Queer social platform workshops planning page

EVENT PRE-PLANNING

• Agree to limit volume decibels for sound: If your event involves music or amplified experimental noises, all performers and staff need to agree to monitor the decibels and keep them below 90 for the safety and sanity of people in the space. Exceeding the 90 db safety limit will jeopardize yours and others' ability to do future events.
  • The only noise will be people talking. No audio will be played.
• Agree to clean up after yourself and take out trash: You need to commit to cleaning up whatever area you use and put things back the way you found them. Also you need to take out the trash that accumulates in the bins to the large bins outside. Not cleaning up will jeopardize yours and others' ability to... you get the idea.
  • I will make sure to clean up the space

1. How many people do you expect at the event? How big of a space does it require?
   • Expecting 10-15 people
2. Within the required space, do you have to move furniture out of the way? Where will it go?
   • Not sure as I haven't seen the space yet but will on the 30th of May
3. Is any furniture required by the event (e.g. merch table, "bar", entrance table?)
   • Will need tables for 3-4 groups to work at plus a table for materials
4. Does the event require a fee? If so, how much? (Keep in mind that Noisebridge doesn't support the imposition of mandatory fees for things in general; however, it's acceptable to ask attendees to cover costs for materials.)
   • There is no fee to be involved
5. If the event calls for a donation rather than a required fee, is there some piece-of-swag you can hand to donators to make them feel good and create "conspicuous consumption" to encourage more people to donate? (Examples: assembled LED badges, very simple musical instruments, stickers, buttons, etc)
6. Should the event be considered a de facto introduction to Noisebridge itself? If so, perhaps designate 2 or 3 "staff" to give people tours in small groups as needed.
   • No however, some people may be interested in learning more about Noisebridge.
7. Since Noisebridge's ethos revolves around hands-on experiences, is there a way the event can provide some small microcosm of that experience to event-goers?
   • Event-goers will be active participants in a design workshop where they can generate and explore their own ideas
8. Is it possible that the event will push people away from their projects? Make sure you have thought through some reasonable suggestions for where people might move. "Visualize" the conversations you might have with hackers who have just as much a right to the space as you do, regardless of how far ahead you put your stuff on the calendar.
   • Unsure but will know more when I see the space on May 30
9. What kind of A/V equipment do you need? Do you plan to livestream the event to the internet? If so, make sure you connect with someone who has the password to the noisebridge livestream account. (Or set up your own account.) Plan to broadcast the link to the livestream via social media channels like Twitter, FB, etc. No point in livestreaming if nobody has the link.
   • The event will not be live streamed
10. Does the event require a "green room" and/or "backstage" for performers? If so, where will that space be? How will it be segmented off (made apparent that it's not part of the event for the audience)? How much "stuff" will your performers and volunteers have that needs to be kept apart from the audience?
    • No
11. Which spaces will be explicitly *not* part of the event? (I would suggest that at least 2 spaces, one classroom and the machine shop, always be available to non-event-goers.) How will you corral event-goers away from these spaces? (This is sort of a question of your level of trust in your audience.) Keep in mind that the presence of alcohol makes people a little more likely to break social contracts and cross implied barriers, so in some cases, a very obvious physical barrier (such as Caution tape across a door) might be a good idea.
    • There will be no alcohol involved and I will figure this out when I see the space on May 30
12. All of the equipment currently sitting in the space that you want to use for the event needs to be handled with respect. Make contact with as many stake-holders as possible to see if there are any special concerns or considerations regarding moving/handling the equipment. Try emailing to the list first, then perhaps leaving notes on top of stuff with instructions on how to contact you.
    • I will do this once I've seen the space on May 30

K WEEKS OUT (where K = as many as you have, b/c it's never too early to plan well):

1. Make fliers and/or a poster that can be left on the table at the front of Noisebridge. Include as much detail as necessary (and no more):
   • I'll do this on May 30
   • Event NAME
   • Event STYLE that lets people understand what type of experience to expect.
     • (e.g. "a lecture on subatomic particle physics", "hands-on experiments in phospholuminescent DNA tagging", "lolcats: the musical")
   • Sublocation within Noisebridge, e.g. "Turing classroom"
   • Time of Day
   • Day of the Week
   • Calendar Date (including year)
   • Contact person and/or website
2. Put your event on the noisebridge.net wiki among the Upcoming Events. Keep it updated by checking the page every few days or at least once a week.
   • I've done this and will continue to check it
3. Spread the word.

