Tuesday Open House Nights

Tuesday nights at Knox Makers are always free and open to the general public. People begin showing up around 6pm and our program begins with Show and Share roughly around 6:30. After that there might be a lecture or workshop, or it might be Open Hack Night, which is a time when you can bring your projects in to work on and socialize with others in the space. This page roughly details our formats for Tuesday nights.

Before Program

If you're visiting for the first time, please approach one of the board members and ask for a tour. We're always happy to meet new people and answer any questions you may have. The board members can be found wearing red name tags, but anyone with a name tag should be able to assist you.

Announcements

At the beginning of the program (around 6:30 PM), everyone assembles in the classroom. The emcee will greet those assembled and give a few announcements and go over the upcoming events.

Show and Share

After announcements, the emcee call for Show and Share demos. These are the briefest and least formal presentation we do at Knox Makers. Participation requires no prior planning or authorization.

Appropriate content

A Show and Share demo can be any mixture of:

 * inspiration to others -- look what I made!
 * call for assistance -- I did this and look what happened!
 * promotion for upcoming Knox Makers class/workshop -- look what we're going to do later!

Show and Share is not appropriate medium for extended teaching or Q&A. While this type of content is very welcome at Knox Makers, it should be scheduled ahead of time.

Show and Share is not a venue for advertising goods, services, or events. If you attempt to misuse it in this way, you will be asked to step down and there may be hostility.

If you wish to show something

Preparation

If you need to use the document camera, please inform the a Board member before Show and Share begins so we can have it ready to go.

If you wish to connect your laptop or other device to the podium A/V system for projection, please have the device prepared (booted up, thing displayed, etc) before you come up to the podium. We would prefer a heads-up so we can accommodate your connection to the system without so much fumbling.

If your Show and Share demo is physically large, you may wish to bring it to the front of the classroom before we assemble. Do not block the audience members' view of the projection screens.

Your demo

Each demo should be no more than three minutes long, including any Q&A. If your demo is longer than that, you may be asked to step down when your time runs out.

Each demo should include a physical object to display (best) or a photograph of such an object (acceptable). You can hand things around to the assembled audience if you like.

Like all of our Tuesday night content, your Show and Share will be livestreamed on Facebook.

Getting bumped

Show and Share lasts no more than thirty minutes in total. If there are a lot of folks with projects to show, there may not be time to accommodate everyone. If you get bumped, you have the option of either

 * doing your demo after the main class/event concludes
 * bringing your demo back another time

If you got bumped last week and bring your project back the following week, please inform a Board member ahead of time and we'll be sure you don't get bumped again, no matter what.

Main Program

Typically a Tuesday night will include some type of lecture or workshop, lasting 60-90 minutes. The topic of each week can be found on our www.knoxmakers.org/events Events Calendar. We try our best to make our lectures informative and accessible to all guests, regardless of age or technical skill, but we also understand that not everything is interesting to everyone. If you wish to step out of the classroom and quietly work on something else, you are welcome. However, conversation must be kept to a minimum and loud tools must not be used. Classes and group events are our main focus here and we ask that you are respectful of that.

Post Program

After the main program, we typically disperse for Open Hack time and socializing. If you are a guest and were unable to get a tour beforehand, please ask and we will gladly accommodate. This is also a good time to ask more questions about an interesting project someone brought to Show and Share, or something someone might be working on that evening. People typically leave around 9 or 9:30 pm.

If you are not a member, you are not allowed to use the tools in the space. The tools at Knox Makers are reserved for members only. You are welcome to ask members for assistance on a project or problem you are having, and they might use the tools to assist you with your project, but you may not come in as a non-member and use the workshop.

If you have any other questions regarding our programs or our Tuesday Night Open House, please feel free to email us at board at knoxmakers.org