[sudoroom] CRITICAL Update for 2135 broadway, Oakland, CA

Sun Jun 3 19:56:55 CEST 2012

Hi friends,

looking forward to seeing all of you at 2PM at oscar grant plaza for our
scouting session. bring your bikes and phones as we might be using crowdmap
to share what we find as we scout.

i've also tried to distill some of the main questions, comments, and
concerns from everyone's emails on this space and placed them on the riseup
pad (https://pad.riseup.net/p/sudoroom). feel free to add more
questions/comments/concerns, answer any questions, respond to any of the
raised points, and continue discussing.

if you have any trouble accessing the pad, here are the notes i added:

Questions:
- When does the decision have to be made by?
- How would it work to start with one space and move into others?
- Does the room itself have a separate door/lock from the front door?
- Can everyone have keys to the front entrance and/or to the room itself?
- How big is the classroom?
- It was mentioned that the classroom is available for anyone to use. How
does the signup for the classroom work? How early do you have to book it?
Does it have a separate key, etc?
- What would happen with tech liminal - would we continue to have meetings
there? Relatedly, how long can we continue to meet at tech liminal while we
look for a permanent place?
- Who will be on the contract?

Concerns:
- Too expensive per sq ft?
- Is it worth it to spend money on a temporary space for 2 months? Would it
be better to save money and stay in tech liminal until a better space comes
along?
- Is it too small to be practical?
- If spaces in this building come up for rent often (and the manager is
flexible and allows month to month rent on them frequently), how urgent is
it to move on this particular spot?
    - One issue to consider here is that the front room may not come up for
rent often - there are a number of rooms in this building, but only one
that faces the street. (MK)
- Governance, membership, and financial issues will need to be resolved
ASAP if we agree to move forward with the space.

Comments:
- Good location
    - Two of the spaces in the building are accessible - questions about
accessibility the upstairs office space.
    - Near BART
    - Lots of foot traffic in this neighborhood
    - Creative neighbors may provide opportunities for cross-pollination
- Low initial capital investment
- Street-facing room allows for signage/other creative recruitment
mechanisms.
    - The "box office" room is not itself a storefront; there is a small
foyer in the building with nothing in it. However, the "box office" does
have a large window that opens into the foyer and is visible from the
street. I think there are many opportunities for utilizing that window and
folks are already discussing possibilities for eye-catching and awesome
recruitment mechanisms. (MK)
- Flexibility of rental contract is a positive.
- Landlord is friendly to the project.
- Landlord is flexible in terms of rooms rented - many possibilities for
moving into additional spaces (building has a variety of spaces that are
more/less conducive to solitary, collaborative, and other modes of work).
Landlord is open to providing discounts on additional spaces once first
space is rented.
- Shared classroom space is little-used and available for all tenants.
- Space has wifi and landlord is open to possibly wiring it in the future
- The small size of the room can be an advantage instead of a disadvantage.
It will make it easier to maintain a "hub of activity" feeling with fewer
people, and the image of several hackers seen through the window trying to
fit into the room will make the case demonstratively that we need a bigger
room.
- The curb in front of the building is zoned for 2 spots for loading and
unloading - this may be useful for setting up a way to receive donations of
hardware in a spot easily accessible to the public.
- Existence of a space is likely to increase interest and bring in new
sudoers
- Existence of a space creates "facts on the ground" that will energize and
motivate existing sudoers to maintain it.

On Sat, Jun 2, 2012 at 10:55 PM, Marina Kukso <marina.kukso at gmail.com>wrote:

