How can I help

From Pumping Station One
Revision as of 03:24, 7 November 2016 by Bjonnh (talk | contribs)

(The original of this page came from a mail from Andrew on 2016-11-06T21:12:00)

TLDR; YES! PS1 would love your help and I look forward to seeing you around. Pick something you are passionate about, champion it, have solid discussions, and JFDI (be excellent - tools, space and humans alike).

What can you do? Well, that's a trickier question...Read on

 I've been getting lots of questions aimed at helping out in general, trying to help get the Epilog fixed when it's down, get the big laser up and                                                                                                                                                            
 running, and CNC preparations (but applies in general). All of these things                                                                                                                                                      
 are happening (at their own hacker-pace [see what I did there?]), and the                                                                                                                                                        
 more help we can get to accomplish those tasks the better. BUT there are                                                                                                                                                         
 lots of decisions that go into actually doing all of those things so it                                                                                                                                                          
 requires a bit of coordination. I don't have a box of 100 well defined                                                                                                                                                           
 30-min tasks spelled out in enough detail anyone can do them, but I'd                                                                                                                                                            
 appreciate the help in creating any semblance of that.                                                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
 If you are still encouraged and motivated to help out awesome, here are                                                                                                                                                          
 some...                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
 *Suggestions:*                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
 *Read, post, be active on the google groups* - You have to sign up because                                                                                                                                                       
 it's not automatic. I highly recommend getting the daily digest version                                                                                                                                                          
 (check out the second-to-the-right hand column of your subscrition page                                                                                                                                                          
 <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!myforums>) of the google groups. This is                                                                                                                                                      
 where events and such get posted, since PS1 generally does not sent out                                                                                                                                                          
 mass emails. -                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
 https://groups.google.com/forum/?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email#!forum/pumping-station-one                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
 *Sign up for the Area host google group* - the area host google group has                                                                                                                                                        
 been around for a long time, and was recently revived to handle space                                                                                                                                                            
 planning stuff. It's not super active because there aren't a ton of people                                                                                                                                                       
 on it. The purpose is for planning though, and to keep the topics on point                    
 in both groups.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
 *Sign up to the PS1 task list - * I started a task list people could sign                                                                                                                                                        
 up to <https://airtable.com/shrcJKNAiCcyBfvZC>, to post tasks and get                                                                                                                                                            
 things done around the space <https://airtable.com/shrBdMFFDzwfb3TS9>. You                                                                                                                                                       
 have to sign up because it's not linked to the member database, but once                                                                                                                                                         
 you're in you can create tasks and help fill in things that need doing                                                                                                                                                           
 around the space.                                                                                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
 *Read, update, discuss, fix errors on the wiki - *You don't have to be a                                                                                                                                                         
 wiki wizard to edit it. You have to mainly pay attention to syntax, but the                                                                                                                                                      
 benefit is that you can look at other pages and copy parts of them and                                                                                                                                                           
 change the content around. Fear not - the wiki is designed to have things                                                                                                                                                        
 "undone" so if you mess something up it's easy to fix.                                                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
 *Get a group of people together for an authorization -* Area hosts and                                                                                                                                                           
 volunteer authorizers love to help people make cool stuff. If you want to                                                                                                                                                        
 get authorized on something and there isn't anything on the calendar, post                                                                                                                                                       
 a request on the google groups (with a time and date that works for you) so                                                                                                                                                      
 other people can join in. Authorizations help transmitting necessary and                                                                                                                                                         
 important information about dangerous, expensive or complicated tools;                                                                                                                                                           
 batching it for several people makes it more efficient and you get to meet                                                                                                                                                       
 other members.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
 *Tell someone if something breaks or isn't working the way you'd expect - *A                                                                                                                                                     
 big time suck at the space is fixing broken things. No worries, breaking                                                                                                                                                         
 things happens to everyone, but it is super useful if what you were doing                                                                                                                                                        
 and how the thing broke is communicated to someone that can help out or the                                                                                                                                                      
 google groups, even if you are the one to fix it, or it gets fixed on the                                                                                                                                                        
 spot. The more detail about how something breaks (or doesn't work quite                                                                                                                                                          
