[GGHC] Closing the Great Global Hackerspace Challenge

[Mark Sanders]

Hi there,

I've been putting off sending this email. We haven't been able to secure the products from our client element14 that were promised to you. Silverfox, the company that organized the Great Global Hackerspace Competition, will no longer be working with element14. The nature of the business relationship and the contracts between our two companies have not been respected and we have no choice but to part ways. I won't go into detail but our legal council has advised us that we are obliged to shut down this mailing list. 

Even at this late stage I honestly thought that we could find a way to make good on this situation but unfortunately the practicalities didn't allow it. You all worked tremendously hard and your enthusiasm for this project was truly outstanding. We are personally working on alternate arrangements to provide the products that were committed to you. We can't make any immediate commitments but I look forward to following up with you all when we have a solution in place. 

My direct email is mark.s...@agentsilverfox.com. 

Our client at element14 is Sabrina Deitch, 

Sr. Brand Marketing Manager

Newark & element14

sde...@newark.com, 

T: 773 907 5616

MARK SANDERS | SILVERFOX | o 415.701.1701  c:408.728.4674

twitter.com/agentsilverfox
facebook.com/culturewins

culturewins.com

[Jerry Isdale]

List shutting down? 

ok... final goodbye

I for one (among probably many) am disgusted by Element 14. 

This does NOT transfer to the good folks at Agent SilverFox.

I'm sorry you got caught up in this and hope to see you all again somewhere.

So long and thanks for all the fish

Jerry Isdale
http://MauiMakers.com

http://www.mauimakers.com/blog/thursday-public-meeting/

[Mark Sanders]

Hi there,

Thanks for the kind words Jerry. Lessons learned. Lessons learned....

MARK SANDERS | SILVERFOX | o 415.701.1701  c:408.728.4674

twitter.com/agentsilverfox
facebook.com/culturewins

culturewins.com

[Paul Szymkowiak]

Yes, I echo Jerry's comments. A very sad situation. 

Silverfox, you did an amazing job wrangling cats: Mark your team are to be congratulated for all their hard work, and for demonstrating such a kindred "can do" hacker spirit.

The vibe and enthusiasm on this project was incredible, and it would seem we'll not see that again through element14: this would appear to be the death knell of the GGHC under its current primary sponsor.

I've set up an alternative list, in case folks want to keep in touch, or keep the discussion going.

   gghc_...@googlegroups.com

I'll keep a look out for all you folks elsewhere on the Intertoobs.

Paul Zee

(signing off for ChallengeDownunder)

HackMelbourne.org

gplus.to/paulzee

twitter.com/paulzee

twitter.com/smartenergywins

twitter.com/hackmelbourne
TimeZone: GMT +10 hours

[Drew Fustini]

Hi - I'd like to pass along this message from Sabrina Deitch of
element14 who I not a member of this Google Group and was unable to
post directly:

------------------------------------------------------------------
element14 is working hard to get each and every hackerspace the prizes
they have been promised. I have asked for a list of each team and
what they have received and what would be missing. Each supplier that
donated prizes has been sending them directly- so if I can get a clear
understanding of who is missing what- I am happy to take care of it.

Appreciate your patience as we get this all resolved.

Sabrina Deitch
Sr. Brand Marketing Manager
Newark / element14
sde...@newark.com
------------------------------------------------------------------

On Aug 24, 4:08 pm, Paul Szymkowiak <pauls...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Yes, I echo Jerry's comments. A very sad situation.
>
> Silverfox, you did an amazing job wrangling cats: Mark your team are to be
> congratulated for all their hard work, and for demonstrating such a kindred
> "can do" hacker spirit.
>
> The vibe and enthusiasm on this project was incredible, and it would seem
> we'll not see that again through element14: this would appear to be
> the death knell of the GGHC under its current primary sponsor.
>
> I've set up an alternative list, in case folks want to keep in touch, or
> keep the discussion going.
>
>    gghc_...@googlegroups.com
>
> I'll keep a look out for all you folks elsewhere on the Intertoobs.
>
> Paul Zee
> (signing off for ChallengeDownunder)
> HackMelbourne.org
>
> gplus.to/paulzee
> twitter.com/paulzee

> <http://twitter.com/#!/paulzee>twitter.com/smartenergywins
>  <http://twitter.com/smartenergywins>twitter.com/hackmelbourne
> TimeZone: GMT +10 hours

> >> My direct email is mark.sand...@agentsilverfox.com.