> michael and i actually were wondering what the situation was with that
> building as we checked out 2135 broadway today. it's seemed empty for at
> least a couple years (i've never seen anything but the current posters
> there). the kapor center site says that they plan to move in in 2013...
>
> also, while we're on the topic of neighbors of 2135, to the right of 2135
> is a psychic. to the right of the psychic (with the tile mosaic entryway)
> is the separate entrance to the upstairs part of 2135 (this is the entrance
> for the upstairs double office - option #3 in matt's original email). to
> the right of that is a currently empty spot that will have a new
> organization moving in starting in june: the sound room (bay area jazz and
> arts) http://secondsaturdaysalon.com/. the sound room is also somehow
> partnered with the space directly to the left of 2135 - 2131 broadway (the
> papered-up space all the way on the left in this streetview:
> https://maps.google.com/?q=loc:+Broadway+at+22nd+Street+Oakland+CA+US&ll=37.810827,-122.26721&spn=0.003458,0.005284&hnear=Broadway+%26+22nd+St,+Oakland,+Alameda,+California+94612&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=37.810651,-122.267318&panoid=VXpIKY0QFTgDutXU5EfIag&cbp=12,284.7,,0,11.24).
> 2131 had an art show yesterday as part of art murmur. this is listed as a
> sound room event on the sound room site: "Art show featuring  Faultline
> ArtSpace will be held at 2131 Broadway - in the same building as our space
> but on the adjacent corner." however, by today everything at 2131 was
> packed up and empty, so it's not clear what the situation is with 2131.
>
> either way, it looks like the spot will have interesting neighbors moving
> in soon, and potentially folks we would want to get in touch with (at the
> very least because of the surprising resonances between our organizations'
> names: sudo room/sound room)
>
> - marina
>
>
> On Sat, Jun 2, 2012 at 10:23 PM, Eddan Katz <eddan at oaklandlocal.com>wrote:
>
>>  It turns out the neighbors directly across the street from 2135 Broadway
>> will be the future home of the Kapor Center (http://www.kaporcenter.org/).
>> Or they may already have some offices set up in there? I haven't seen
>> anyone come in or out when I've passed by. Does anyone know anything about
>> that?
>>
>>
>> On 6/2/12 9:03 AM, Jehan Tremback wrote:
>>
>> Well we are the hackers. We will be the ones using it. The most important
>> part is that wherever we go, we hack in there. Aq
>> On Jun 2, 2012 8:53 AM, "Eddan Katz" <eddan at oaklandlocal.com> wrote:
>>
>>>  Regarding Tech Liminal, it was my understanding that we still wanted
>>> to have meetings there and that this is a temporary (6-month) initiative to
>>> formulate aspects of SudoRoom's identity not as easily developed from those
>>> meetings at Tech Liminal.
>>>
>>>  Also, I think it worthwhile mentioning that the curb in front of the
>>> building is zoned for 2 spots for loading and unloading - this may be
>>> useful for setting up a way to receive donations of hardware in a spot
>>> easily accessible to the public.
>>>
>>>
>>> sent from +1(415) 728-5800
>>>
>>> On Jun 2, 2012, at 8:46 AM, Eddan Katz <eddan at oaklandlocal.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>   I think we should put a big sign on the window of the office facing
>>> the street (bullet-proof, as the manager mentioned) that says:
>>>
>>>  "Help us get a bigger: SudoRoom.org".
>>>
>>>  With the placement of the sign along people's walk home from the BART
>>> to the lake - I can imagine getting our money back, renting more practical
>>> space in that building and then some, imho. The image of several hackers
>>> seen through the window trying to fit into the room will make the case
>>> demonstratively that we need a bigger room.
>>>
>>>  For those who have seen the place, I can think of no better space that
>>> evokes the name - Sudo Room.
>>>
>>>  [constraints are the canvas of creativity]
>>>
>>> sent from +1(415) 728-5800 <%2B1%28415%29%20728-5800>
>>>
>>> On Jun 1, 2012, at 5:18 PM, "Patrik D'haeseleer" <patrikd at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>  On the other hand - what do we really gain by renting a temporary 150
>>> sq ft room, that we couldn't get at TechLiminal for free? Place to leave
>>> stuff lying around? Is 150 sq ft even big enough to fit us all?
>>>
>>> As long as Anca is happy to host us (and I think having the extra
>>> traffic is probably a good thing for TechLiminal) I don't see a good reason
>>> to spend our small amount of funds on a separate room that we don't truly
>>> need and that would only be a temporary fix anyway. I'd say let's spend
>>> some of that money on Anca, and stay at Techliminal at least until we find
