We had a great community node meeting 22/11/10 and wrote good minutes we would love to share.

Here's the dynamic game plan we created during a very productive work session this morning - check it out in the space!

Placemaking workshop 3: making!

Posted by  Hub Melbourne to Hub Melbourne Events

Thursday 11 November 2010, 6pm at Hub Melbourne

To continue the conversations we will be running a series of placemaking workshops: physical, social get-togethers to talk about the making of this place: Hub Melbourne.

This Thursday we invite members to join us in a conversation about making! We will talk about the ways we interact in this design process, the impact that this process has, and about the role of volunteerism in the creation of this community.

Then, when we've had enough talking, join us in making some lamp shades for the space - bring your hands, creativity and imagination!

brought to you by 'here' studio, info@herestudio.net

Last Thursday we had our second placemaking tea party to continue the cocreation of Hub Melbourne. Alex and Nynke facilitated the session which was about building a diverse Hub community; the facemaking.

We were excited to welcome a couple of new members around the table: Cherie (events manager at Donkey Wheel), Mahesh (freelance journalist), Annika (working in the international development field), and well known Hubbers Nirvana, Brad, Dani and Michelle! A diverse group of people that may reflect our founding Hub community.

The purpose of the session was to work out together what a diverse community actually means and how to build this. We facilitated a brainstorm session to get some ideas on how we together can ensure a diverse group of people to connect and collaborate with.

Have a look at the great harvest which informs us how we can ensure that we become an inclusive place. We had a three part brainstorm with different focus questions to help us get to the heart of the matter:

How do we categorise the community?

During our talks it became evident that there are many ways of categorising potential hub members but there were some ideas that stood out. If we really want to create collaborations it could be valid to pay attention to different team-roles (Belkins 9 team roles, IDEOs 10 faces of innovation, MBTI…etc.).

There were also some questions about demographics and how we can ensure a multicultural, intergenerational and gender-equal community.

Another way of categorising is based on activities, projects and initiatives.

Who would we like to see in the space?

When reflecting on our brainstorm on this question it was interesting to see that we all named many different professions although the first focus question showed us that professions were of minor importance. Could this be in the phrasing of the question or engrained in our way of thinking about each other?

Another insight was that we would like to attract more makers and doers to balance our great thinkers and talkers. There is also a need for rebels and disruptors, movers and shakers to rock the status quo boat.

Also there seems to be a need for intergenerational and intercultural learning. Again pointing to a variety of age groups and ethnic backgrounds.

How can we attract these people?

One main insight we gathered from this question was one about authenticity. Maybe the best way to attract new members is to do what we say and say what we do. We should celebrate our successes and share them with the wider community.

During this talk we also reached the key insight of the evening. By saying we want to attract changemakers, social entrepreneurs and innovators we may exclude some groups that are essential to the diversity of people, experiences and perspectives in the space.

A way to attract a wider variety of individuals in the space is through events that are accessible, inclusive and inviting. This also creates a space that is fun to be in and is buzzing with life.

Well, just a short brainstorm has given us some very valuable wisdom. We really should consider how we communicate who we are and what we are about to the wider community. Also by showing who is already in the network we can attract people that identify themselves with others. Most of all, this session confirmed the importance of having these discussions together with our members. The energy was great! Thank you all for participating and contributing your time!

Please join us at the next facemaking session on Thursday 18 November at 6pm to continue the discussion on how we together can create an inspiring place to be. During this session we will go deeper into how our future events and communication can be more accessible, inclusive and authentic in line with our values.

Hope to see you all at next week's placemaking session with Ammon and Michelle where we will discuss the ways we can interact with the design process, the impact this process has and the role of volunteers in the co-creation of this community. We will also get hands-on and interact with our space by making some lampshades so bring your hands, creativity and imagination!