Galway Hacker Space

hk797 · 23-02-2010 11:14am #1

Hi all. Looking to setup a Galway Hacker Space. If your interested in getting involved there will be a meetup next Tuesday evening at a city centre venue TBA once we know likely numbers to expect. Checkout Hacker Spaces and TOG if the concept is new to you. Looking forward to catching up.

stunt_penguin · 23-02-2010 10:51pm

Hey I'm possibly interested in this kind of thing - I dunno how much use I'd be to you guys but we'll see..... does the galway group have a site together yet?

hk797 · 24-02-2010 1:38am

stunt_penguin wrote: »

Hey I'm possibly interested in this kind of thing - I dunno how much use I'd be to you guys but we'll see..... does the galway group have a site together yet?

Sounds good .... the more the merrier ... site up tomorrow ... will add a link on this thread when it goes live

hk797 · 25-02-2010 5:29pm

stunt_penguin wrote: »

does the galway group have a site together yet?

091 Labs is now up - will be adding more content over the coming days.

bobbytables · 26-02-2010 12:10pm

@hk797 Fair play

This sounds very interesting. Assuming that this can't be everything to everyone, are there any plans as of yet for what this will be and for whom it will be for?

I wouldn't imagine that someone in their 30s walking in to a room full of teenagers would be appealing and possibly visa versa. Judging by the TOG photos, it doesn't look like kids, which is great. I don't mean any offense what so ever to any younger candidates with an interest in this, but my concern is that a high potential community could just turn in to a quick chat or pints and then down to Wired or Square Eyes for an evening of gaming. I would hope that we could create an accessible open learning environment that nurtures curiosity and does not discriminate against "stupid questions". For this to work I would imagine that there would have to be a number of parallel tracks for people to participate at different levels. Some learning, some managing projects, etc. I suppose what I'm looking for is some sort of initial formal structure, because right now it seems that this could be anything, albeit a great idea

You say on 091labs that you "hope to have a lease signed on a premises before the end of March". Where is the money coming from to fund this lease. Does this mean that membership is not free? if not, how much? Where are you looking to lease? When you say "We", who and how many are currently involved?

I don't mean to bombard with questions, but I imagine that a FAQ on 091labs wouldn't be a bad idea to generate interest.

Cheers

hk797 · 26-02-2010 2:02pm

@bobbytables thanks for the kind words, questions and suggestions.

091 Labs will be 100% funded by its members. The 3 co-founders are prepared to cover the initial 6 months costs of getting our Hackerspace up and running. If more come on board over the first 6 months then great. We are actively looking for a 6 month, above ground, city centre, short term lease. If a bigger premises is required going forward then it gives us the flexibility of moving to one.

I would hope that we could create an accessible open learning environment that nurtures curiosity and does not discriminate against "stupid questions". For this to work I would imagine that there would have to be a number of parallel tracks for people to participate at different levels. Some learning, some managing projects, etc.

I could not have put it any better myself

Hacking is all about figuring out how something works in an open environment- a gym for the mind - and a great alternative to an evening stuck in front of the TV or a night in the pub. Weekly meetings are held to provide the structure you mentioned. One Tuesday a month will be an open public session with guest speakers on topics selected by members.

Hackerspaces have been around since the early 80's in Germany. They are a living space without anyone actually living there. All members get a key and full access 24/7 to the space. Providing a physical space for informal learning is something we are all passionate about. We are starting to gather related videos over on our YouTube channel to give people a better understanding of whats possible. Would be great to meetup next Tuesday if your free.

witnessmenow · 26-02-2010 3:32pm

Its a pity this want around when I was in Galway, would have been fairly interesting I'd say.

@bobbytables

Is your name because of that XKCD web comic, that one is particularly funny :P

bobbytables · 26-02-2010 3:59pm

witnessmenow wrote: »

Is your name because of that XKCD web comic, that one is particularly funny :P

That's the one, it was my favorite comic strip that still makes me laugh. Well spotted /tips hat

ciotog · 26-02-2010 5:24pm

hk797 wrote: »

@bobbytables thanks for the kind words, questions and suggestions.

091 Labs will be 100% funded by its members. The 3 co-founders are prepared to cover the initial 6 months costs of getting our Hackerspace up and running. If more come on board over the first 6 months then great. We are actively looking for a 6 month, above ground, city centre, short term lease. If a bigger premises is required going forward then it gives us the flexibility of moving to one.

I could not have put it any better myself Hacking is all about figuring out how something works in an open environment- a gym for the mind - and a great alternative to an evening stuck in front of the TV or a night in the pub. Weekly meetings are held to provide the structure you mentioned. One Tuesday a month will be an open public session with guest speakers on topics selected by members.

Hackerspaces have been around since the early 80's in Germany. They are a living space without anyone actually living there. All members get a key and full access 24/7 to the space. Providing a physical space for informal learning is something we are all passionate about. We are starting to gather related videos over on our YouTube channel to give people a better understanding of whats possible. Would be great to meetup next Tuesday if your free.