>>> something more permanent..
>>>
>>> Also, as soon as we start paying rent on a monthly basis, we need to get
>>> serious about monthly paying memberships as well. But so far we haven't
>>> done much to make people eager to pay for a membership.
>>>
>>> Besides, if this guy really has lots of spaces and they come up for rent
>>> often, there really isn't any need to jump on whatever he has available
>>> right now. I'm sure he'll have some other spaces open next month as well.
>>>
>>> Patrik
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jun 1, 2012 at 4:57 PM, Jenny Ryan <jenny at thepyre.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Matt, and also Eddan & Timon - thanks for moving on this! I think this
>>>> could be a fantastic initial space for Sudo Room..
>>>>
>>>> Location is great, though 150 square feet is absurdly small. How big is
>>>> the classroom we could use?
>>>>
>>>> Overpriced for the size, imho, but the visibility we could definitely
>>>> work wrt outreach for the group... though with the rest of the building's
>>>> amenities available to us, might be a good bet.
>>>>
>>>> Would love to meet on Saturday, though would have to be early afternoon
>>>> for me to make it (send-off party for our yurt builder & current resident,
>>>> Morten, in our garden on Saturday starting around 4! email me if you'd like
>>>> to come :)
>>>>
>>>> Jenny
>>>> http://jennyryan.net
>>>> http://thepyre.org
>>>> http://thevirtualcampfire.org
>>>> http://technomadic.tumblr.com
>>>>
>>>> `~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
>>>>  "Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories."
>>>> -Laurie Anderson
>>>>
>>>> "Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining
>>>> it."
>>>>  -Hannah Arendt
>>>>
>>>> "To define is to kill. To suggest is to create."
>>>> -Stéphane Mallarmé
>>>> ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  On Fri, Jun 1, 2012 at 3:24 PM, Eddie A Tejeda <eddie.tejeda at gmail.com
>>>> > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>  Matt.. thanks for leading this. I think this is a great opportunity.
>>>>> If I understand this correctly, there are multiple spaces available and we
>>>>> can start with one and move into other ones as needed? If that's the case I
>>>>> think it makes perfect sense to start with the smaller space and grow as
>>>>> needed.
>>>>>
>>>>> I also this it's a cool location. When do you need to make the
>>>>> decision by?
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Eddie A Tejeda
>>>>>
>>>>>   On Thu, May 31, 2012 at 11:48 PM, Matthew Senate <
>>>>> mattsenate at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>  Howdy Folks,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We've been in search of a space. There are lots of options, and
>>>>>> bigger, brighter futures rest on the horizon.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  On Weds, Eddan found this listing on craigslist:
>>>>>> http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/off/3036298243.html seen here:
>>>>>> https://maps.google.com/?q=loc:+Broadway+at+22nd+Street+Oakland+CA+US&ll=37.810827,-122.26721&spn=0.003458,0.005284&hnear=Broadway+%26+22nd+St,+Oakland,+Alameda,+California+94612&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=37.810651,-122267318&panoid=VXpIKY0QFTgDutXU5EfIag&cbp=12,284.7,,0,11.24<https://mapsgoogle.com/?q=loc:+Broadway+at+22nd+Street+Oakland+CA+US&ll=37.810827,-122.26721&spn=0.003458,0.005284&hnear=Broadway+%26+22nd+St,+Oakland,+Alameda,+California+94612&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=37.810651,-122.267318&panoid=VXpIKY0QFTgDutXU5EfIag&cbp=12,284.7,,0,11.24>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I gave George, the property manager, a call. I had seen some other
>>>>>> offices in his space months before, he has lots of spaces and they come up
>>>>>> for rent often. All month-to-month contracts, and a lease if we really want
>>>>>> one He said he was available today at 3pm. I showed up and Eddan and Timon
>>>>>> joined in.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We saw three offices. I have photographs stored on a proprietary
>>>>>> memory device and will retrieve them ASAP upon apprehension of the proper
>>>>>> cable.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1. $500 / month 350 sq ft - The LISTED ROOM - has WiFi access, on the
>>>>>> ground floor, outlets, lights. It is a good deal for the size, but it is
>>>>>> not very close to the street. One must walk through a hallway, through a
>>>>>> half-office, and down another hallway (all disability accessible) to get to
>>>>>> it. This is not bad, just a bit removed from public view.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 2. $400 / month (no exact measure, but about 150 sq. ft). - The BOX
