Saturday House, We've all noted that whenever there's an *activity* at Saturday House, that people get excited and attendence jumps dramatically. Everyone ends up having a great time!
What if we had a special day, wherein we -- in the style of unconferencing and Open Space -- dug up our greatest project ideas, and then grouped into teams to enact them, over the course of two weeks? Would it work??? We don't know! But we'd like to find out! Read on for the idea of PROJECTS DAY. We don't know exactly WHEN we're going to do it -- probably the week _after_ Startup weekend. (February 14th; Valentine's Day..!) Consider this email a "Request For Comment." If you have input on the timing, ideas for the execution, want to help coordinate it, etc., please post here, or email [email protected], or heck -- just pick up the phone and dial 206.427.2545. Take care, Lion Kimbro {:)}= ---- PROJECTS DAY & PROJECTS MONTH THE IDEA We're all attracted to the joy and inspiration of seeing new people, action, and fresh ideas at Saturday House. Whenever someone hosts a project, or an activity, we always see a jump in attendance and excitement. Can we develop this in a more reliable way? I propose Project Day, a day for beginning (or continuing) projects. The idea is that we will get together, share projects and project ideas, and then group into activity teams. Project Day is the beginning; Project Month (or rather, "project half-month") is where the teams work together to complete the given project. Saturday #1: Project Day -- identifying projects, grouping into teams Saturday #2: Half-way Mark -- continuing work, comparing notes Saturday #3: End Mark -- sharing fruit of our work Progress will be tracked, published, discussed, and encouraged. Where we can help one another, even if we are working on another team, we will. At the end of each Saturday, we check in to see where we're at, and how we're doing. On the 3rd Saturday, we share what we have made. The idea is inspired by Open Space & un-conferencing. "WHAT IS A PROJECT?" A project can be anything you can imagine! As long as it requires concentration. Here are some ideas: • cutting, drilling, polishing, and assembling Grid Beams (http://www.gridbeamers.com/ ) • writing a computer game, creating art and music, coordinating it together • organizing public conversations on Seattle transportation • hosting fort day • organizing research on some question of interest • painting a mural in the Giraffe Labs (Giraffe Labs permitting) • a study group for learning Esperanto • a "2 week startup" • feeding the homeless, and giving free hugs to the disaffected or sad • setting up a wiki for Project Month, and populating it with reports coming from the various projects running That is, most anything and everything. You can even bring the projects that you're already working on! THE PLAN I. We meet on Saturday at 2:00 PM. Punctuality is very important. II. Facilitator will explain general format and principles. III. The "wall" will be opened. At this point, everyone is invited and encouraged to write down their project ideas on big pieces of paper with provided pens and crayons. You can make as many as you like, but it's very important that they are projects that you would be enthusiastic to work on. Each project needs a title and your name. Project papers are announced, and then taped to the wall. Keep announcements brief! No more than your title, plus 2 sentences! People can ask you for clarifications. IV. Tentative sign-ups. While people are putting projects on the wall, go visit them, and put your name on the projects that you have some interest in. V. Self-organizing. Find the groups of people who are working on different projects. The convener shares the initial vision, and the team discusses. Look for points of synergy and mutual contribution: "How can we fit together?" Some projects will collapse – that's okay! Other projects will magically fit. Figure out the rough roles that people will play. Share contact information. Add or remove your names from different projects. VI. Clarity. It should be clear at this point, who is working on what projects. The facilitator will go around collecting information about what the teams are, what their visions are, and what their plans are. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Website: http://saturdayhouse.org/ Post: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
