[hackerspaces] Establishing hackerspace and getting people actively involved

[Jarkko Moilanen]

Hi,

We have problems getting things started here with our hackerspace. We  
have punch of people hanging around this still virtual hackerspace. In  
our meetings, there is only about 5-6 participants. People seem to be  
reluctant to start any projetcs. The reason for this reluctancy seems  
to be that we are still missing our IRL space. I disagree partly. Not  
every project needs a separate space. To get some activity (projects)  
we need active participants. When we have activities we become more  
attractive and gain more members. Of course the space is in the top 2  
wanted list.

But again, no members -> no funds and no funds -> no space. We (well  
this means at least me) are now willing to lower our expectations for  
the first space and just get one.

People seem to wait that 'someone else' does all the work. I have seen  
enough that type of people in my life. I was not expecting to see that  
type of people in this hackerspace 'project'. Have I gathered (lured)  
wrong type of people from the start. Where are the doers and makers?  
We dontä need people who just talk and talk. How do we get people more  
involved? We are still in the beginning and kind of stuck. We started  
(well I did) gathering people for this hackerspace about 10 months  
ago. The hangarounds (about 10) seem also reluctant to participate to  
community related issues, in other words building virtual tools and  
environments for the community. Community which is starting does not  
happen itself, it needs people to DO stuff. Moreover it needs things  
to be done that are not so important to single person but for the  
whole community. I am loosing my faith in establishing a hackerspace  
in Tampere. Any thoughts?

cheers,
Jarkko, mode 5w hackerspace

****************************
  Jarkko Moilanen
  M.Soc.Sc. (Political Science)
  PhD Student, Information studies, University of Tampere
  Blog: Extreme activities in cyberspace - http://extreme.ajatukseni.net/
  -------------------------
  Founder of Hackerspace 5w, Finland, Tampere - 5w.fi
****************************
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