>>>>>> OFFICE (calling it that for short). Has a window, is just a few feet inside
>>>>>> public-facing  street-level doors in the same area as the LISTED ROOM. Also
>>>>>> has WiFi Access. Sits directly outside a shared building "classroom" area
>>>>>> available to all renters, just sign up ahead of time. If we rent the BOX
>>>>>> OFFICE, we can occasionally use the LISTED ROOM while it's open
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  3. $350 / month (no exact measure, but no bigger than 400 sq ft) -
>>>>>> The DOUBLE OFFICE is upstairs, at the very top of the entrance steps. It
>>>>>> has access to an unused, common "reception" area that would be available
>>>>>> for our usage. It has cable and wifi internet access. The DOUBLE OFFICE
>>>>>> includes two offices that are connected, side-by-side. The rear door has
>>>>>>
>>>>>> All rooms have access to the "classroom" area on the ground floor,
>>>>>> just need to sign up as described above. The building just got faster WIFI
>>>>>> service provided by Sonic.net installed recently. George is
>>>>>> interested in providing line-access to internet in all ground floor offices
>>>>>> in the future, we could also do this ourselves he offered.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Also, we can potentially rent multiple of these spaces, or move from
>>>>>> one to other available spaces in the building at a later time.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In order to move forward with this space (and not to lose footing), I
>>>>>> have a proposal:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> *Sudo Room should consider "dipping" it's toe into the BOX OFFICE
>>>>>> space (no. 2 above) by investing a portion of our fund-raiser funds of $200
>>>>>> first month (50% off for move-in), $400 obligatory for last month (which
>>>>>> can be july if we wish), and a redeemable $400 deposit--at a grand total of
>>>>>> $1,000, lasting to at least July*. This would only commit us to two
>>>>>> months in the space, the first month of which (June) we can sort out all
>>>>>> the precise governance, tax, and income issues, by consensus, in order to
>>>>>> move forward (remain, expand, or move) with this space and our future!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I propose we hold a discussion on this email thread, use our other
>>>>>> online tools, convene an in-person meetup on Saturday (anywhere that's
>>>>>> available), consider all the issues and list them on the wiki, convene
>>>>>> briefly again on Sunday with whoever can make the "scout session" (still
>>>>>> on), and plan to move forward on Monday having begun due diligence to
>>>>>> consider if we have the blessings of our community!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Please add notes in reply to this thread, on this pad (for anonymous
>>>>>> communication too): https://pad.riseup.net/p/sudoroom and ultimately
>>>>>> we'll put everything on the Wiki on Saturday to sort out by Monday.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On clarifying note: it seems to me that it would be prudent to
>>>>>> maintain the Sunday "scouting" event for due diligence reasons, and for
>>>>>> future option reasons!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> // Matt
>>>>>>
>>>>>> p.s. Note that time is crucial because other folks (including some we
>>>>>> bumped into while on tour) are also looking at these spaces, and with the
>>>>>> first of the month approaching, it is in the property manager's best
>>>>>> interest to move folks in soon.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>   _______________________________________________
>>>>>> sudoroom mailing list
>>>>>> sudoroom at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>>>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/sudoroom
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Eddie A Tejeda
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> sudoroom mailing list
>>>>> sudoroom at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/sudoroom
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> sudoroom mailing list
>>>> sudoroom at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/sudoroom
>>>>
>>>>
>>>   _______________________________________________
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>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/sudoroom
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/sudoroom
>>>
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/sudoroom
>>
>>
>
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[sudoroom] **CRITICAL** Update for 2135 broadway, Oakland, CA

[sudoroom] CRITICAL Update for 2135 broadway, Oakland, CA