Since moving into our current home in Exchange House back in June there have been a number of special moments at 091 Labs. As 2010 comes to a close I have tried to pick out a selection here as we countdown to 2011. Thanks to everyone who supported 091 Labs in making 2010 a very memorable year. Looking forward to your continued support in the year to come. Until then wishing you and everyone belonging to you a bright and prosperous 2011!
The kindness of strangers : We are very proud of the fact everything within our space has been donated or loaned to 091 Labs. Within hours of getting the keys John Coughlan dropped off couches and a fridge. Books, PCs, laptops, servers, tables, chairs, plants and hardware of all shapes and sizes soon followed. These gifts of kindness transformed our empty core and shell unit into a fully functioning space. It is thanks to Chris, John and Sarah from Fairgreen Property Management that we have use of Exchange House. Paul from Starlight stepped in to provide services as we needed them.
Support from the Hackerspace community : From its inception 091 Labs have always been able to call on TOG in Dublin for support and advice. They visited us twice during the year. On the first occasion they hosted a soldering workshop and during the second visit an electronics workshop. Thanks to TOG we now also have MiLK in Limerick and Nexus in Cork. Chatting with Jeffrey and Rob on their most recent visit they spoke about how every town in Ireland with a third level college should have a local hackerspace in 2011. After going from one to four spaces in 2010 there is every reason to believe it will happen.
Communities we have met along the way : One of Galway’s great assets is the concentration of creatives from all corners of the Arts and Sciences world. Many have come to 091 Labs throughout the year and openly shared their passions. Lin and Alan held Drupal meetups, Ben from 126 Studios and Emer from Groundwork Studios have brought artists by, Ina introduced the Open Coffee Galway community, Oisin and Mark organised an 091Labs Photo Walk, James introduced Galway Cycling Club and Katie organised a wonderful e-merge performance during Open Week.
Guest speaker series : We have had a great range of speakers come though our doors over the year for our guest speaker series. John Breslin, Emma Creighton, Dave Kelly, Dave Marash, Maria Honig and Oisin Prendirville all openly shared their knowledge with members and visitors. One talk which was not planned but happened thanks to Gerry was an impromptu visit by John Looney and Ade Oshineye from Google. We look forward to hosting many more talks in 2011.
Workshops and classes : Members have participated in a number of workshops over the year. Matthews Build your own PC classes, Carlos Android night, Kevins Arduino workshops and Barrys PHP classes have all taken place around Tristins bench. Our biggest surprise was the response to our introduction to Linux classes which Mark and Arron hosted. Thanks to Ubuntu Ireland for keeping us stocked with cds to cater for the demand.
Hacking Inner Space : We are very fortunate to have our very own resident meditation teacher. Since Louise started hosting sessions on Wednesdays at 11am and Saturdays at 2pm our meditation circles have been a great addition to the space on a number of levels. Classes will return fully fledged to reach even greater heights on January 8th.
Getting the word out : Tom Murphy at SocialMedia.net has joined us on our journey throughout the year. Local media has also been there to help us get the word out about events with the Galway Independent, Galway Advertiser and Galway Bay FM providing support when needed. Pat Joyce from Joyces Supermarket deserves special thanks for his generosity throughout the year in enabling us to keep our tuck shop ticking over and sponsoring our events.
Public Events : We have hosted a number of public events thoughout the year. They ranged from Irish Hackerspace Week which kicked things off to Open Data Day and a Hackquarium using Sugru bringing the year to a close. Our highlights of the year were the Ignite events which Adrian and Ellen co-ordinated in September and December. The format of 5 minute lightning talks by 12+ passionate people supported by 20 slides which auto advance every 15 seconds really connected with people. We look forward to hosting an Ignite Galway every quarter in 2011.
091 Labs last month got involved with sticker exchange organized by Jigsaw Renaissance which consisted of sending 50 sticker from our space and getting super AWESOME stickers from other hackerspaces all over the world.
It is not clear yet what we are going to do with the stickers we received a part from getting donation from people who puts them on their laptops but one of the ideas is making a sticker wall in the hackerspace but whatever it is I’m sure you will hear about it.
