Bucketworks

the world's first health club for the brain in Milwaukee, WI. Just like a regular health club--you become a member, you go there to practice and work-out--except instead of a weight machine, a table saw; instead of an exercise bike, a computer lab. You work out your inspirations and ideas, instead of your muscles. You get the idea.

[runningahackerspace]

When a new member does all the dishes

[bucketworks]

Tomorrow is International Coworking Day. Try not to celebrate it this way.

[bucketworks]

Third Ward. Just south of The Wicked Hop. You'll spy with your little eye, something that is interesting.

8:30pm. Be there!

[bucketworks]

We come to work via secret passageway now...

[bucketworks]

Bucketworks Summer Refugee Camp at the Grand Avenue

Bucketworks will be re-locating to the OPEN MiKE space at the Grand Avenue Mall on Wisconsin. Director Tim Syth has been working with the GMC and Grand Avenue management to create this temporary home for Bucketworks members. Their generosity and hospitality is deeply appreciated.

While we'll miss the 5th St space with it's lovely rooftop deck, labyrinthine construction, and many nooks and crannies, we believe this move is the best thing for Bucketworks in the long term. We look very much forward to joining Spreenkler, ArtMilwaukee, the Underground Collaborative, and many more in the Grand Avenue space. 

  The move comes on the heels of early June's eviction from the 706 S. 5th St space. Bucketworks will be fully moved out by August 1, 2013.

[littletinyfish]

Finally, a cargo bike load to make On The Bounce proud.

Moving day doesn’t always have to be a drag. I was able to load up my Yuba with four boxes from Brew City Boxes, plus a box of wine glasses on top (not a great idea for my first time out), PLUS the Yuba Go Getter bag down the middle. I purchased some ratchet straps in the 15 foot sizeway which was a bit overkill. I should be able to haul a couple of barrels now. As for the ride quality, the load wasn’t strapped down solidly enough, so it was a little wobbly, but once I got rolling there was less to worry about. It was the stopping and getting start again that scared me. But I managed to get everything there in one piece. The bottom two boxes were also lighter in comparison to the top, so the balance was off. Can’t wait to help my next friend move and see if I can get the load a little better situated.

Also, Brew City Boxes was TOTALLY worth it. They drop off as many boxes as you need, you pack ‘em up, move ‘em over, and then they come pick them up. Their uniform size is easy to manage and stack. They’re made of heavy duty plastic, so they’re reusable and easy to slide in a truck bed.

Plus they’ve got dry erase labels on them, so you can wipe them clean when you’re done. By far the easiest part of the move was moving everything that was packed in those boxes.

As an added bonus, since you have to give the boxes back it gives you extra incentive to just unpack everything, instead of let it sit around, mouldering in cardboard boxes for a while.

[bucketworks]

May 31, 2013

A question to Milwaukee:

After being born and raised in rural Wisconsin, and spending nearly 5 years wandering the planet as a photographer and student, I came to Milwaukee about 18 months ago because the city intrigued me. It was gritty, blue-collar and raw. It did not offer the apparition of a polished facade. Its issues were displayed prominently on its sleeve. It felt real.

Perhaps naively, I also came to Milwaukee hoping I could make a difference. Here was a place I could come and actually have a name and face as I tried to leave a positive mark as the director of a project called Bucketworks. I still believe this.

Bucketworks, for those who don’t know, just celebrated its eleventh birthday. Eleven years ago this May it was started by James Carlson and a cadre of accomplices who wanted nothing more than to explore creatively in a way that only art in warehouses can provide. There was little method to the madness, but it was one of the first collaborative spaces in the country, and in Milwaukee of all places. It was a place all about making it happen (whatever “it” was) and giving people a reason to gather and work together. It was the spot in the city for the curious and motivated to gather and create art, businesses, theater, events and products. 

Bucketworks has had its issues, much like its home city, but through thick and thin and two floods Bucketworks has managed to persevere, and in that time, Milwaukee has started to blossom. We now have the Milwaukee Makerspace, ArtMKE, the Hudson, VETransfer, Gener8tor, MARN, the Creative Alliance, Open MiKE, just to name a few. As a relatively new transplant, the vibrancy of the creative culture in Milwaukee is a sorely told story---we are lucky to be in this time and place. But as each of these great efforts filled a niche, and as each of these efforts has been born, Bucketworks has adjusted and pushed ahead because it has always been the job of Bucketworks to be on the edge---to be that hard-to-explain place “where things start.” 

Fast forward 18 months from my arrival in Milwaukee to today and some of that gritty, blue-collar and raw is weighing on me. Those of you I have had the pleasure of meeting know that I have been very open about the situation at Bucketworks. It has its issues and it wears its dirt on its sleeve. Specifically, we have not been been paying rent for 4 months. For the year I have been here prior to those four months, we paid $7000/mo for 6 months and $2500/mo for 6 months before that. We are not paying rent because we spent $2500 on a broken heating system we don’t own, but because we could not afford to fix the system completely, we still paid $2500/mo to heat the space in the winter. We patched a roof we don’t own with the gracious donation of time from a Milwaukee startup that helps veterans develop job skills. We repaired air conditioners. We spent $2000 on a sprinkler system we don’t own to get the building up to code. We replaced toilets that were broken, patched floors, and fixed lights, all while running the organization.