This is really great - look forward to getting involved.

bobbytables · 26-02-2010 8:34pm

Well done once again for the great initiative yourself (hk797) and the others currently involved have show in getting this underway. I am definitely interested in this, but the potential costs involved is a concern that springs to mind and I just want to get my head around the details known. I watched some of the youtube videos and what other spaces have put together around the world looks like there could be a significant financial input required from individual members (depending on membership levels).

My concern at this stage would be that raising finance could impede the successful launch and initial growth of this group during harsh economic times and I would just like to get an idea of the initial plans the few already involved have or what are you open to. For example I would imagine if money wasn't a concern we could easily rent a convenient space and kit it out with lots of tools, etc, but unless membership is narrowed to just those that have a wad of cash to spare I can't see that happening right now. So what's the alternative in that likely event?

Those that have money might want to push ahead and generously purchase things for the space, but that might only end up creating tension between members that have made greater contributions over those that simply cannot afford to. So that's it I suppose, unlike virtual communities, physical space/items have a financial dependency, and this variable in the current climate could end up being a problem before anything real is off the ground.

I just want to know is this something that the existing members have considered or is there a much more financially independent plan in the pipeline. There is a possibility that the initial meetings could just become wallet measuring contests to see who can literally afford to join and end up discriminating against those who cannot, which would be a terrible shame.

I could be way off the mark here, but this concern just stands out from my basic understanding of what you guys are planning to do.

If I can make a suggestion at this stage, perhaps we should not focus on what individual members can contribute financially right now and hold off on making any purchases. Instead if we met up and pooled our skills together perhaps we could raise some money some how that would pay for the new space. Software As A Service (SaaS) springs to mind that could be contributed to over time by members and would create an on-going source of income for the group. I suggest this only because of my own background, and I'm sure there are plenty others that would have ideas as to how the group could raise money.

....Or something more short term, Techie Table Quiz for example?....Jesus I suck at general knowledge, and have always loved the idea of going to a quiz where I might actually have a chance @ knowing the answer to a question. At least that way you could have money coming in to pay for expenses or better again create a social opportunity to expand the member base.

That's my 2c, any takers?

hk797 · 26-02-2010 9:59pm

@witnessmenow thanks for the words of support - maybe think about setting a hackerspace up in Athlone? - with AIT and Ericsson there I'm sure there would be enough people around to make it happen.

@ciotog looking forward to getting you involved.

@bobbytables thanks for another great post. Rest assured that its very important to us that 091 Labs always remains inclusive, accessible and true to the guiding principles of Hackerspaces. A simple example is our insistence on a city centre location so no car is required to reach an out of town location.

There are two talks I recommend watching if you get the time before meeting up on Tuesday. The first is from 24c3 (2007) Building a Hacker Space and the second is 25c3 (2008) Building an international movement: hackerspaces.org. Both share founders personal experiences and ideas about getting hackerspaces off the ground around the world. Also checkout the FAQ on TOG website. We will talk about their founding experiences in getting off the ground when we meetup next Tuesday.

The three of us have been involved in startups over the years and have the scars to prove it. We know how important it is to always have 6 months in reserve to get something off the ground. That is why we committed to fully fund the hackerspace for the first 6 months should it be required. Think big, start small and move quickly is something each of us are very comfortable with doing. The people we get on board now as co-founders will help us make 091 Labs what it will become. Looking forward to chatting about all of the above and more when we get together next week.

evoke · 26-02-2010 11:03pm

Is this going to be a week thing or a weekend thing? I would be interested but i am working in ericsson in athlone during the week but in galway on the weekend.

was thinking of starting some thing like this in athlone. We have a linux user group there so we were thinking of doing a hacker space cause seen one one in dublin.

I think it is great. Any place in particular you are thinking of. Make sure you bargin on the price cause there is loads of places to lease now. even on shop street.

i think this would be great to meet other people interested in the same thing.

skelliser · 26-02-2010 11:05pm

what areas will ye be concentrating on? expertise will it be just linux stuff etc.
How does it work?
this sounds really interesting btw

hk797 · 27-02-2010 12:31am

@evoke agreed that its a great time to bargain on rates with the amount of vacant rental properties on the market. As you already have a linux user group there I'd say go for it and setup a hackerspace in Athlone. @witnessmenow might be interested in getting involved also? On the weekday v weekend it will be a mixture of both.

@skelliser the mix of members interests will determine what projects we initially work on. If your free next Tuesday evening drop along for our city centre meetup. Will post a venue on this thread Sunday night once likely numbers are known.

bobbytables · 27-02-2010 4:16pm

@hk797 Thats excellent. Will check out those videos and post more later. Posting from phone at the moment.

3-D Preacher · 28-02-2010 6:02pm

I have a few prior engagements on Tuesday but I'll try and make it down. Getting more interested in this the more I think about it.

hk797 · 01-03-2010 12:36am

3-D Preacher wrote: »

I have a few prior engagements on Tuesday but I'll try and make it down. Getting more interested in this the more I think about it.