>
> >> Our client at element14 is Sabrina Deitch,
>

> >> Sr. Brand Marketing Manager****
>
> >> Newark & element14****
> >> sdei...@newark.com,

[Jerry Isdale]

She has obviously been working hard at this.
It took posting in a bunch of places to get ANY response.

Jerry Isdale
http://MauiMakers.com
http://www.mauimakers.com/blog/thursday-public-meeting/

[Drew Fustini]

Hi Jerry,

I don't think negativity is going to improve the situation. I know
that this process has caused frustration, but let's all please take a
breath and focus on the objective of getting all the promised prizes
into the participating hackerspaces so that they can be used for
making cool things. Please contact Sabrina (sde...@newark.com) so
that she can work to ensure you receive the promised prizes.

Cheers,
Drew

On Aug 24, 5:42 pm, Jerry Isdale <isd...@gmail.com> wrote:
> She has obviously been working hard at this.
> It took posting in a bunch of places to get ANY response.
>

> Jerry Isdalehttp://MauiMakers.comhttp://www.mauimakers.com/blog/thursday-public-meeting/

>
> On Aug 24, 2011, at 12:13 PM, Drew Fustini wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hi - I'd like to pass along this message from Sabrina Deitch of
> > element14 who I not a member of this Google Group and was unable to
> > post directly:
>
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> > element14 is working hard to get each and every hackerspace the prizes
> > they have been promised.  I have asked for a list of each team and
> > what they have received and what would be missing.  Each supplier that
> > donated prizes has been sending them directly- so if I can get a clear
> > understanding of who is missing what- I am happy to take care of it.
>
> > Appreciate your patience as we get this all resolved.
>
> > Sabrina Deitch
> > Sr. Brand Marketing Manager
> > Newark / element14

> > sdei...@newark.com

[Shawn Blaszak]

Mark,

On behalf of Pumping Station: One, and our GGHC team, I'd like to thank you and your group for all the work you put into organizing this unique event and the follow-through you've shown since it's completion.  I'm sorry to hear that your relationship with Element14 has ended and hope that we are lucky enough to have the opportunity to work with you, again, in the future.  

Thanks again for all your work,

Shawn Blaszak
Director-at-Large (and GGHC team member)
Pumping Station: One
sbla...@gmail.com

T: 773 907 5616 <tel:773%20907%205616>


MARK SANDERS | SILVERFOX | o 415.701.1701 <tel:415.701.1701>  c:408.728.4674 <tel:408.728.4674>

twitter.com/agentsilverfox
facebook.com/culturewins
culturewins.com

[Brian Harrington]

Mark,

My condolences from HacDC as well. Rest assured that while the (current) outcome has left Farnel/ Newark/ element 14 to be a little bit of a laughing stock amongst our members none of the pie is on y'alls face. Best of luck in the future!

Brian
President, HacDC

[Dave Casey]

The energy surrounding GGHC had a huge impact on the growth and development of our space.  I sincerely hope that Silverfox will continue organizing GGHC-like events in the future. The fact that you got dozens of creative groups around the globe to focus on something worthwhile should not be overshadowed by element14's apparent lack of integrity.

Thanks for all of your hard work,

-Dave

FamiLAB.org

--
When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.
 - Mark Twain

[Toby Cole]

Echoing Dave @ FamiLab's sentiments, BuildBrighton really got a lot
out of the challenge. We pulled together, and gained new members by
having a focus for a few months. I also think that the connections
made within the Hackerspace community will be far more valuable than
any of physical prizes on the long run. The prizes we have received so
far will get well used in our new space, which we're moving into next
week! (see the newsletter http://eepurl.com/fhY2M)
A massive thanks to everyone at Silverfox, and the guys at Element-14.
Everyone on the element-14 stand at Maker Faire were great. Cheers for
an excellent, if tiring, weekend ;)
Toby.

[Drew Van Zandt]

Looking at the minutes from one of the early meetings, it looks like once we receive the Eagle license we'll have (roughly) gotten what was promised.  At that meeting, 10 soldering stations **for a single hackerspace** were mentioned.  It appears that what actually happened is that those were distributed across multiple spaces, though it's possible that they ran out, since there were more participants than initially planned.

Semifinalists were to get an additional cool item, unspecified exactly what, though a Tektronix scope was mentioned.

Until I reviewed the minutes, I was thinking we'd been promised more, but now I'm not so certain; perhaps we all managed to confuse each other on that one in an online game of Telephone.

We're moving in to a new space of our own - 25,000+ square feet of awesomeness, 90+ space renters, a full wood shop, metal shop, bike shop, welding, electronics & robotics area, spray booth, social area, and walled-off cafeteria/classroom space.  Very exciting!

