[Imc-makerspace] Mitch Altman Visit in Feb/March?

[Mitch Altman]

On 2/15/2012 4:29 PM, Stewart Dickson wrote:
> On 2/15/12 3:28 PM, Mitch Altman wrote:
>>
>> And I'm ready for TechKnowledge on 1-March (though 8am is *not* my 
>> usual time of day)!
> Yeah, that's 6:00AM San Francisco time, but it's in the middle of the 
> afternoon Paris time.  :)
> You will actually be here on Thursday, 23-Feb, too -- although I 
> suppose you'll be resting up from your trip?   =)   I'll be doing the 
> radio show that morning, too.   Every Thursday from 8 to 9.

I may be too tired to be conscious at 6am SF time after flying in the 
night before (and taking the train directly from Chicago to Champaign).  
So, I better not commit.  Let's talk the night of the 22nd and see how 
things are.  I get into Champaign on the train at about 10:30pm.

Here's my cell phone:
      415-377-5993



>> If gmc survived staying with you, then I'm sure I can too.  (Hi gmc!  
>> Cool that you've visited my old home town.  :)
>>
>> I am booked nights from 26-Feb through 2-March, for Unit One.  But am 
>> open for giving a talk any day or night after that.  And if I can 
>> stay at your place, Stewart, then I can stay till the date we 
>> choose.  What day is cool?
> So, your return trip is open-ended?  6-March-...  How many days did 
> you have in mind? 

I fly home from Chicago on 13-March.  But I'd like to visit with some 
family and friends up there for a few days.  I have to leave the Unit 
One apartment on the morning of the 6th.  If I'll be going to the 
meeting at the Urbana Free Library on the 7th, I'll need to stay at 
least till that night.  The last train leaves at 6:49pm each night, so I 
could leave on the 8th or 9th, depending on if I give an extra talk.  
That cool?



>> And what should I talk about?  Hackerspaces?  How to run your own 
>> small business?  How to manufacture your project (and make a living 
>> doing what you love)?  TV-B-Gone and media literacy?  Brain Machine?  
>> Fuck the dominant paradigm (and create supportive community)?  How I 
>> went from a depressed blob of a kid to a jet-setting crazy-haired 
>> inventor who loves my life?  Something else (I take requests)?
> I, personally am fascinated to hear about HackerSpaces in Africa.   
> Geeks & Depression seems
> to be (for better or worse) unique to NoiseBridge?   Or is it?   I'd 
> like to hear about that.

I wish that geeks & depression was unique to Noisebridge.  But, 
unfortunately, a huge percentage of geeks are well acquainted with 
depression all over the world.  I haven't seen any studies, but it 
wouldn't surprise me if geeks suffered from depression more than society 
at large.  Growing up geek now isn't as bad as it used to be, now that 
almost everyone uses gadgets, and everyone knows that it is up to geeks 
to create all those cool gadgets.  But it's still not easy growing up 
geeky.  Being different is such a horrible thing as a kid.  And many of 
us were teased or bullied or brutalized.  And that makes us escape into 
our geeky realms, which keeps us from learning to effectively deal with 
others, which makes us more of a target for bullies, which makes us want 
to escape more into our geeky realms (and later in life, into other 
means of escape), and the vicious cycle continues.  And as we grow up, 
we bring our past with us.

When I wrote the blog post after my friend Ilya killed himself 
<https://blog.noisebridge.net/2011/11/19/please-reach-out/> I was 
inundated with comments and emails.  This is when it became clear to me 
that starting a Geeks & Depression meetup might be worthwhile.  And now 
there are more Geeks & Depression meetups around the world.  The Geeks & 
Depression panel at 28C3 generate lots of discussions around the world.  
All of this open talk about depression has been helpful for lots of 
people.  And maybe (who knows) it has encouraged someone to reach out 
rather than harm themselves, so that they may live another day.

People are still emailing me and others who've become involved and 
who've offered to be contacts whenever people want some support, or 
someone to talk or write to.

I'm organizing a Geeks & Depression panel for the HOPE #9 conference 
this July in NYC.



> All of those topics -- media literacy, Fuck the dominant paradigm (and 
> create supportive community) -- are right up the IMC's alley.
>
> I have always described the MakerSpace as "an informal incubator for 
> radical product design",
> and we have talked about what to do when a project takes on a life of 
> its own, goes commercial
> and the Intellectual Property stops belonging to the MakerSpace 
> Collective and starts belonging
> to the business.   It hasn't happened here yet (that we know of), but 
> I think it's something that
> people would be interested in hearing about.

I'd be happy to lead a discussion about this.  And/or give a talk on 
whatever people like.



>> Also, is it still OK if I borrow soldering irons and stands for 
>> teaching at Unit One?
> Yes, we discussed it among the membership and everyone agreed that it 
> was a good idea.
> I volunteered to transport them -- hence, the plastic bin.

Awesome -- thanks!



Cheers,
Mitch.

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