P'unk Avenue Window

This month’s Junto is on Free Beer.

We will be drinking multiple beers that were brewed for the event by Chris Matta and Howard Ross and we will be talking about that process.

However, the free beer movement is about more than beer. It is really about Open Source using free beer as a metaphor or a manifestation of the process. Playing with the “free as in free speech, not as in free beer”.

We have 3 panelists to discuss beer, speech, and open source.

Howard Ross is a web developer and co-founder of Grainstar Brewery, a local homebrewing operation that was started two years ago in South Philly.

Rob Hall is an Adobe Community Expert specializing in the Flash Platform, and is manager of the Philadelphia Flash Platform Adobe User Group.

Tom Boutell is a developer here at P’unk Avenue. His open source projects include the GD Library and the PNG Image Format. He has a background in software development and long experience with the web. Tom created the original WWW FAQ, which continues to be a frequently-consulted “how-to” resource for web developers. At RealNetworks (then Progressive Networks), Tom was instrumental in the creation of RealAudio 1.0, the first streaming audio solution for the web.

Moderators will be Kelani Nichole and Alex Gilbert.

Come drink the beer brewed for the event. We will provide tomato pie.

Please bring something to share, if it is not too much trouble.

When we got back from SXSW this March we felt even more inspired to collaborate with people doing inspiring things in Philadelphia. One of the first things we did was contact Far and Vanja of The Hacktory to brainstorm on this topic. When we got together Vanja mentioned the idea of coordinating an Ignite event.

We all knew immediately that Ignite would be a great way to bring together a diverse group of inspiring people in one fell swoop.

The basic format is that approximately 20 people speak on a topic for 5 minutes. They prepare 20 slides that rotate automatically after 15 seconds. It should keep things lively. And if the talks are not lively enough, it is happening at Johnny Brenda’s where plenty of libations will be available.

Speakers include: The iSepta guys, Kristin Thompson, of the Future of Music Coalition, NO CARRIER, 100K house, Pete Tridish of the Prometheus Radio Project, Alex Hillman of Indy Hall, and several more. The speakers are all doing exciting and inspiring things in Philadelphia.

Everything happens on June 11th. Doors open at 6pm. Speakers start at 7pm.

We hope you can make it.

P.S. We will not hold a Junto in June. Consider this our June Junto on speed.

This May’s Junto will explore the dynamics of Creative Communities. The panelists are John Freeborn, one of the founders of the gallery and art collective Space 1026, Olive Prince, dancer, choreographer and part of the Choreographers Project at Susan Hess Modern Dance, and Sara Selepouchin, Etsy Teams Coordinator.

I will moderate the discussion which will begin at 7pm. Food and drink at 6pm.

For those who might have missed it, there’s a recap of the most recent Junto gathering over at the Junto site. Trying out a new format was an exciting experiment. We would love to hear any feedback from those who attended.

About a year ago, P’unk Ave’s Alex Gilbert brought the idea of having a Junto to our weekly meeting. He had been reading Ben Franklin’s Autobiography and thought it was great way to bring people together for a common cause. Referring back to our notes, our intended mission included:

• To help grow the tech/communication/interactive community in Philadelphia
• To further Philadelphia in the national & international web/interactive/communication scene
• Conference – bring them here or have one
• Center for Information
• Co-working
• Technology related to physical spaces
• Bottom up (emergence)

We had our first Junto in March 2007 and one every 3 weeks or so, since then. As we go, we have been evolving and refining the format. We have tried to keep some of the above themes in mind, but have also been very open to experimentation.

Last thursday night, we started with an hour of socializing and then everyone took a number from our TAKACHECK machine. Five discussion groups were created based on chosen numbers. The assignment was to come up with 3 ways to continue on the energy generated from the recent Blog Philadelphia conference. After 30 minutes of brainstorming, we gathered together again and one person from each group had 5 minutes to present the 3 ideas.

The process and results were very satisfying. Each group came up with great ideas and each presenter did a fantastic job. Our group’s main idea was to stage a big game event. Other groups talked about creating an aggregate site and connecting up with students. However the presentation that brought down the house was Dave Speer’s presentation on Identity, Communication and Purpose with main theme of “making a living doing what we love.” In fact, we enjoyed it so much, we actually let him go beyond the 5 minute limit.

Our Junto has only been happening for a short time, but progress has been made on our goals that we guessed at in a P’unk Ave meeting about a year ago. Can’t ask for much more than that.

If you want to join us at a future Junto, add your name to the email list.