Pictures by John Wood.

Well folks, this was the second meeting we ever had, and it actually went quite well.  At least better than I had expected.  People actually showed up!  No no, ok so seriously though people came with lots of good ideas and a lot of interest in the whole thing.  Which by my standards is excellent for where we’re at.  Now granted, it did run a little long, but that’s because we actually have a lot to talk about.  Which is also excellent.  I promise, the next meetings will be a little less business, a little more fun, and a good bit shorter.  Some of that we’ll have to figure out as we go.

Hopefully though, this did allow everyone a little bit of insight as well as encouragement for what this can turn into.  I also hope that everyone got a little bit of a feel for what kind of people we’re looking for to be in the group.  I encourage everyone, to right now bring anyone that you can think of who might enjoy all of this.  Members are the biggest thing we need at the moment so bring everyone you can.

Also, the meeting notes are up on the wiki, and pictures are up on flickr.  Don’t forget to go checkout the pictures.

I was just informed that we WILL have a fan table set aside for us at MidSouthCon, which will take place from March 12th to the 14th at the Whispering Woods Conference Center in Olive Branch, MS (some of you old-timers may remember it better as the Holiday Inn Executive Conference center).

While the table is free, anyone that mans it will need to pay for admission to the convention.  Currently it is $40 for the entire weekend, and will go up to $45 in a week, which is also the at-the-door price.  I will create a wiki page for discussing what we might need for it or can do at the table.

Woot!  The paperwork has officially come back.  We are now an official non profit organization within the State of Tennessee.  Keep in mind this is only within the Tennessee.  We have not yet filed for 501(c)3 status.

That being said.  Our next steps will be to file with the IRS for a tax ID so that we can make tax free purchases. Once we have all of that in place, and if the group is continuing to grow and do well, we’ll look into the becoming a national non profit.  From what I’ve been told that costs somewhere around $750.  So that will likely want to wait until we are a little more established.  If anyone knows of any good tax advice for such things, or anything else financially related to non profits, feel free to comment on it.

Republic Coffee

Alright folks, everything is in place for us to begin some regular meetings.  We will be meeting once a week, every Friday at 7 PM, at Republic Coffee. (See the Events page for directions)

This will be a time for everyone to get to know one another, show off projects, tinker with something, get help for a project, fantasize about what you want to do, or just show up and enjoy the company/coffee.  As often as possible, some sort of little time passer will be provided.  For this first meeting we are hoping to have lock picking/cracking and possibly jewelry crafting or using other things you can get online like a pisces necklace if you’re this zodiac or into fishes or fishing.  Thanks to Pumping Station: One for the ideas.  They had lock picking at their first gathering, and had knitting at subsequent ones.  Whether you’re interested in these little events or not, feel free to stop in and check us out.  Who knows, you might find that you just enjoy chatting.

Don’t forget to tell friends, family, or random people on the street.  We want to try and draw as many people in as we can.

See you there!

Well it has finally happened.  We are proud to announce a new logo brought to you by our very on JWoodJr.  Hopefully this will allow us to move forward a little more in getting our name out there.  We now have something to put up on Hackerspaces.org and up on Nathaner’s Hackerspace App.  More info should be coming soon on regular meetings, and about how we can get our name out there.

Let us know what you think of the new logo!