AT LEAST ONE WEEK OUT:

1. Post to the NB-discuss list that the event will happen that week.
2. If machine-shop noise would disrupt the event, post a separate message to NB-discuss with a title like, "ABC Event this week, kindly do machining before N pm" (where N=time that event will start, or time

during event during which machine noise would disrupt proceedings.)

1. Line up all A/V equipment needed. Do a dry run of camera and PA operations. Make sure you have all the cables you need for microphones and guitars and whatnot.
2. If livestreaming, make sure it's going to work. It's OK to test by using the real livestream. Try the recording function. Watch it to see if the camera angles and lighting are going to be good enough for your

purposes.

1. Rally your people. Volunteers are variably punctual, so if you can, arrange lots of overlap amongst duties, shifts, and quantities of "staff". Tell most volunteers to get there about an hour before you actually need them.
2. If you need a separate box to take fees or donations, make sure you have one.
3. Think through all of the "day of event" planning. Envision the amount of "stuff" that will be involved in the event and where it needs to go.
4. Acquire booze, snacks, and other provisions. Make sure volunteers can keep their energy and spirits up. Remember to ask them if they have dietary restrictions or preferences. Take allergies seriously.

(If you need some perspective on which foods are life-threatening for some people even to be in the presence of, like peanuts, and which you should simply remember to label, like gluten and dairy, ask Naomi.)

1. Think about how many waste receptacles will be needed, what kind (recycling, compost, etc) and in how many places. Stock up on trash bags.
2. Bathroom supplies: get LOTS of toilet paper. Might want to also keep a stack of clean dry towels handy in case of leaks and overflows.

DAY OF EVENT:

1. Early in the day, make sure you write on the whiteboard what's going to happen later that day. Make it big, bold, and legible.
2. How early are event-attenders likely to show up? Should they be given a tour of Noisebridge?
3. Set up food, booze, etc. Think through the likely walking patterns and noise profiles of the event. Typically it's best to set up a "bar" near the kitchen when the event is at the front. If the event

is going to be rather large, keep in mind that areas near the "bar" will get pretty noisy.

1. At what time do you need to start setting up? You'll have to tell the people who are using the area that it's about to be used for a special purpose.
2. Cordon off event-space and non-event-space as needed.
3. Make a map of where any stuff you had to move out of the way used to be, so that it's easy to get it all back to its original places.

DURING THE EVENT:

1. DOOR GREETER: Make sure there's a knowledgable person near to the door at all times to help people understand what's happening and make them feel welcome. Hackers just looking for a place to hack should be informed of where they can do that.
2. Monitor the waste receptacles well. When a trash bin starts to overflow, a recycling bin will start acquiring regular waste, even if a waste bin further away is nearly empty.
3. Keep tabs on the bathrooms. Hopefully you don't run out of TP or require a plumber, but these things happen.
4. Read the Preamble.

END OF EVENT:

1. Clean, clean, and double-clean. Food waste especially needs to be dealt with swiftly, lest we continue breeding Rats of Unusual Size.
2. If PGE trash bins are overflowing, something will need to be done about that. (Find a dumpster? I'm not sure what people do in these situations.)
3. Put everything back the way it was.
4. If anything important/expensive/dangerous got broken, make a note of it and send it to the NB-discuss list, or send an email directly to the concerned parties.