@3-D Preacher good to hear it.

Will post the venue for Tuesday, March 2nd meetup on this thread tomorrow.

hk797 · 01-03-2010 12:36pm

Venue for our 7:00pm Tuesday, March 2nd meetup is Galway Bakery Company on Williamsgate Street. They have offered us the upstairs back section so come up when you arrive and we will order from there.

oneintotwo · 01-03-2010 5:08pm

I'm very interested in this once I'm finished exams in may

hk797 · 01-03-2010 7:03pm

oneintotwo wrote: »

I'm very interested in this once I'm finished exams in may

@oneintotwo looking forward to getting you involved once you have your exams out of the way.

witnessmenow · 01-03-2010 8:40pm

Limerick is actually my new stomping ground, i seen via your website that someone is interested in setting one up there.

Unfortunately there is no way I could commit to help initiating one, after starting a new job and I just wouldnt have the bandwidth

hk797 · 02-03-2010 1:18pm

witnessmenow wrote: »

Limerick is actually my new stomping ground, i seen via your website that someone is interested in setting one up there.

Unfortunately there is no way I could commit to help initiating one, after starting a new job and I just wouldnt have the bandwidth

Best of luck in your new stomping ground. Once you get setup it would be good to have you back in Galway to give a talk about the console space over the summer. The phat PS3 misadventures over the last 24 hours must have been interesting

[-0-] · 02-03-2010 1:37pm

Work commitments rule me out for the next couple of months unfortunately. However, I will certainly be getting involved once the madness calms down.

Jiri · 02-03-2010 6:24pm

witnessmenow wrote: »

Limerick is actually my new stomping ground, i seen via your website that someone is interested in setting one up there.

Unfortunately there is no way I could commit to help initiating one, after starting a new job and I just wouldnt have the bandwidth

Hi,
indeed, I am trying to set hackerspace here in Limerick too. Until now I have met three people interested in the idea.
It is not very much I must say for such a big town as Limerick is :-(

http://groups.google.com/group/limerick-hackerspace

Jiri

hk797 · 02-03-2010 11:29pm

@[-0-] thanks for the support and looking forward to getting you involved once things settle down at your end.

@Jiri will continue to spread the word about your Limerick project. If you want to hop on Skype anytime for a chat drop me a PM.

Thanks to all who made our meetup tonight. We have grown from 3 to 8 so looking forward to continuing the conversation over the coming week

ciotog · 04-03-2010 1:08pm

@hk797 I wasn't able to make it along to this, I should be able to make future ones hopefully. How far have you guys got with location for this? Also, what groups around Galway are you talking to? The reason I ask is that a similar idea was being talked about at Open Coffee Galway a couple of months back - it might be worth pitching hackerspace at one of these meetings also (next one is March 6th, Damien Mulley is talking about Social Networking at it).

hk797 · 04-03-2010 1:58pm

ciotog wrote: »

@hk797 I wasn't able to make it along to this, I should be able to make future ones hopefully. How far have you guys got with location for this? Also, what groups around Galway are you talking to? The reason I ask is that a similar idea was being talked about at Open Coffee Galway a couple of months back - it might be worth pitching hackerspace at one of these meetings also (next one is March 6th, Damien Mulley is talking about Social Networking at it).

@ciotog this thread on boards was the first public shout out for members. Currently actively looking for a 540 sq ft city centre location on a 6 month short term lease - targeting end of this month to have a lease signed. Thanks for the heads up on Open Coffee Galway March - will try and make it along on Sat. March 6th to say hello.

ciotog · 04-03-2010 2:42pm

@hk797 Cool, all credit to you guys for the initiative. One of the ideas tossed around at OCGalway was to approach Webworks Galway to get a space where people could brainstorm or talk about ideas they had. A sort of pre-incubator space. They have the ICT facilities and it's not like the place is filling up in a hurry.

witnessmenow · 04-03-2010 5:03pm

Hk797 feel free to give me a shout anytime if the group is interested in doing some console modding, 7pm is a bit early for me but other than that taking a spin up to Galway shouldn't be a problem

I don't know how many would be interested in such things but if there is an interest in it I'd be happy to pass on what i know

hk797 · 05-03-2010 10:05am

@witnessmenow will take you up on your offer once we have a place to call home and make it a 8pm start or whatever time best suits you.

@ciotog what a marvelous facility in the centre of Galway - heres hoping Enterprise Ireland fill Webworks Galway with entrepreneurs who submit the 400 brightest ideas - in exchange for 10% put them on an intensive six month startup boot camp to get from concept to reality - arrange a beauty parade at the end of the six months for successful candidates with VCs, angel investors and industry to secure follow-on funding / acquisition - then start the process all over again - its support at the seed capital level thats really required in the current climate as opposed to what was envisioned when this facility was planned during the boom - notice they have Webworks Cork also.

ceret · 05-03-2010 1:18pm

Cool lads, great to see you're making progress

In this tough economic times, it's a great time to start a hackerspace, rent is really cheap.

Galway Hacker Space

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