[hackerspaces] Radio Shack Hackerspace Challenge: $1000 Prize!

[Ken Murphy]

Good point on being clearer about the geographical restrictions up front,
and I'll definitely do so for any such posts in the future. I'm aware that
this is a very international movement, and I wish this contest could have
extended beyond the US.

Ken


On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 12:57 PM, Randall G. Arnold <
randall.arnold at texrat.net> wrote:

> **
>  I see both sides but I'm still trying to understand the ultimate
> complaint.
>
>  There is little to nothing that small to medium sized organizations can
> typically do about extending contests beyond borders.  Legal hurdles are
> what they are and not easily surmounted.
>
>  So should a hackerspace or related organization completely refrain from
> even announcing such a restricted opportunity on this list?  I don't think
> so.  Could the subject line be better constructed to make it extremely
> clear that the email's message is for a certain audience?  Absolutely.  But
> I don't think it's fair to keep beating up on the OP of this topic for an
> honest omission.
>
>  All that said, I would like to think that even hackerspaces unable to
> participate in certain opportunities can learn from them, and find examples
> of practices that they can also put into place for their particular
> audience.  So I would recommend tolerating and even embracing such
> communications.
>
>  We have more in common than in contrast.
>
>  Randall Arnold
>  cofounder/director, Tarrant Makers
>  (and employee of a multinational company, Nokia, that also struggles with
> this sort of issue)
>
> > On May 24, 2013 at 2:45 PM Philip Poten <philip.poten at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> > The thing is, there are people travelling through the world and
> > actively trying to spread the hackerspace idea across borders,
> > religions and cultures. Not too long ago, a group of hackers went to
> > Baghdad to make a hackerspace happen there. (Bre? Wasn't that you?)
> >
> > This is spreading the movement, and can be sold as such.
> >
> > If you now arrive with your gimmicky 1000USD and a fig-leaf legal
> > issue, it's a bit ... weird. I do understand, as does everyone else
> > here that *your* target audience of course does not extend beyond the
> > USA. *Ours* however, does. And our efforts are communicated by
> > volunteers locally and globally all the time - which incidentally is
> > why hackerspaces are becoming interesting commercially.
> >
> > So talking about how a border-limited corporate-sponsored cash-contest
> > is creating "good PR for hackerspaces" is kinda ... well, it irks me.
> >
> > I'm not trying to piss on your contest per se, but these
> > border-limited PR projects are becoming more common due to the media
> > presence hackerspaces are gaining (on their own, mind you) and are
> > troubling to some of us, and I'm having the urge to articulate why.
> > They are taking a sizeable (read: global) component of our culture
> > away from us.
> >
> > Anyhow, good luck to your efforts nevertheless, and maybe next time
> > you can make sure that this aspect receives more attention.
> >
> > Philip
> >
> > 2013/5/24 Ken Murphy <kenmrph at gmail.com>:
> > > HI all-
> > >
> > > My role in this Hackerspace Challenge is limited to the recruitment
> and
> > > day-to-day logistics, so I'm not fully qualified to speak to the legal
> > > issues. However I do understand that there are legal complications in
> > > running a contest with a cash prize that make it difficult to include
> other
> > > countries. This is not particular to the US, and you'll see the same
> thing
> > > with contests run by organizations based in other countries.
> > >
> > > Ken
> > >
> > >
> > > On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 6:28 AM, Chris Weiss <cweiss at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> I'm pretty sure I've seen threads that only apply to EU spaces and I
> > >> didn't see any crying from US spaces about it. now if you want to
> > >> complain about a company (ab)using the list for self-promotion,
> that's
> > >> a whole different angle.
> > >>
> > >> My take: this puts "hackerspace" as a "thing" in a more public view
> > >> and helps a little to take back the "hacker" moniker that mass media
> > >> has stolen. it's a good thing even if it is region limited.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 7:57 AM, Felicitus <felicitus at felicitus.org>
> > >> wrote:
> > >> >> Unfortunately, we need to limit it to the US. Sorry!
> > >> >
> > >> > As some others have replied before: Yes, this sucks. I especially
> agree
> > >> > with Philip Poten. If you're looking for cheap advertisement, don't
> use
> > >> > the general list, where there are probably more non-US readers than
> the
> > >> > other way around.
> > >> >
> > >> > Felicitus
> > >> > _______________________________________________
> > >> > Discuss mailing list
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> > >> > http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> > >> _______________________________________________
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> > >> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> > >> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Discuss mailing list
> > Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> > http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>  Randall (Randy) Arnold
> Developer and Enthusiast Advocate
> http://texrat.net
> +18177396806
>
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