as I forsee this growing rapidly once we get established.

Looking forward to getting back and stuck in!

Cheers

Si
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[Simon Halliday]

Alternatively we could ask the TECC if they have a room we could rent on a semi permanent basis with 24hr access..

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[James Wade]

Hi Simon,

You're right, I think we could very quickly see ourselves outgrow the TECC venue due to the limited workspace.

The social meet venues are pretty easy to come across. We've hired the room upstairs at the White Star pub in Stoke for a movie night before, they do good food and drink and the hire isn't too expensive.

I do think that a workshop is the harder challenge though.

However, I think with a little press coverage and a word with a few educational institutions we might be able to get something sorted.

I've written up a little summary of the group here: http://hackspace.org.uk/view/Potteries

It's on a wiki, so anyone can edit it and it's on the UK hackspace site for a little exposure.

In the meantime, it might be worth speaking to near by hackspaces (like hacman and madlab in Manchester) to see what they are working out of and if they can give us any inspiration.

Anyway, plenty to think about for now I'm sure.

[Simon Halliday]

Hi,
Ive asked my Dad(whos got lots of contacts) to harass the council to see if they have any empty premises we could take over.

Might take a bit of time, but he's great at pursuading folks to help....

Cheers

Si

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James Wade <jps...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Simon,

You're right, I think we could very quickly see ourselves outgrow the TECC venue due to the limited workspace.

The social meet venues are pretty easy to come across. We've hired the room upstairs at the White Star pub in Stoke for a movie night before, they do good food and drink and the hire isn't too expensive.

I do think that a workshop is the harder challenge though.

However, I think with a little press coverage and a word with a few educational institutions we might be able to get something sorted.

I've written up a little summary of the group here: http://hackspace.org.uk/view/Potteries

It's on a wiki, so anyone can edit it and it's on the UK hackspace site for a little exposure.

In the meantime, it might be worth speaking to near by hac kspaces (like hacman and madlab in Manchester) to see what they are working out of and if they can give us any inspiration.