 right) the better; it helps us figure out why it broke, how to repair it,                                                                                                                                                        
 weak points in the device or auth, and avoids someone getting hurt or                                                                                                                                                            
 breaking things further.                                                                                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
 *Clean up the area you are working in - *Leave it cleaner than you found it.                                                                                                                                                     
  Even if you didn't make the mess going a little further helps everyone out.          
 *Come to work/cleanup days - *Sometimes we have work/cleanup days,                                                                                                                                                               
 sometimes they are scheduled poorly or aren't convenient for you. BUT if                                                                                                                                                         
 you've ever been somewhere in PS1 and said "hey this could use a bunch of                                                                                                                                                        
 people to clean this up and get it right", organize your own cleaning day,                                                                                                                                                       
 you don't need to wait for someone to organize it for you; post on the                                                                                                                                                           
 google groups or calendar, get Area Host buy-in, get deputized and follow                                                                                                                                                        
 Tidy-Space policy <https://wiki.pumpingstationone.org/Tidy_Space_Policy>.                                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
 *Get familiar with the area / be a champion for something you are                                                                                                                                                                
 interested in - *If you are interested in a specific tool or area get to                                                                                                                                                         
 know that area and the people in it well; fellow members are an invaluable                                                                                                                                                       
 resource and often willing to help! Got some ideas on how to improve the                                                                                                                                                         
 space, get to know the area and see if you can implement those solutions.                                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
 *Figure out what "that thing" you can do actually is, and tell someone                                                                                                                                                           
 about it - *Apply "Just Fucking Do It" judiciously and always remember to                                                                                                                                                        
 be excellent. If you are motivated to help out and know how to do something                                                                                                                                                      
 well, even if you have reservations about JDFI'ing something, let someone                                                                                                                                                        
 know about it, post to the google groups, have a discussion; know there                                                                                                                                                          
 will always be opponents to any idea, compromise is key.                                                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
 *Future plans: Anything that says stay tuned needs a champion to get that                                                                                                                                                        
 thing recurring. If you are interested post in this thread.*                                                                                                                                                                     
 *Area host meeting - *The area hosts try to have a meeting every other week                                                                                                                                                      
 on Tuesdays at 8, offset from the board meeting, this is a great place to                                                                                                                                                        
 get involved, and meet the area hosts and members.                                                                                                                                                                               
 *Wikignome sessions - *For those interested in helping out and bettering                                                                                                                                                         
 the wiki. Stay tuned for an upcoming date.                                                                                                                                                                                       
 *Machine maintenance authorizations - *Expecially in CNC, the machines need                                                                                                                                                      
 to be tuned up and repaired from time to time. These machines are                                                                                                                                                                
 complicated, and having people be on the same page when they need to get                                                                                                                                                         
 fixed is important. Stay tuned for an upcoming date.                                                                                                                                                                             
 *Weekend work days - * There is still much to be done to finish with the                                                                                                                                                         
 expansion. CNC, Hot Metals, and Wood all need a hand.                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                            === Things I need help with ===                                            
 *CNC plasma cutter - *We finally have all the parts and it needs to be   
 *Things I need help with:*                                                                                                                                                                                                       
 *CNC plasma cutter - *We finally have all the parts and it needs to be                                                                                                                                                           
 assembled. Water table system needs to be designed. If you are interested                                                                                                                                                        
 in helping out let me know.                                                                                                                                                                                                      
 *150W Laser - *This machine lives in the CNC room. The room needs to be                                                                                                                                                          
 painted, finish doors installation, and the machine needs ventilation and                                                                                                                                                        
 compressed air supply, before it can be hooked up and run.                                                                                                                                                                       
 *Epilog Laser - *Currently working, but it needs some more TLC. Will be                                                                                                                                                          
 down periodically. Want to be an authorized fixer? Let me know.                                                                                                                                                                  
 *DLP printer - *A donated machine that is getting hacked back into use, all                                                                                                                                                      
 parts are present, needs to be assembled and tested.