[hackerspaces] How Do You Bring In Women?

[Ron Bean]

Pete Prodoehl <raster at gmail.com> writes:

>The location of your space is also key... we
>were in a old industrial complex one member called "Assault Town"
>(though we never experienced any assaults) it was not a place that
>most women would feel comfortable going to alone at night. (I know,
>because I asked one.)

Also, it was a former grinding shop, in a 100 year old building, and it
was inherently filthy. Black dust constantly filtered out of the ceiling
beams, and we could never keep anything really clean. Anything related
to textiles was a non-starter. This wasn't just a problem for women, it
was a problem for any activity that needed a clean surface to work on.
Fortunately that's not a problem at our new space.

On the upside, we started with a very diverse set of interests (not just 
computers & electronics, although we have those also), and we generally 
welcome anyone who brings any kind of skills to share, or who wants to 
learn.