Ideas for 2012

Ideas for 2012

Add agenda items for the planning meeting here Ephem2012 Planning Meeting Feb 25 LA Planning Meeting Notes: CRASHSpace Ephem2012 Planning Meeting March 7

General

1. Mike suggested that people willing to help with boat operations could wear his awesome custom bow ties.
2. an area meetup or marina meetup would help to review basics: assume that 70% of participants are new to boating/NE.
3. Sunscreen Massage Tent

   3-5 people at a massage table. Rotate giving and getting a massage. Use sunscreen as the massage oil. A great way to start your day. (Credits go to the early 90s burningman Sunscreen Massage Camp)

4. Better location for non-houseboats

   Houseboats became the core of the city, with any other craft (sailboats, speedboat, the barge) being relegated to the boonies. Since these craft possibly better represent our future, next year they should be incorporated into the center of the city.

5. Lighted buoys on the anchor lines to prevent boat incidents at night, Gang planks, Rope ladders/bridges, More land - tpot
6. Reconfigurable common space.
7. A floating hot tub. (Talk to Brian Hill)
8. How about a bowling lane? It is possible to rent them, and we could set it on top of some houseboats.

Scheduling

1. Monthly events throughout the year to help keep up momentum, and to cover some of the other things listed here.
2. Soft start the weekend before... people arriving early for more fun, earlier start to the city
3. Microtalks sooner in the event, so we can meet people we're interested in, and talk about the subjects in more detail... say, Friday.
4. A couple of tracks in addition to the Memocrazy microtalks: Kidzone for kid activities (as per below), and Seamanship, for those wanting to pick up some skills on the water. Would it be worthwhile to reach out to the Sea Scouts?
5. Pre-event coordination between the various parties that would use the radio facility: The Radio FMerisle calendar is available for viewing here: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=qbo98ulkn27sf31tnnevqlutto%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles and it includes the broadcast schedule. The broadcast schedule will try to accomodate everyone, as needed, and will probably play music in the background when nothing more important is going on. We will need to have DJs sign up to work in the studio, and we will need to schedule performers and speakers; if this can be done ahead of time, so much the better (not that the speakers or performers need to be named, but the time slots should be allocated ahead of time). If you want to sign up for a time slot, send your request to thipdar ta gmail tod com and make the subject line "Broadcast Schedule Request". Time slots will mostly be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis, but there may be some negotiations about some of the times.

Communication

1. An open list of key people (including faces) possessing specialized knowledge. There were so many new faces, and a lot of not knowing who to ask for help. The existing strategy is good for meeting people, but less good for getting stuff done.
2. local FM transmitter, for micro-talks and bad music. (Thipdar: A houseboat has been reserved for Radio FMerisle, Dave W. will probably be the radio engineer and general manager)(Trouble with license application - received confirming e-mail Jan 19; FCC website now shows application "denied/dismissed" on Jan. 20... we may be limited to Part 15 levels after all.)
3. WIFI if anyone feels it necessary. Is there sufficient local content to warrant this?

   Internet! +1

Seasteading

1. The Seasteading Institute's Director of Engineering George Petrie has offered to consult on a project for next year if there is a team interested in designing/building a small model of future seastead. For example, he could coach the building of a small semi-submersible platform such as those showcased on our website, which could be used a community space for future Ephemerisles. Contact Randy Hencken for info.

Art

1. Floating fire tornado!
2. Underwater lights (Subshine, Jellypus)
3. Art boats
4. Painting the main platform and other public space.

Kid-related thoughts

1. would like to see kids houseboat expand to two houseboats - we met people who have kids but didn't bring them
2. kids boats publish invitations (date/time) to all participants to play with us, with a list of resources available, such as snap-circuit electronics, ski boat, games such as Blockus - maybe have a Cup for winner of multiple games
3. maybe a kid-oriented talk block... sign up for a few minutes to talk with kids about what you do for a living, how to get into nanotech, how to anchor, etc
4. something to support the group that might be getting started re geeks with kids
5. Hot Dog Hour - kids grill a lunch for you
6. kids or someone offer pins or badges for accomplishments / skills - use a walkie-talkie, anchor a boat, pilot a boat, tie a line to a cleat

Transportation

1. During the event, one of the workers at H&H marina offered boat rides to people who arrived later. We should make arrangements with him again next year. He only charged $10.00 a head. That way the ski boat can be used for more fun activities. [Placeholder for his contact info.]
2. The ski boat was in near continuous operation as a transport vessel throughout the event. Not many people got to use it to wakeboard or waterski. If we can outsource transport to one of the local boats, it would free up the ski boat
3. If we do use a ski boat/patio boat for transport, early on, we should set up a shift schedule, and train volunteers how to pilot the boats. That way, no single person gets too pilot duty.
4. We should set up a regular transport schedule. Maybe a boat every hour during the busiest times? It can only hold 6 people at a time. Alternatively, use the patio boat. It's slower but can hold more people. (This remains under debate -- the bigger the hurdle to get to the event, the more interesting/determined people we might have there).

It's probably best not to depend on the patio boat too much for shuttle service - in anything other than the smoothest conditions its speed was limited by the tendency to flood the foredeck and bury it in the waves - this was noticeable with even the 1-2 ft. waves we saw sometimes, or even wakes from other boats. Also, it seemed to always make late-afternoon runs which were over-optimistically expected to return before dark, and it was the boat that was the least suitable for night running, as it had no lights. Patio boats are probably better as "self-propelled portable land" than "shuttle express" craft. -dw

Safety

1. Fr33aid is a group providing medically skilled voluntary personel to freedom-oriented events.