Gangplank

Andrea found a place in Chandler called Gangplank (http://gangplankhq.com) that sounded similar to a hackerspace.  I just got back from my first visit and I thought I would share my experience.

This place is pretty awesome.  From my understanding, it is owned and mainly run by four small businesses.   These businesses all have their main offices in this building but have a large space open to anyone that wants a space to work where they can meet like-minded people to share ideas with.  Let me walk you through the place as I saw it:

I walk in the door and their entranceway is filled with cans of food.  They are having a food drive.  There was a woman there re-arranging the cans named Sally, and she took me on a tour of the place.

The next room, is a large open area with several long tables and chairs.  Two or three of those areas have workstations at them.  From what I understand, that is where the companies work.  That space is reserved for them.  The rest of the tables have no workstation, but anyone is free to walk in at any time and bring their laptop to start working, hang out, and share ideas.

In the back of this room there is a recreation area containing pool table, air hockey table,  I think a couch... memory is getting fuzzy now.  It was basically a place to relax, hang out and get away from your work for a bit.  There is also this small stage type thing in the middle with a projector screen.  I believe they said that sometimes during lunch time they have "brown bag lunches" i think it was called.  Where you just eat lunch and listed to someone give a presentation on a topic.

Then there is this hallway that goes around one corner of the main room.  In this hallway there is a conference room with a big oval table and about 12-15 chairs.  If you want to use the conference room, you just put a post-it note on the door with your name and what time you need it.  Across from that room as a pod casting room.  It had computers and microphones and whatnot.

Around the corner are the main office rooms.  I believe each company has their own office, we didn't go in those rooms, although she did show me the room of a man named Todd Huffman.  Everyone there refers to him as this "mad scientist" kind of guy.  Apparently he is VERY smart and has showed interest in starting a place like Gangplank only with more electronics and parts everywhere and whatnot.  It sounds like he wants to start a hackerspace to me .

Gangplank also had a offers bathroom and a kitchen area... oh and free wifi.

All in all, I wouldn't clasify Gangplank a hackerspace, but it's a great place to get work done,  meet like minded people, and to share ideas.  Everyone I spoke with there was very friendly.  I will be back for sure and I hope I have sparked an interest with a few people with this post.  Be sure to at least check out their website at http://gangplankhq.com

So It Begins…

Just got back from my Chicago trip.  We visited the wonderful people at "Pumping Station: One" and got to see their version of an active HackerSpace.  It was awesome!  They were really inviting and gave us a whole bunch of great ideas that we can apply to our own future HackerSpace. For more information about "Pumping Station: One" you should check out their site at:

http://www.pumpingstationone.org/

You can see they're involved in a lot of projects at the moment and have established a great community in just a short time. This trip got me pumped to push forward with our group.

I hope to travel to more HackerSpaces around the world as we continue to develop our own community. One of the best ways to get started on something is to learn from those that already have. Expect more "Travel" posts in the future.