Independents Hall Philadelphia

Show and Tell Next Thursday!

Filed under: Announcements, Community Support, Education/Workshops, Events, Independents Hall

Every month we gather for an adult version of “Show and Tell”! No, not the kind where we take off our clothes…the kind where we show off what we’ve been working on, what we’ve learned, and anything we might have to share with the group!

In the past people have demoed projects, shared new tools they’d discovered that make their lives easier, or told stories about events they’d attended recently.

Like a number of our other lunchtime events, these are open to the public and tend to be well attended.

We’ve still got a few presentation spots open, so if you’re interested in joining as a presenter or an audience member, please let Dana know!

Say Hi to Parker and Michelle

Filed under: Announcements, Community Support, From the Business Side, Independents Hall

A few weeks back, we put out a call for an intern to help out at IndyHall. We wanted to frame it carefully to make it an opportunity not just to help with IndyHall operations, but to give someone the opportunity to grow and learn as a member of the community.

We lucked out, and got two of ‘em.

Honestly, the response we got to the post was overwhelming and positive. All of the candidates we interviewed were incredible, and we had a hard decision to make.

Last week, we were joined by Michelle Nugent, and this week, she met her new cointern (that’s right, I went there) Parker Whitney.

They’ve already done a great job working out their own schedule to make sure that our front desk is always attended, and are planning projects to improve quality of life around the office. They’re already becoming a force to be reckoned with, and I can’t wait to see what they accomplish. We’re lucky to have some extremely capable help…Dana may actually need to worry about being outdone! Ok, just kidding. Dana still rocks, too.

While they’re working here, they’re also both exploring their personal aspirations of creativity, business, communications, technology, and truly owning their place in Philadelphia.

Please say hi to Parker and Michelle when you come in the door, and don’t hesitate to grab them, take them to lunch, and learn more about them!

IndyHall Turns Two Guys On Beer, Megaparty on September 1st

Filed under: Announcements, Community Support, coworking, Independents Hall

Mix

• Two Year birthday of our beloved Philadelphia coworking space
• The release of the 100 episode of the duo of beer guys that share their knowledge and tasting notes with you 5 days a week.

Stir in

• Our awesome community
• Free beer
• Great music

Thats right, it’s been TWO YEARS since we moved into the 32 Strawberry Street location, the first home, the first clubhouse, for IndyHall. Since then, we’ve accomplished so much together, not the least of which is growing to a size that demanded a new office almost 3 times the size of 32 Strawberry. We’re nearly 100 members strong, and that’s just the people who pay monthly memberships. Dozens more use desks, many while traveling to Philadelphia from all around the world. Our community is much larger, and we’re so proud of that. Our goal of putting Philly on the map for tech, creative, and independent workers is certainly being achieved every day.

It’s also been nearly a year and a half since the first episode of Two Guys on Beer went live on the internet. I wont link to it, because Johnny and Dave will kill me. Lets just say that they’ve become a LOT more comfortable behind the camera, and the show has matured substantially.

The show, not Johnny and Dave.

But I digress. The Two Guys on Beer show has matured and grown enough to gain recognition through the region, from the invited participation in Philly Beer Week, notable appearances at popular beer events, tastings, and tappings around the city, to the most recent announcement of the placement on Philly.com’s beer page! Every day, Two Guys becomes more of a fixture in the Philly beer scene, which is awesome because this is one RAD city to drink beer in!

These two milestones are so exciting, we couldn’t contain ourselves and decided to jam them together and celebrate all at once!

This is where it all begins. Join us at National Mechanics on Tuesday, September 1st. Festivities begin at 7pm.

RSVP now for updates and reminders.

What’s in store? Well, you can be sure of two things: there will be geeks, and there will be beer.

What else do you REALLY need?

We’ve got some more really fun stuff in the works that we’ll be announcing over the next couple of weeks leading up to the event, but now’s the time to RSVP.

And as always, on behalf of IndyHall and Two Guys on Beer, a HUGE thank you to our hosts National Mechanics. No other bar would let us get away with what you do, and we don’t think you’d have us any other way.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Our friends to the south, the Flying Dog Brewery, have agreed to help us out and are helping us get a selection of their beer for the night. We’re working out the details, but we’re still looking for some financial contributions to help make this party awesome.

