Starting Brisbane CNC user group

[dgreensill]

Hi folks,

There are several of us in Brisbane and surrounding areas, and especially after seeing the success of the Melbourne user community last weekend, several of us are interested in forming a user group or club, for mutual support, help, ideas, use of machines, obtaining paid work for our machines, etc.

Firstly, this is just a proposal for comment, not "how it's gonna be". My intentions here are just to sound out the Brisbane community, to see if there's enough interest in forming such a club, or even just meeting up to exchange contact info. I'm willing to host the first such meetup (but have no space for machines larger than a laptop or printer to be brought).

So far the following members of this site have specifically expressed interest: myself (dgreensill), wjfiles, ClaudioG, ggrover. Personally I'm a newbie to this stuff but in the course of learning about CNC I've made a few contacts in the local industry, so I mean to invite many of them to join the group as well. While the group would be primarily for hobbyist and small business users, I think it would be both useful and courteous to extend the invitation to any manufacturers (either in the CNC industry, or users of CNC technology) who happen to be interested, whether they are owners or employees of companies that own machines, so long as they are keen to promote the personal ownership and use of CNC technology. Also, artists, artisans, woodworkers, metalworkers, engineers etc: people who could make use of CNC technology, even if they don't personally own it - these are the people who will extend the boundaries of what we do.

So as I see it there would be room for various levels of participation - the minimum would be an email list, set up through here or Facebook or Google groups or all three, for which the membership criteria is "lives/works in or near Brisbane". Members wouldn't have to be also members of CNCZone, although I see absolutely no reason not to be a member.

It would be most useful to have occasional get-togethers to which people could bring machines and work made by machines, to show off what they've done, for seeking advice, and for cross-pollination of ideas. This would require a fair bit of undercover space (at least, a two-car carport and a supply of tables), electricity, amenities, and ideally would include contemplating some kind of arrangement for feeding attendees (or being close to takeaway food etc).

Without wanting to commit him to anything, ClaudioG has mentioned the possibility of hosting a proper get-together with people bringing machines mid-year at his home in Zillmere; if he wishes to make this a definite arrangement (and I hope he does!) then it will be up to him to post the details.

I've been a member of a lot of clubs in my life and the longest-lasting ones tend to meet at least monthly. It'd be a major hassle to lug heavy machines around every month, so barbeques like the Melbourne group's would be more an annual thing, but it would still be useful to meet monthly to bring some works to show off, laptops, parts to discuss, or just come to talk and meet people. There are several ways this can be arranged. We could use someone's house. I'm happy to offer mine; I don't have the large amounts of undercover space needed to accommodate machines, but I do have reasonable-sized lounge and dining rooms, and a large back yard, so I could cater for 20 or so people easily. We could rotate hosting. We could organize to rent a scout hall or school or conference venue or university lecture room or something, which would mean charging attendance fees. If we have a member whose place of work has a suitable meeting room or even a large mostly-empty room, we could use that, if they can book it. If we decide we want to meet around dinner times we could make a booking at some suitable restaurant where we can have most of a room to ourselves, which would require people to be willing to order a meal (but then most of us eat every day anyway).

As to the formal operation of the club, that'll be the first item on the agenda. There's a lot to be said for formal clubs; on the other hand, not everyone's comfortable with that much formality, and it needs to be as inclusive as possible. I don't want any kind of strict meeting procedure, but I do want this thing to be able to take on a life of its own and have continuity that isn't dependent on one person driving it. It doesn't need to be as organized as, say, a local Neighbourhood Watch or P&C, but I think it should be more organized than, say, a poker or video night. No matter what else we do, we need to have a meeting convenor.

So as I see it, the first meeting will be for people to introduce themselves, and for us to decide as a group what we want to do and how we want to do it, where and when we meet next time, and who the meeting convenor will be. If we decided to become a formal club, the second meeting would be the AGM.

I'm happy to be the meeting convenor for the first meeting, and unless somewhere better is proposed, will offer my house, which is in Chermside West, quite near the supermarkets, and suggest the first meeting should be at 10am on the first Saturday in March, which is the 7th [edited]. I will supply sausages, salad, and soft drinks. Food will start about 11:30, and we can start the discussion at 12.

