Open House In December - VOLUNTEERS WANTED!

Hey guys. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a real open house, and I think it’s about time! This is my idea:

On either the first or second Saturday of December we should hold an open house. Nothing too major, but I want to announce it on Reddit and possibly Meetup.com. I think this is a realistic deadline considering all of the new changes we’ve had at the space over the past couple of months. I think this would kick us into gear as far as Area Wardens go and just getting the space clean again before the beginning of the year.

I’d like to see the meeting area turned into an showcase area of sorts. People bring down the projects they’re working on and tell people a little bit about them, kind of like how it was at Makerfaire, but exclusively geared towards stuff that was made in part or in full at the Hive. We’d also need someone to man (or woman) the Fablab and give people a rundown on 3D printing and how it’s used at our space. Maybe we could print a bunch of small trinkets for kids/people to take home with them?

The lounge could be turned into a general gaming area. I’m thinking maybe a tournament on some game that has yet to be decided. Give people a reason to come to the space and have fun! We’d also need someone at the CNC/Woodworking area. The kitchen should have refreshments/snacks for people.

As far as people power goes:
2 or 3 people in the kitchen area to greet people/have them sign liability waivers
1 person in the Fablab to give a rundown on 3D printing
1 person in the Lounge to run the tournament/gaming bracket
2 people for the CNC/Woodworking area
1 person for the soldering workbenches
And last, however many people showing off their projects in the meeting area. Chances are that the tables would need rearranged for this event.

So, that’s my idea. I know that the timing may be a little wonky with the holidays coming up, but I think with the right amount of teamwork we can do this. And even if we end up pushing this to the beginning of the year, I still think we need to do this. It will also help us announce all of the classes coming up at the beginning of the year to a broader audience.

What does everyone think?

I can bring my Wii U. If people can bring more controllers we would be well off there

For the game I was thinking Smash Brothers, just because I’ve been playing that game a lot and it seems to be popular at all of the gaming events I’ve been to recently.

That comes out soon for Wii u, with 8t person game play. I also have Mario cart 8

You know, Mario Kart might be more accessible to people.

I should be available for the CNC area. I have to double check because I have to go to Detroit one of December weekend.

Julien

Sounds great, I’ll try to make it. Just have to decide between showing personal projects, the fab lab, or the DIY-Bio corner…

It would be fun to have some 3D-printed games for people to play, such as chess sets or Pocket Tactics.

Mike

I have my Klingon chess game Klin-zha that the pieces were 3d printed

So, I’m not quite a member yet, and stopped by a few weeks ago for a Tuesday meeting (late) for the first time. I haven’t had the time to really make it back. That being said, I want to make a return and would be happy to help in some menial way (depending on time and date). I have never been a Walmart greeter, but I have studied their technique and could possibly excel at greeting people. Having them sign liability waivers might be beyond my skill set, however.

I can teach soldering on the 7th.

First let me say, I’m happy to volunteer in an area of comfort, and community out reach is great. As a largely membership driven organization we need to be inviting people in and forming new relationships. That being said, as a membership driven organization we need to be careful with how we represent the Hive and the activities/resources we present.

I bring this up because as I heard it mentioned before, “the Hive is not a clubhouse” and I don’t believe we want to propagate that message. So I just want to suggest that a clear intent is established for this open-house. Personally, I would be concerned that advertising gaming (as an activity that night) may send the wrong message to anyone considering the event. I don’t believe that gaming in any form is appropriate during an open house because it is an inherently exclusive and opaque activity; you must be invited to game, or to interrupt the game even just to chat. The fear here isn’t games, in fact if someone was setup to give guided tours of the Hive’s MineCraft server that’d be awesome! I just want to make sure the Hive is represented as a friendly, open place for creation and exploration of skills and knowledge.

( As a designer, this leads me to the question of the Hive’s branding and mission, which is a conversation I’d like to be involved in! )

We have had classes on modding Xbox 360. We have a regular board game night. In the lounge we also have a game shelving system. I think having a gaming portion would be a good representation of a section and activities of the hive, how ever underutilized it may be.

I completely agree that the Hive, as a whole, is not a clubhouse. However, in the past we have held special events such as game night that I think would be in line with this event. I understand your concern though! My reason behind the gaming portion of the event was to have something that kids could do while their parents toured the space. It’s getting to be that time of year where everyone is on break and sometimes parents can’t get away. I do NOT want this to be the focus of the event though. That’s why I only want it confined to that one room. That’s another reason why I wanted a tournament style bracket, to give people the impression that this was a special event that we don’t regularly hold.

But, your concerns are exactly the reason why I wanted to have an open discussion about this. I’m thinking about having a coffee meeting on Monday at the space sometime in the evening…provided it doesn’t conflict with Microcontroller Monday.

Yeah, I can see the merit in letting the kids play games, although if I were a kid I’d just want to play and not be interested in bracketed contests. Maybe, the video games are advertised for kids specifically? If I saw a game-tournament I’m much more prone to think of adult MLG rather than teeny-boppers and mariokart!

Also, I’ll be back late Tuesday night, Dec. 2, so I’ll be out for two weeks!

I feel that we shouldn’t specify or aim for an age for the games. Both video games and board games are now aimed at all ages not just children.