Contact me (alex@indyhall.org) if you’re interested in sponsorship of this event, which includes the Two Guys on Beer show and it’s thousands of monthly viewers!

Desk Building Party – THIS Saturday from 6-8pm

Filed under: Announcements, Community Support, Events, Independents Hall

Picture from Bart Mroz's Flickr

IndyHall isn’t about the desks. But it sure works better with them.

Yesterday, we coordinated with a 8 or so of our members to pick up a new batch of desks for IndyHall from Ikea. The next logical step is to put them together!

From 6-8pm on Saturday, April 18th, we’ll be gathering at IndyHall 2.0 at 22 North 3rd Street (street view in google maps). This event is BYOD! That’s Bring Your Own Drill. We’ve got 25 desks to build and teams of 2 are ideal for building these desks. There’s plenty to do for non-drill-holders, but the more drills the better. How many times did I say drill in this paragraph?

When we’re done, we’ll head right around the corner to Sugar Mom’s to celebrate Jess Victor’s birthday. If you’ve ever come to IndyHall for Cupcake Thursdays and enjoyed yourself, you should join us, as Jess is one of the trio behind OpenSourceCupcakes. Even if you’ve never had their cupcakes (which is your problem, not mine), you should still come out and have a good time with us.

All members, new and old, are encouraged to come and hang out together. Not a member but want to hang out too? OF COURSE you’re welcome! The more the merrier.

There’s a dirty rumor that Geoff DiMasi might even make an appearance at the desk building party. The only way to find out if he does is to be there. I don’t know about you, but that’s enough reason for me.

If you can’t make it, that’s OK too. We’ll have a painting party in the next week, and plenty of other opportunities to chip in and hang out.

IMPORTANT: How do I to enter the building at 22 North 3rd?

We don’t have the keypad directory at the front door hooked up just yet, so you can call or text message the IndyHall number (215) 586-3909 when you arrive and someone will come down to let you in.

If you’re confident you will be there, let us know in the comments or send us an email so we can look out for you!

Hall Together Now – IndyHall in the Citypaper

Filed under: Community Support, coworking, In The News, Independents Hall

Over the last month or so, TechnicallyPhilly co-founder and writer Brian James Kirk has been talking with Geoff and I about the past, present, and future of IndyHall. We’ve been happy to commit the time, because Brian’s done a great job covering our actions before, and we were confident in his ability to really do a great job with a new piece he was asked to do for the Citypaper.

Tonight, the digital version of that article went live, and the print version will be on news stands tomorrow.

A big thanks goes out to Brian, as well as everyone else involved/quoted in the article. I’m particularly happy that Brian made mention of “Starfish and the Spider“, which I’ve been pushing really hard recently as required reading for a lot of my peers.

I’d also like to point out that this is not the first article where Geoff and I were photographed perfecting our punk rock sneers.

Update: further kudos to a progressive arrangement between TechnicallyPhilly.com and the Citypaper, allowing both publications to run the same article. See it on TechnicallyPhilly’s site.

IMPORTANT: IndyHall TownHall Meeting on Tuesday, March 3rd

Filed under: Announcements, Community Support, Events, From the Business Side, Independents Hall

We’ve come a really long way in just a year and a half. We’ve connected with so many new people in so many new ways, and welcomed lots of new friends to our community. The physical space, the clubhouse, for IndyHall has been at 32 Strawberry Street for 18 months and recently we’ve found ourselves running out of desks. Unlike a gym or an airline, who can oversell and bump users, we care about our members more than anything, and are going back to our roots to figure out how to deal with this issue.

Next Tuesday, March 3rd, we’ll be meeting at 32 Strawberry St at 6pm to discuss what the future of the IndyHall workspace is. Geoff and I have been working really hard to distill this issue into some key points, and talking to a lot of people about it. But we didn’t get here without everyone else’s hard work and we certainly can’t see how it makes sense to continue to grow without you.

This town hall meeting is open to all IndyHall members, but also the community at large. Are you on our waiting list? Don’t miss this meeting, we want you to come be a part of our next steps. Are you someone who’s been watching us all along and wants to see what our next move could be? You’ll want to be there.

