[DIYbio] Re: Perth (Australia) Group

In typical style, I ignored the "Action required" bit.
I am happy to meet most places near a train.
Or ...
How about we meet at the Artifactory?

With this in mind, I have sent an email to see if they are open to this. Wed night (Arduino U) and sat afternoons are their most active times. It would also let us mingle and make contacts.

The email I sent is attached below.


Hi,
a bunch of people are looking to start up a biohackers group in Perth.
At our inaugural get together on the 29th of December, we noticed that there is a lot of overlap between our two groups of people.

Would it be possible to hold a get together for our people at the Artifactory, so we might meet some of your guys, and scope out any possibilities for interaction/collaboration? Our next meeting will be late in Jan 2016. I am thinking perhaps wed 23rd evening.

At this stage, we are busily trying to form our core community and group. I speak with no authority for no members. This makes this a "scoping" message. Nevertheless, I think that there are loads of room for common ground, and I know that a bit of biotech certainly spices up arduino projects!


Cheers,
Leon



Regards,
H.

On Wednesday, December 30, 2015 at 2:45:51 PM UTC+8, BigSteve wrote:

Hi Everyone,

What Happened:

We had a great meet-up at Clancy's in Fremantle yesterday. 

Harristotle offered a great wealth of formal and DIY experience and is well connected within WA.

Mike (from BioFoundry) discussed a number of the challenges and opportunities that come with creating a biohacking community.

There is already a fantastic network of DIYBio throughout Australia. We do not need to reinvent the wheel, we are not alone in this endeavor.

The handful of us who met yesterday are enthusiastic and motivated. We are confident that with some online exposure and time, many more people will become involved. It has become blindingly apparent that there is a LOT of garage and kitchen science happening in WA schools and homes, let us build on that!

In short, 2016 will be an exciting year for DIyBio in WA!

Short Term Plan:

As a community, it would be great to build the online presence and find out who else in WA is interested. Please cross-link to any other groups and spread the word!

Building an online group is delightfully free of cost and not reliant on anyone person. Post, Discuss, Argue, Collaborate!

Medium Term Plan:

I am hoping that we can engage with one of the maker-spaces in WA, it would be great if we could combine the creative talent and hacker/maker ethos.

Anyone involved in Artifactory or West Coast Makers, please raise your voice!

Another suggestion was to approach the various Universities from a Community-Engagement perspective. We should also aim to engage high-school or university students and teachers. There is a great deal of knowledge, expertise and energy out there.

Any students who are reading this, your involvement would be welcome! Experience or Level doesn't matter (I am a very proud high-school drop-out :) )

Something to start with:

In the meantime, Harristotle has posted an interesting, easy and safe experiment on this forum. It's a great place to start for getting your feet wet (or muddy).

Any posts about projects are welcome.

ACTION REQUIRED:

How about we plan for another meet-up at the end of January 2016?

The specific date and location around the greater Metro Area is flexible.