Drew Van Zandt
Cam # US2010035593 (M:Liam Hopkins R: Bastian Rotgeld A:Walton Shipley)

Artisan's Asylum Craft Lead, Electronics & Robotics

[Andrew Morrison]

That may be your reading of the minutes, but I think most of us were
basing our understanding on the original announcement which said, in
part:

"There are no losers in this Challenge. All participating teams that
complete their project for judging will receive Eagle PCB layout
software, as well as a collection of soldering station kits including
soldering iron, plenty of solder, wire strippers, and wire cutters,
for their hackerspace's own, ongoing educational and teaching needs.
We all want new people getting educated and involved in electronic
design at Hackerspaces and hopefully this project will help support
that goal."

and:

"All 10 hackerspaces chosen to participate will get the following:

5 soldering stations from OKI (MFR 1100 Series)

soldering stations from ATG (specific model TBD)

TechSpray: 10 ESD Safe Lead cutters per team (170LX) & 10 Desoldering
braid (1810-5F)

and maybe more"

(From: http://www.tvbgone.com/downloads/hs_challenge/hs_challenge.htm
accessed on 8/25/2011)

My recollection from when the challenge was expanded to include ALL
applicants was that the same awards would be made to ALL the teams
that completed builds for judging purposes.

I can review my notes from our conference call, but I don't recall
there being a change to the wording of the announcement on the level
that you're suggesting.

[Drew Van Zandt]

The minutes I was looking at are from perhaps a week before that, so it would supersede them.  I'm not sure I ever saw that document, actually.

That would mean we got 1/10 of Techspray's promise, and 1/5 of OKI's.  Sounds like the Eagle guys are working on their part as well.

Drew Van Zandt
Cam # US2010035593 (M:Liam Hopkins R: Bastian Rotgeld A:Walton Shipley)

Artisan's Asylum Craft Lead, Electronics & Robotics

[Pavol Rusnak]

Let me remind you there are hackerspaces that got absolutely nothing except the initial funding. So you can consider yourself lucky if you received at least something. :-)

On Aug 25, 2011 4:11 PM, "Drew Van Zandt" <drew.v...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The minutes I was looking at are from perhaps a week before that, so it
> would supersede them. I'm not sure I ever saw that document, actually.
>
> That would mean we got 1/10 of Techspray's promise, and 1/5 of OKI's.
> Sounds like the Eagle guys are working on their part as well.
>

> *

> Drew Van Zandt
> Cam # US2010035593 (M:Liam Hopkins R: Bastian Rotgeld A:Walton Shipley)

> *Artisan's Asylum Craft Lead, Electronics & Robotics

[overflo]

ohai

> Let me remind you there are hackerspaces that got absolutely nothing except
> the initial funding.

indeed.

> So you can consider yourself lucky if you received at
> least something. :-)

i don't agree with that point of view.
we kept our promises and took part in this challenge and spent an
tremendous amount of time working and documenting the project.

element-14 made a good profit in getting their brand known of the fuzz
on the interwebs.

i demand that they keep their part of the appointment.
if that means giving away 200 solderstations it won't hurt them.
seriously. it wont.

> "All 10 hackerspaces chosen to participate will get the following:
> 5 soldering stations from OKI (MFR 1100 Series)
> soldering stations from ATG (specific model TBD)
> TechSpray: 10 ESD Safe Lead cutters per team (170LX) & 10 Desoldering
braid (1810-5F)
> and maybe more"

this is what their part of the agreement looks like to me.


best regards
-florian 'overflo' bittner

[Jerry Isdale]

Do you have the full document from which you excerpted that quote on rewards for all 10 spaces?

Jerry Isdale
http://MauiMakers.com
http://www.mauimakers.com/blog/thursday-public-meeting/

[Erich Heine]

I forwarded Jerry a copy of our submission acceptance letter which includes similar, but not identical language to this. If anyone has the original document that includes the specific text, it would be nice to see it on list.

Regards,

Erich

[Jerry Isdale]

Thanks Erich

I found my copy of that email too. Unfortunately the only mention of rewards for participants (aside from semi-finalists) is 

   "All spaces that complete their project will receive 10 soldering setups."

EagleCAD, and other items are not mentioned at all.

It also says the semi-finalists would get air/hotel/meal paid for to attend MakerFaire.  

I hope you guys got reimbursed for that part at least --- it was good to see you there.

Jerry Isdale
http://MauiMakers.com

http://www.mauimakers.com/blog/thursday-public-meeting/