Electron Club Open Day June 13, 2009

The Electron Club is a voluntary run space where people interested in things like free open source software, circuit bending, hardware hacking, computer recycling, streaming, audio and video editing, green technologies, and amateur radio can meet, use equipment, and share and disseminate their skills and ideas. The space supports both individuals developing their own projects and a number of group projects, all of which are not-for-profit initiatives with a community, educational or environmental aspect to them.

Now in our third year, the Electron Club Open Days are an opportunity to see and try out a range of things that people do, as well as having the opportunity to meet others with similar interests, make, chat, discuss and enjoy.

TESLA SOUL - Electron Club Makers Fair and homebaking

Stalls and demos by electronic makers, designers and artists. An opportunity to see and play with some of the projects created by Electron Club members and related groups - a theremin menagerie and mini synthesizer kits from Clockworkrobot, 3D paper engineering, circuit bending, micro FM radio, DIY wind power technology, creative computer trash recycling, 101 things to do with a dead keyboard, video-into-audio transformations by Ben Rush, members of 'Inspector Tapehead' demonstrating their "Tapehead Inspector", a custom built instrument for making music from old magnetic tape, and much more. Plus some of the excellent home-baking that has been hallmark of all our Open Days. Come and do a bit of soldering or have a cup of tea and chat with the people who make things.

TAPE-WIRE-HEAD-SCREEN - music, film and sound arts

The Electron Club includes many people working in music, film and experimental arts. For the Open Day we will be showing a preview of films from Document, the UK's leading human rights film festival, with works ranging from front-line reportage to cinematic explorations of what it is to be human, along with films made at the Electron Club by the Digital Desperados, a film-group for young black and Asian women. Indoors, we'll have a live performance of Alvin Lucier's legendary "Music on A Long Thin Wire" by members of 'Obscure Desire of the Bourgeoisie' and 'BuffalobuffalobuffaloBuffalobuffalo'. Outdoors, artist Lucie Potter will invite people on a specially planned sound walk with micro radio broadcasts around the Garnethill area.

THE LIFE OF SOCIAL THINGS - socially-engaged technology forum

A series of discussions about different ways in which society and technology come together.

Glasgow FabLabs

FabLabs are small scale fabrication and construction workshops that provide computerised production technologies on an artisanal scale making them available to communities and independent makers and designers. From inner-city Boston to remote Indian villages, FabLabs have become a worldwide network of community technology centres. Glasgow FabLabs is a project aiming to bring such a centre to Glasgow. This forum will present the ideas behind the Glasgow FabLabs project and explore the benefits of community-access technology.

Community Media and Citizens Journalism

The internet has offered a platform for communities and groups outside of the mainstream media to have a voice and share knowledge. Whilst there are many notable examples of such activity, the tools to create such a democratized media space are still often out of people's reach. This forum will look at some practical examples of community media coming from Glasgow, present some current projects looking to make ordinary people's voices more prominent and explore the relationships between the grass-roots and mainstream media.

Technology, Social Justice and the Environment

How can we use technology for the greater common good? Whilst the advance of technology promotes the promise of a better world, that promise has often been compromised or undermined in how we make use of such advances. Certain technological developments have contributed to environmental and social problems on a scale arguably never seen before. Technology, however, has also been used to tackle such issues as climate change and social injustice. This forum will share and explore some practical examples being used in Scotland today, from noise monitoring devices to participatory video and community mapping projects.

RAFFLE - broadband fundraiser

This year we are raising funds to improve our network facilities at the Electron Club and we will be doing a raffle with prizes including a group voucher to go paintballing.