Now, let me just make clear that I'm really not a people-organizer type, I'm a data-organizer type. I'm volunteering to be first convenor just to get this to happen, not because I want control of a club. If it turns out that someone has a great venue that they can commit to booking every month, or is more of a people-organizer type of person, then I'll be very happy to turn over responsibility to them. I'm a Myers-Briggs INTP, which is to say I'm not even a little bit territorial or desirous of being "in charge". I just want to have this happen, because it would be a great thing for us all.

So, what I'd like is this. If you're an interested person in Brisbane, please:
- post a reply to this thread, confirming your interest
- confirm if you can make it to Chermside at 10am on Saturday 7/3/09 [edited, thanks C], or not (if you could make it if you had help with transport, say so, I'll try to organize pickups and carpooling)
- if you've got access to a better venue, specifically if it's more central to the city, has good parking, is a real meeting room, etc, that you can definitely get on that date, say so and we might switch to yours. Is your workplace, house, church, sports club, etc suitable?

If you come to the first meeting, I'd like you to think about:
- introducing yourself (who you are, what suburb you live in, what kind of machines you've got if any, what kind of things you know about, what you can make at present, what you're interested in being able to make in the future)
- how the club should operate, and be run (formal/informal, position holders if any, funding if any, advertising if any, who should speak on the club's behalf to venue owners, journalists, prospective members, prospective clients of members, etc)
- how often we should meet, and on what schedule
- what resources you can contribute, if any (eg use of your machine(s), what kind of machines you have, your knowledge and experience, food and related skills, venue and organizational skills, industry contacts)
- what you're personally willing to do ("turn up" is perfectly acceptable, but eg: hold a position in the club, make nametags, offer a venue, run workpieces off for people, help people make machines, cook the sausages)

Regards,
Darryl.

[ggrover]

Hi Darryl
Yes I would like to be in the club .

I will be coming down from Warwick so if any one needs a lift just let me know .
Greg Grover

[phungi]

Interested for sure!

*Claudio must bring a Widget or 2 for show and tell.

Cheers,

Justin.

[ClaudioG]

Hi Darryl,

Count me in. By the way, the first Saturday in March is the 7th not the 2nd.

I should also be able to bring one of my machines along and run off name tags on the day. Should be small enough to fit in.

Looking forward to it.

Cheers

Claudio

[acmetproducts]

Hi Darryl

Iam very interrested and i will be there for sure it will be great to contact some other interrested guys

See you there

Glenn

[electrolight]

Yes, I will be there.


I can bring photos of my machines.

I think that for such a group it is important to initially define the aims and objectives and review them when necessary.

See you there

Brian

[dustooff]

Hi Darryl,
I will try to be there, would be good to meet like minded people locally (SE QLD)
I'm definitely in the research phase still, but will bring what knowledge I have.


Andrew
coming from Toowoomba

[hixfixit]

G'day,

I'm interested. Still a n00b at this point.

Cheers,
Hicks

Greenbank

[dgreensill]

OK, it looks like my house is going to be the location for our first meeting: 50 Gibum St, Chermside West. My phone number is 0412 635 358.

Gibum St is off Taggan St, which is off Webster Rd, the first left past the Webster/Hamilton roundabout coming from the city. It's on Google Street View. Parking is easy, it's a residential street. I ask that no-one park in the driveway, to make it easier for those who are bringing heavy things. (I can't offer much space for machines, sorry. Nothing bigger than desktop-sized, please.)

Looking forward to meeting you all!

[HexkeyCNC]

I am so interested I finally registered so I can reply instead of just reading the posts

Gavin

[r31baboon]

If i am ever in brisbane on a weekend a meeting falls, i would like to come along and say hi.

I am a cnc operator for a joinery shop in bundaberg, I currently run a biesse rover b 4.40

but an keen on anything and would be good to have contacts in the industry and other machinist, espicially if some one needs help or info or if i need any.

Nathan

[wjfiles]

Me Too

WJF