Outernet: what are guilds?
July 28th to 31st 2023; we’ve found the place, you'll create the space.
Together, we'll turn an empty field into a bustling society for hackers. Societies are made up of many things. Think about the neighbourhood you live in - you've got stores, parks, hangout spaces etc. We'll need to create all of that.
This is where the idea of "guilds" comes in. Guilds are a framework for hackers to do things during Outernet. If there's something you'd like to have at Outernet, we recommend starting a guild focused on it.
There was once a time when everything had an associated guild - an engineers' guild, a musicians' guild, a farmers' guild etc. Each guild contributed something specific back to society. At Outernet, guilds are much the same; each guild has a specific theme / purpose and all of them will contribute to the overall atmosphere of our camp.
Here's a list of guilds already in the works:
🔬 The Lab (#outernet-lab): the Lab is going to be a dedicated tent for workshops, “technical explorations” (name TBC), lightning talks and all round, learning new things! Workshops and lightning talks will be given by Hack Clubbers for Hack Clubbers. If you'd like to lead one, let us know when registering! You'll also be able to sign up during the camp.
🍳 The Cookhouse (#outernet-cookhouse): here's where we'll be preparing all the food for the weekend from midnight snacks to multi-course dinners. For some days we'll work with caterers and on others we'll make our own food! There'll also be a limited cooking equipment for folks to use all weekend long.
🛠️ The Hardware Shack (#outernet-hardware-shack): we've been collecting pieces of old tech, retro gadgets, and all sorts of makerware (sensors, microcontrollers, LEDs etc.). You'll be able to come along to the Hardware Shack to find pieces of hardware you can hack on and create projects with.
🥾 Hike Club (#outernet-hike-club): while at base camp, you'll program hardware ready for a hike. We'll need to navigate; maybe you could make a handheld compass with a Pico and a magnetometer? Want to track your fitness? Perhaps hack a pedometer to interface with an Arduino. Have you got an eye for data science? Perhaps use a Raspberry Pi to monitor atmospheric conditions on the way up, and track them via a web app on your phone! Once we're up, we'll analyse all the data we gathered and make a presentation with our findings ready to report back to camp.
📻 The Orpheus Show (#outernet-podcast): we're going to bring The Orpheus Show, the community-run Hack Club podcast, live in-person at the outernet!
☕ Café Orpheus (#outernet-cafe): Cafe Orpheus is a 24/7 collaborative space where you can work on projects, enjoy complimentary tea and coffee, and engage in casual chess games. Join us to connect, create, and unwind in a welcoming & musical environment.
🥖 Bakery @ Café Orpheus (#orpheus-bakery: Baking the fresh goods daily that are sold at Café Orpheus. We invite you to come and bake with us!
📞 SussyTel (#sussytel): The Northeastern Open Phone Exchange is proud to bring you SussyTel for the duration of this event! Come to our area to learn about how phones work, or try out our entirely on-site ARG (no websites, only phones and finding things)! Operators will be on standby to connect you. Thank you for calling SussyTel. How may we direct your call?
📶 OuterLAN (#outernet-lan): The OuterLAN will be a custom intranet for all services being hosted at the Outernet, as well as a mesh network for reliable network access across the campsite. Help us design, build out, deploy, and troubleshoot the OuterLAN!
🧶 Crochet Club (#outernet-crochet-club): Want to learn how to crochet? We'll be crafting up some Orpheus plushies + more. Join us to learn a fun new skill!
🎵 Rickrolls & Fun (#outernet-rickrolls-and-fun): Our guild is designed to celebrate our favorite singer by writing code in the Rickroll Programing language while also having fun with an inflatable pool!
🔨 Public Works #outernet-public-works: A guild for large infrustrucure projects! We're building a windmill, a water purifier, and a dam (if there's a creek).
🎫 Outernet Passport #outernet-passport: We issue passports and fun stamps to people to make physical memories and have a memorabalia.
🕺 Dance Off (#outernet-dance-off): We will host a midnight dance parties along with karaoke. We will need speakers, a projector, a projector screen, a microphone, and maybe fancy lights.
You're welcome to get involved with one of them on Slack or start your own guild with friends!
We’ve set aside $5,000 for attendees to start their own guild, we'll start by giving every new guild $250 to buy the resources they'll need.
To start your own guild with friends, follow these three steps:
- Create a channel in the Hack Club Slack for your guild.
- Through Slack, find four or more fellow attendees to help out with running the guild.
- Submit a PR to
hackclub/outernetthat adds your idea to above list of guilds. Alongside a brief description of your idea, please also include a breakdown of how you see yourself spending (or not spending) the $250 grant and list those who'll be helping you.
Our team will get back to you within a week through GitHub! Once your PR is merged, we'll set you up with a Hack Club Bank account.
We believe that a great guild...
- brings people together and encourages friendship.
- allows everyone to try something new and unexpected.
- has low barriers to entry but lots of opportunity for folk to extend themselves.
- can be "hacked" - ie. anyone can come along with an idea and make it even better.
- embraces the rustic outdoors spirit of Outernet.
Here is Stable Diffusion's take:
