8 Feb
2015
8 Feb
'15
7:25 p.m.
Hi! When I first wrote the email below, I figured that February 11 would
give you plenty of time to discuss and make a decision. I've been sending
things to the wrong addresses like a dork, though. So, if you can, I'd love
to hear back from you by Monday 16 February with a yay or a nay. Thank you!
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Lisha Sterling <lisha(a)geekswobounds.org>
Date: Tue, Feb 3, 2015 at 4:39 PM
Subject: Would Sudoroom like to host International Space Apps Challenge?
To: info(a)sudoroom.com
Hello Sudoers!
Long time no see! It's been great to watch what's been going on in Sudoroom
life, the move to Omni-Commons, the crowdfunding campaign, the classes and
all the rest through the telescopic lens of the Interwebs. I miss you guys,
though and look forward to visiting when I'm down in Oakland again.
Today I'm writing to ask if you guys would be willing to be our host site
for the Oakland site for the International Space Apps Challenge April
10-12, 2015.
My colleague Lindsay Oliver is moving down to Oakland on March 1, and since
she'll be a new local, we decided to celebrate her move by asking for the
Oakland Space Apps license. Now that they've said that she can run that
event, we need to find a site and hunt down sponsors to fund it. I thought
about a couple different possible hosts, but then it dawned on me that
Sudoroom and the Omni-Commons would be a WAY better site than any other I
could think of.
What we would would need from you is SPACE. Well,actually, we need space
and internet and electricity.
We will find sponsors to pay for food, beverages, and prizes (NB: We don't
do cash prizes. We celebrate collaboration, not competition). If you guys
have leads to help us find those sponsors, that's always appreciated, but
not at all required.
What you get: The awesomest hackathon of the year in your space, exposure
to people who don't normally show up to hackerspaces but would probably
love yours, mention in any press we get for the event, and of course,
listing as a major sponsor of the Oakland site of ISAC.
International Space Apps Challenge is a global hackathon with over 80 sites
worldwide. This will be the fourth year of the event, and Geeks Without
Bounds has been involved since the very first one. NASA curates challenges
that have ranged from jewellery making to data hacking, educational
development to interplanetary network design. There is literally something
for everyone at a Space Apps Challenge, and it is our absolute favorite
hackathon of the year. (Considering that we may do as many as 25 in any
given year, that's saying something.)
Geeks Without Bounds is a nonprofit organization fiscally sponsored by the
School Factory. We support humanitarian open source projects through a
combination of hackathons and an accelerator program where we take
promising projects through a six month series of mentorships to help them
reach sustainability. In the first year of Space Apps, GWOB ran the
flagship event at Tech Shop in San Francisco. In the second year we
organized three sites including Glasgow, Scotland and Krakow, Poland. Last
year we were involved with 5 different sites around the globe. This year we
will be organizing just two: Oakland, CA and Greensboro, NC. (Although
people that we trained up will be taking over organization of sites in
every city where we've organized Space Apps events in the past!)
GWOB hackathons are always a little different than the stereotypical
hackathon event. You can read more about our take on the form at
http://gwob.org/why-i-love-hackathons/ And because GWOB was deeply involved
in the original design of Space Apps when it first started, the global
organization shares many of our core values, meaning that if you enjoy
Space Apps in one location one year, you will probably enjoy it at other
locations in other years just as much.
We hope that you will say YES and that we can hack space with you and the
9000 or so Space Apps hackers around the world and on the ISS this year.
Please let us know your answer by February 11, so that if you are not able
to host us, we will still have plenty of time to find another location.
Thank you!
--
Lisha Sterling
Executive Director, Geeks Without Bounds <http://geekswobounds.org/>
telephone: 425-610-8636 hangouts: lisha(a)gwob.org
schedule a meeting with me <http://doodle.com/lishevita>