Some suggestions from a CR Expat (sorry, little long)

[nconrads]

I had through Karl Becker that an Iowa City/Cedar Rapids hacker space
was starting up. When I was still in that area and noticed the
general lack of user groups and hacker spaces in IC/CR (from my
perspective, many "active" groups require association with a large
company like Rockwell Collins or a professional organization like the
IEEE) , I had done some research into some of the established
information resources for building a hacker space. In support of your
endeavor, here is a list of some useful links and/or suggestions with
regard to the creation and maintenance of a hacker space in the IC/CR
area.

* http://hackerspaces.org: The most complete resource for hacker
spaces "in-general".
- I would recommend heavily relying on the information that can be
gleaned from the Communicate, Documentation, and Theory sections
(under Resources on the front page) until the "true form" of the
hacker space emerges (i.e. what makes the most sense for your
membership given working hours, weather, user skillset distribution,
preferred age range, etc.).
- Registering the hacker space at the site (http://hackerspaces.org/
wiki/Special:FormStart/Hackerspace) - even during its incubation
stages - would probably help spread the word to those who aren't a
part of the membership's usual social circles.

* http://steveblank.com/tools-and-blogs-for-entrepreneurs/: Steve
Blank's curated list of tools for entrepreneurs. While the creation
of a hacker space is not necessarily congruent to that of a start-up,
much of the theory and many of the tools employed by entrepreneurs
should still be applicable.

* There might be an opportunity to work with some of the larger
companies (ex. Rockwell Collins, Aegon, etc.) in the area for funding
the hacker space.

* Creating a Kickstarter project could help gauge the "fiscal
interest" in the hacker space. Correctly scaling the hacker space
implementation (i.e. not overspending on an unsustainable model)
should be easier with that kind of information.

* irc://irc.freenode.net/#hackerspaces: IRC channel for discussion of
hackerspaces in-general.

* I'd recommend establishing a dvcs for collaborative work and
community documentation that can be accessed anywhere in the world. If
you don't select a dvcs, the solution should allow any one user to
export the "combined wisdom" of the hacker space easily and sanely.
Users are more likely to contribute if they know that they can
reliably use the contributions later.

And, finally: good luck! The region could use a good outlet for the
creative energies of Iowans, and I'm glad someone/many has/have the
chutzpah to create such an outlet!


P.S. Thanks for reading! While the suggestions above are entirely
unbidden and come from a party who *shouldn't* be interested in the
development of the IC/CR region, I've found myself getting carried
away. Please understand that I wish this hacker space the best and
that this missive was only written with good intentions.

[Mark Scully]

Thanks a lot for this Nick!  Those are some great resources.

I'm queuing up a lot of it for future reading. Hopefully we can benefit from all their work.

I think maintaining some docs in a dvcs is a great idea and while I'm partial to github, I think this may set the bar a little high.  This could be somewhat mitigated with a training section on the website that recommended clients / tutorials.  Alternately, we could attach a wiki to the website.  Anyone have any thoughts or opinions?

I've created a resources page on hackerspaceicr.org and added the resources Nick shared (using some of his text as well. Nick, let me know if you want me to change it). I've also created an "Inspirations" page to list things that we're drawing inspiration from, like hackerspaces.org, super happy dev house, and techshop.  If anyone has any suggestions for other resources, or other sites that we should look to for inspiration, please let me know!

Thanks again Nick,

-Mark

[Dan Ambrisco]

Using github could provide a useful interaction experience by
providing experienced users the chance to teach users who've never
touched it before how to use the system. Might help bridge the gap
between the groups, too. Of course, it could be a little intimidating
but I imagine if we have people willing to help it might not be much
of a concern.

That said, I wouldn't object to something simpler like a wiki. Wikis
certainly qualify as easy-to-use.

Dan Ambrisco
Lead Consultant
D. Ambrisco Contracting
847.420.8289

[geemus (Wesley Beary)]

Some of the newer features on github make it usable in a wiki-like way
for less experienced users. For instance you can see the read me for
one of my projects here:

https://github.com/geemus/excon/blob/master/README.md

As long as you have an account you can just click "Edit this file" you
can make changes and it will automatically create and submit a pull
request to the maintainer (or I think just merge the change if you
have commit access). Granted this isn't quite as easy as some wikis,
but I think it is still pretty approachable (while allowing more
advanced users to do their thing as well). Certainly open to
discussing other tools and methods though.

Thanks!
wes

[Greg Rice]

Wow it seems like the group is already garnering a lot of enthusiasm.  Great work organizing this and getting the ball rolling. 
 
Given the hackerspace moniker, I had assumed this group would focus on electronics, software, and other digital formats.  However it would seem from the webpage description that all crafts are being encouraged.  I suppose hackerspaces don't necessarily limit crafts and innovation to the technology subset, but it has been my experience that the makerspace name is generally applied to those spaces intended to foster traditional arts, mechanics, and other mediums, in addition to electronic crafts. 
 
I'm underscoring this distinction because a Corridor Makerspace aready presently exists.  The Epicenter Makerspace has organized communal space in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity ReStore and has been regularly supporting Saturday class events.  They even recently helped to organize the first Cedar Rapids Maker Faire in conjunction with Make Magazine.  I've attached their spring schedule for reference.
 
If the goal of this group is to widely support the Corridor make community, perhaps we should consider joining forces with the Epicenter.  If not, how do we think our goals different?   How should we work together?
 
Regards,
 
Greg

[geemus (Wesley Beary)]

I think that our focus is still more toward electronics/software, but
I don't think being more exclusive gains us much here. Really I hope
to see it be a gathering of people who share the hacker aesthetic more
than that they share an interest in a particular technology or craft.
I think there is a lot to be learned cross interest this way.

I think what epicenter is doing is awesome and by no means do I want
to undermine that, I think that our goal is more a social one than a
teaching one so hopefully they don't really even conflict. And of
course as our first meeting we are still kind of playing it by ear.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll definitely consider how we could work
more closely with Epicenter in the future to foster the hack spirit
throughout the area.

Thanks!
wes