Hosting an Event

Hosting events at Noisebridge is free and we're happy to host teaching and co-operative events at Noisebridge.

Overview

We're happy to host teaching and co-operative events at Noisebridge. There's no charge, though please consult and respect the many others working in the space. Here are some suggested guidelines for hosting an event at Noisebridge, whether its a short workshop, a regular hackathon, or a bigger unconference-style event. Noisebridge is also a nonprofit member of Google.org community space, which may be able to host events that are too large for our physical space or call for a more corporate vibe.

How to Host an Event

Want to host your event at Noisebridge? We like seeing classes, workshops, and talks on interesting things! Most of all, we like seeing familiar faces. Please participate in the space and our weekly Tuesday meetings to check in with folks in the space before announcing a new event. It's good (read this as highly RECOMMENDED!) to add in a link to a wiki page with more information about your event, and a way to contact the event organizer(s). Thanks!

Resources For Hosting Events

• Avoid schedule conflicts: check Noisebridge Meetup page (https://www.meetup.com/noisebridge)
• Events Support

Editing the Event Wiki page to put things on the front page

To add an event here, please read and edit How to host an event!

Our Physical Space

Event-Hosting Areas

Noisebridge has three primary areas within our physical space for hosting an event, consisting of two classrooms (Turing and Church) and a large open conference area (the Hackitorium).

Accessibility

Please visit our Accessibility page for a full description of how Noisebridge makes our physical space accessible to everybody.

Temporary access code for the gate can be set up for your participants.

Streaming for remote participation

One of the ways to make our events accessible in an era of COVID travel difficulties and online MOOCs is by streaming proceedings via our Jitsi and/or Discord and interacting with chat as much as possible to allow online participation.

• If your events are streamed, use the S streaming template before the event in the event calendar to indicate this.
• If your event is not streamed, why not?
• Some events may involve privacy concerns that prevent it.
• If your event can be streamed, make a pre-event checklist part of your script to help yourself remember to fire up the Jiti stream.
• Give yourself a visible reminder to check on the chat and respond periodically.
• Announce your event along with the link to the stream!
• You can announce events going live on Slack #general or Discord #hackitorium (they are synced so you don't need to do both.)

General Guidelines

Get members/philanthropists involved

You don't have to be a member to start an event. It's recommended to involve at least one Noisebridge member/philanthropist as part of your planning to avoid common pitfalls when working with Noisebridge. Ask around the space for a member, or ask on the discuss mailinglist.

Communicate the event to the group

Publicize the event to the users of Noisebridge via the 8PM Tuesday meeting, this, the Noisebridge discussion and announcement mailing lists, and the Noisebridge IRC channel, with enough lead time that the community can respond and give feedback. See also, Mailinglist/Announce_guidelines for help on writing a good announcement mail! Also put the event on our Meetup Page - send a message and ask to become an event organizer to do so.

Be aware of the existing ongoing events and try to work around them, even if they're not in your part of the space. Some events like 5MOF and work in the shop can be noisy! Also events might be happening that aren't listed anywhere that may create annoying room scheduling issues.

Setup and clean up

Leave the space cleaner than you found it. Have a plan for setting up the space and have a plan for cleaning up after yourself (and follow it). Someone should arrive about an hour before the event to straighten out the space, clean it, troubleshoot AV, etc. At the end of the event or class, ask people who participated to help clean up the space used. We build our own reality

"Use our tools - Mindfully" Events can use any tools/spaces at Noisebridge that are for general use. However, if you're going to be using a tool, please make sure you know how to use it safely, and not break it. Please help your participants to do the same.

Donations and fees

Consider asking participants for a monetary donation to Noisebridge during your event. We have a recommended one minute preamble for event organizers to say at the beginning of their meetings. It explains how we work, and how your visitors can help keep Noisebridge going.

Noisebridge prides itself in being an open space to all that are excellent. Please keep in mind that we generally don't host classes or events that have a participation or class fee. Charging for materials or kits is acceptable (such as buying a blinking LED kit to work on during Circuit Hacking Mondays), but shouldn't be required to join in the class or event.

No age restrictions

Noisebridge is an all ages space, if your class or event has an age requirement, please bring it up at a Tuesday meeting or on our discussion mailing list before proceeding.

Event Listing

After taking all of the above into consideration, and feeling like Noisebridge is the right spot for your event, listing it on our events page would be great! Here are some steps to do so...

1. Create an individual page for your event. Include contact info for the organizer(s), date/time, location (if at Noisebridge, where in the space), and a pretty good description of what the event is. The important bit is contact info, helps when we're cleaning up the events list.
2. Include the code [[Category:Events]] at the bottom of the page.
3. Go to the Events page and add in your event to the correct spot. We use 24 hour time.
4. The events listed on our Main Page are actually pulled from the Events page. So no need to add it again.
5. If you have an event that happens once, or a reoccurring event that doesn't occur anymore, please remove it from the Events page after you're done.

Mitch's suggestion on how to do an event at Noisebridge

We don't have a formal procedure for scheduling at Noisebridge.

But here's how I suggest doing it:

• First, take a look at the info on this page (above), where there's a bunch of good info.
• Look on the Noisebridge website, and near the top, check out the Events and Classes section (both Upcoming Events and Recurring Events), and find a time where Noisebridge can accommodate the crowd you're expecting.
• Send a message to our Discord, and let folks know that you want to give your event. and when, and ask if there's interest, and ask if there is any conflict of space/time. (You'll need to subscribe: Discord))
• If you get any positive feedback, then there that is indication enough that there people will show up (way more than give you feedback on the email list).
• Create a wiki page for your event on the Noisebridge website (which is entirely a wiki).
• Add the event to the Upcoming Events section, including the link to your event wiki page.
• Publicize the hell out of the event to let people know it's happening!
• One week before, post to both the Discussion and Announce lists. And then you can post to both lists again the day before to remind people (and to catch last-minute stragglers).

Procedural Checklist for Larger / More Impactful Events

Some events are bigger than others.

If you are expecting more than (say) 20 people at your event, you may find the Procedural Event Checklist useful for thinking through mundane but important aspects of planning such as managing the cultural impact of the event on Noisebridge at large and making sure there's enough toilet paper in the bathrooms.

Check out the Procedural Event Checklist page. (And don't get too overwhelmed; while quite long, it's meant to *help* you plan aspects of your butt that you may not have thought of.)