[dorkbotpdx-blabber] Who is NOT going to make it to the TechShop meetup?

[Thomas Lockney]

dan p wrote:
> ...and how many would not make it if it was on the east side? Is 
> everyone who is not going also planning on not becoming a member if it 
> is on the westside? and will if it is in their neighborhood?
>  
> My point is, no matter where it is it is far from somebody. I heard a 
> comment at one of the meetings that one of the reasons for moving from 
> Vendetta to Backspace was that it was "closer". I know someone who has 
> been to a couple of meetings that lives about a mile from Vendetta. I 
> live and work in Hillsboro, so it works out for me, but I've not had 
> any illusions about having a dorkbot meeting out here (though I would 
> guess there are quite a few folks out here that would be interested)
>
> I just happy that they are thinking/planning/going to have a Techshop 
> closer to me than the bay area (or Seattle).
Well, as an example. Moving the dorkbot meetings from Vendetta to 
Backspace (and now LL NW) was not nearly as big of a change as moving, 
say, to Hillsboro or Canby. Both are extreme for a large number of 
folks. The fact is that the Dorkbot crowd is one of the groups they made 
a specific point of trying to target for this meeting. I know from 
talking to most of the group that the large majority of people are on 
the Eastside. I also know from talking to people in a lot of other tech 
groups in town (I'm an organizer and/or member of quite a few) that the 
majority of members are actually on the Eastside. Maybe it's just that 
the meetings tend to be downtown or on the Eastside, but that's where 
they are.

On the other hand, maybe that's not who TechShop is really trying to 
target. Based on demographics I've read, the tech crowd on the Westside 
tends to make a bit more money and have more dispossable income. I guess 
they're probably more likely to pay the fees for TechShop.

It's hard to say. I guess maybe we'll find out more tonight. Anyway, 
there has been a lot of discussion here and on the IRC channel from 
people who have an issue getting out there, so it seems reasonable to 
assume that people are not happy about the choice of location. And it's 
far louder than the grumbling I've heard when moving the Dorkbot 
meetings, so...