Re: Where When How

[Callum]

Hola,

Welcome. Excellent questions. :-)

I will be travelling south from Canada around August, so central
America works for me. You're in New York?

Autumn 2009 works well for me, but I could equally do earlier. I think
a lot will depend on who wants to join and where those people are
coming from. I retire end of June. I'm doing some consultancy July /
August so I need to be contactable, but otherwise I'm pretty free. By
September I'm fully retired.

With regard to guidelines, I'm thinking we leave it fairly open. I
think we need to figure out cash. How much rent, utilities, etc will
cost. Who's going to bear that cost? I think it could work out very
cheap if there were 6 people or more for 1 to 3 months. Probably
around $100 or $150 USD per person per month plus food.

Once we agree on how to cover costs, I propose a very open format. I
can imagine two types of visitors. People coming to collaborate and
people passing by. I suggest we have some sort of wiki calendar where
people register if they wish to stay to collaborate. Then passers by
are welcome to drop in and stay, space permitting. Hopefully we could
offer camping space or other options if we're full of people.

I think it would be worth explaining what is expected of both
collaborators and visitors. Here's a starting point we could use.

Collaborators
* People coming to collaborate.
* We hope you can stay 7 days or more.
* If you are financially able, you would contribute to the costs (all
expenses transparently logged, etc).
* You're coming both to relax and to be productive. You set your own
balance based on what you feel is reasonable and respectable to the
group.
* You're willing and eager to take on a fair share of the domestic
tasks (cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc).

Visitors
* Passers by dropping into say hello.
* If we have space, we'd like to welcome you. We'll post contact
details if you want to check what sort of space is available.
* You're eager and willing to help with domestic tasks (cooking most
likely). We welcome gifts of food.
* You're open to getting involved with the projects we're working on.

In my mind, the questions that need answered in advance are probably:
* Where and when. Specifically which building, at what cost, on what
dates.
* Who will share costs.

Beyond that, I think things will evolve naturally and organically.

I registered #cogawa on Freenode. :-)

Be well - Callum.

On Jun 17, 10:35 am, Kasper Souren <kasper.sou...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Naturally I love the idea.  Three questions come up:
>
> Where: Cheap and possibly visa friendly?  Existing connections?
>
> When: Autumn 2009 or even earlier?
>
> How: Guidelines?

[Dante-Gabryell Monson]

Hi Callum, Hi Kasper,

Looks like we share common intentions :-)

I was thinking about such prospects for some time.

I would personally define it as "enabling a transition from "The
Spectacle" to "Festivalism", beyond a nomadic lifestyle, and as an
example that almost anyone could replicate."

Just as a reminder of differences between Spectacle and Festivalism ,
see :

http://ww.p2pfoundation.net/Festivalism#Comparison_Table

Closest I know to our own networks and to a spirit that relates to
Callum's brainstorming

http://www.callum-macdonald.com/2009/06/08/a-space-to-share-cooperate-and-collaborate/

is "Casa Robino" , in Amsterdam.

http://casarobino.org/

But what I look forward to are places that have their own local small
scale production infrastructure, enabling local autonomy by using an
open source approach to using existing technologies.

I imagine such living and production infrastructures can be modules
that can be easily transported, and be located along places such as
water ways ( such as water canals ).

I look forward to find investment ( in euros and dollars ) to converge
resources to build such infrastructures.
The benefit for the investors would be "use value", and not direct
monetary returns.
It offers a form of insurance + lifestyle that a unstable financial
system can not offer.

I can send you more information about such prospects.

There are transconnected project ecologies that can support such
vision :

http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=Global_Village_Construction_Set

" This page is about the Global Village Construction Set and the plan
for how it will be built by Open Source Ecology.
The Global Village Construction Set - Products and services for a self-
sufficient economy "

http://globalswadeshi.ning.com/group/osedevelopmentnetwork


I also feel these groups could be of interest :

http://groups.google.com/group/coworking

--

http://openmanufacturing.net/
http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing

"Open Manufacturing is about bringing free and open source software
development methodology and philosophy to the design and construction
of the physical world."

"""
The "open" in open manufacturing can be interpreted in a few different
ways:

open source designs under free licenses
open to do-it-yourself
open to end-user dialogue
open to peer-review
open to collaboration
open to cradle-to-cradle analysis
open to viewing as an ecosystem of processes
open to democratic participation
open to new design ideas
open to new economics
open to the future