Please RSVP on Facebook or by leaving a comment. We hope to see you at IndyHall. Bring your A-game. This is going to be a fun night.

IndyHall Resume Night on February 26th

Filed under: Announcements, Events, Independents Hall

It’s always a good idea to have a stand-out resume or CV on hand, whether you’re a freelancer, run your own business, or are employed. In times like these that’s even more true. And most of us who work in “new media” wear multiple hats and have non-traditional career paths. How do BarCamps, personal web projects, and other “2.0″ elements fit into a resume? How do you accurately describe what you do to others? Do you put your social networks on your resume? If you’ve had these questions, most likely so have others.

So let’s spend some time helping each other out and sharing what’s worked for us. We will even have an experienced resume adviser on hand to give tips and answer questions: Gloria Bell of Red Stapler Consulting!

Resume Night will be held at IndyHall at 6:30pm Thursday, February 26th. Bring your laptops so you can work on your resume there.

And if you don’t have a resume, there’s no time like the present to make one!

Food and beverages will be served, thanks to a contribution from our friend Alex Rudloff at Emurse.com – my favorite way of building and organizing resumes online.

RSVP on Facebook or Upcoming.org

This event is brought to you by Lauren Galanter, who got tired of editing her resume on her couch. And the letters H-A-L-P.

Thanks for coming to IndyHall-oween!

Filed under: Community Support, Events, Independents Hall

We had a great time! The turnout was awesome, and the ratio of costumed attendees was brilliantly high. We look forward to working with Geekadelphia and Tattooed Mom again soon, and a repeat of this event next year!

Geekadelphia has shared a great video recap of the night, highlighting the costume contest results. Be sure to check it out!

Be on the lookout for our next social event, and also stay tuned for Geekadelphia’s 1 year birthday party later this month!

Halloween Costume Contest

Filed under: Events, Independents Hall

We’ve partnered with Geekadelphia for a costume contest, and it’s a costume contest for the geeks by the geeks. As requested, we wanted this to be the party for you to wear the costumes that you were worried about wearing out – not because they were particularly embarrassing – but because you thought your non-geeky friends might not get it. Well, we appreciate your sense of humor and creativity, so we’re supporting that with the following costume categories:

• Fan favorite (crowd voted)
• Internet celebrity
• Best hero
• Best villain
• Most obscure
• And one “top secret” category…even if you’re not trying to win, this one might be your chance!

There’s a week and a half left until the party (including a weekend) so that’s plenty of time to finish up your costume, change your mind once or twice, or rush off to the costume store.

What are you waiting for? Get going!

IndyHall Lectures #3 – Playing with Power: from classic gaming consoles to powerful creative tools

Filed under: Announcements, Education/Workshops, Events, Independents Hall

Lectures is BACK in action! This month’s lecture is being presented by Don Miller, also known as NO CARRIER. If you’ve been to IgnitePhilly 1 or 2, or to the IndyHall Birthday Bash, you’ve seen the Don’s work. Now’s your chance to learn more about it!

Don’s going to will focus a bit on his work, the history of the scene, and some more technical stuff for people that may have questions. It’ll be a presentation with video, music, and more!

From Don:

Their time in the spotlight may be over, but many have found uses for forgotten video game consoles and computer hardware.  Although 8-bit games are a thing of the past, there is a vibrant art scene with retrocomputing at its core. The hardware of the Game Boy, Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Commodore 64 are repurposed and software reprogrammed to turn these aging machines into synthesizers, sequencers, visualizers, and much more.

Don Miller, or NO CARRIER, is an educator, programmer, and live visualist living in Philadelphia. Part of the 8bitpeoples artist collective, he writes new software for nearly obsolete videogame and computer hardware, for use at live music events and installations. He performs regularly in Philly and NYC, and has recently taken his visuals worldwide. Catch him again this year at the Blip Festival, December 4th-7th 2008, in NYC.

The lecture is taking place at IndyHall on October 29th from 6:30-8:30. RSVP on Upcoming!

Also catch Don this saturday at 8-static, an event being organized by our buddies at The Hacktory.