Ways we can get to know each other

Some members of the hackspace prefer to keep to themselves and just want to use the facilities, while other members like to meet up socially. There is no pressure to get involved in the social side of things.

Making ourselves known to each other

For security, it is useful to be familiar with people who come-and-go in the space, so we are creating these things:

• A Wall of Faces is being built, but faces opposition from a couple of members.
• A photo album of members is being added to the bookshelf in the members' only room.

These things are entirely opt-in, but we encourage all members to add their photograph to the album to help us with security. Some members are reluctant to be photographed, and the album is a concession for security, so do not reproduce or digitise the photos in the album without permission from the people depicted!

If you want to invite people to start a conversation, wearing a name badge is another option.

This beautiful name badge was made by Liz for the members' party in August 2011.

Socialising in the hackspace

• The Open Hacknights are the best time to come and chat with us and they are well attended all year round. This is an opportunity to meet and find opportunities for collaboration. These nights have become an important part of our social calendar.

• We occasionally organise meetups very early in the morning and late at night, where we share breakfast or a mid-night snack. We welcome you to join us for the meals. See Nottingham Nightowls.

Members sometimes come to the space just to socialise with no specific intention of doing any hacking, while some members are very quiet and want to do their own thing. And some people hate to be interrupted, but are too polite to say so. Hacking takes priority, so please be mindful when socialising in the space, and whatever time you come, please be sensitive to other members.

Other places where we often meet

Below is a list of events and places where you will regularly bump into some members of the hackspace, and you are very welcome to come and join us.

Note: The venues and groups listed here are not affiliated with Nottingham Hackspace

• We often go to a local pub (the Moot) at around 10pm on Wednesdays, after open Hack Nights. Meet us at the Hackspace between 6:30pm and 8pm and speak to the person with the large yellow duck (should be easy to spot) if you want to join us.
• Several members like to go on cycle rides around the city. These rides are not organised by anyone, but they have been running for a long time. Rides are often on the last friday of the month starting at around 5-6:30pm, depending on the time of year. Recently we have been starting somewhere between the bike stands in the Old Market Square (the end closest to the Library) and the Victoria Centre clock tower at around that time. There intentionally isn't any further preparation and the arrangements change regularly, because we really don't want this to turn into some sort of massive procession that would require authorisation from the council and perhaps even closing the roads. Ask around if you want to join us.

Places where we could meet regularly

• Community cafes - there are several cafes in Nottingham that are run by-and-for the community (cooking together, sharing food, etc.). We could organise to go for meals from time to time. See the Nottingham Community Cafe Network for details.

"I don't know if it's cool with people to list The Sumac Centre in Forest Fields on this page? Some of us already meet quite often there. This is a commmunity bar/cafe and another volunteer-run space funded exclusively by it's members (and through events) so it has parallels with the hackspace in the way it is run. It focuses on vegetarian food, music events, and political campaigning. The political side will not appeal to some. They also invite people to cook and share meals every Saturday at People's kitchen." -- 00:48, 7 April 2012 (EST)