But why not just raise the prices to cover the bills? We don’t raise the prices because we feel it is important for there to be a place in our city where a person can explore projects without breaking the bank. We believe a lack of money should not stop people from trying. Bucketworks is home to 15+ businesses on any given month who pay on average less than $200 a month to operate. If you can get past the Commons, bang for your bucket it is the lowest-cost place in the city to start a business. Bucketworks is a place where teenagers from the city come to make art while learning important things like punctuality and responsibility. Bucketworks is a place where people gather to learn English and to learn about citizenship. Bucketworks is a place where people meet to talk about open data and to teach each other about technology and mysticism and financial planning. Bucketworks is a place to sword fight, practice aerial silks and to dance. Bucketworks is where people voluntarily work together on improving healthcare. Bucketworks is the place where bees are nurtured and celebrated. In short, Bucketworks is a living and breathing demonstration of functional, diverse community in a city that is known for its silos and segregation.

Please note this isn’t a blame game that falls on our landlord or others who are currently interested in the space. I have a good relationship with our landlord---we agree with a shake of our hands and then do the best we can. We operate like much of Milwaukee operates, and I think this is to be celebrated. Also note that this text represents solely my words and perspectives.

In closing, I want to say that Bucketworks is cleaning out its closets and washing the dirt from its sleeves. I will meet with anyone who is interested and let them know where we stand, what we need to do better and what our plan is to get there. We already have great partnerships that are interested in supporting and bringing stability to this wonderful project, but right now we need time, and in order to get that time, we need money. $18,000 would get us six months of runway on rent, $36,000 would get us twelve, and anything in between would be awesome.

As a recent transplant to this city who has seen Berlin, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Venice, New York, Mexico City, Riga, Paris and many others, I believe Milwaukee is a place to be right now. We have a city that can hide little and is full of people who want to do more. I am committed to making this a place where people have a real option when they want to try an idea. I am willing to do what it takes to bring long term stability to an awesome project in a city that is just rediscovering itself.

So the question I have is this:

Does Milwaukee want Bucketworks?

If it does, please donate what you can. If all you can do is forward this on, please do so. We have an opportunity to show that Milwaukee is a community together. We are not asking for much and we never have asked for much, but I am asking for Bucketworks now. If we reach our goal, the funds will be used for to cover rent. If we do not reach our goal, the funds will be used to find a new home. Our goal is to raise $18,000+ by the end of the business day today---please help.

Thank you,

Tim Syth

Director of Bucketworks

DONATE

[bucketworks]

Saturday, May 11th. 10am-5pm

Learn about and do a little Culture Hacking with Jim McCarthy (TEDxHarambee 2013 speaker) and Tim Bailen.

"A culture is the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that both describes and shapes a group. Culture, like technology, can be fruitfully hacked to make it more useful. Good culture hacking promotes freedom, extends openness, and embodies rationality and design elegance.

  Walking in to a designed culture versus an unintentional culture is like the difference between walking into the Taj Mahal versus stumbling into a dark, damp cave that might have an angry bear in the back.

  Our goals for this day are: to be generous and welcoming in our designed culture and to do some culture hacking with you; to turn on to each other and to turn you onto some ideas that have been developed over the last few decades. We will run some new culture "code" together. We will make and invest in new friends. We will connect with those who value connection. We will use our skill and experience to make sure that our common time together is an unusually rewarding and enlightening experience."

REGISTER: http://culturehacking.splashthat.com/

[bucketworks]

Bucketworks hosting TEDxHarambee Viewing Party Noon - 4:00pm. Starting in 15 minutes.

If ya can't get there, get here!

[onmilwaukee]

[littletinyfish]

Coast In Bikes cruises into Walker’s Point

…Everything in Coast In Bikes – which is still under construction but open to the public – is on sale for 20 percent off throughout the month of May. There is also an ongoing raffle throughout the month.

Coast In Bikes was financed by Fund Milwaukee, a local investing group that invests in local businesses and WWBIC (Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation). They are also supported by Bucketworks as one of the collective’s start-up businesses within the space…

onmilwaukee: Continue reading about the first female co-owned bike shop in Milwaukee (In Wisconsin? In the Midwest?) “Coast In Bikes cruises into Walker’s Point” on OnMilwaukee.

These are my friends. If you live near Downtown, Marquette, Walker’s Point, the South Side, or Bay View, you should check them out, especially since they’re giving 20% discounts on service and it’s 80 degrees out.

Plus I helped them build their racks, so go inspect my work.

[bucketworks]

The sun is shinin' and the bees are flyin'

Happy Earth Day, Everyone!

[bucketworks]

New game at Bucketworks this week: "Thunder or Construction?"

[fastcompany]

5 Ways To Partner With a Huge Corporation Without Losing Your Soul

Sal Khan, of Khan Academy, on making a deal with Bank of America but still keeping the integrity of his project.

The nonprofit Khan Academy recently announced its first corporate partnership, with Bank of America. In exchange for significant financial consideration, BOA is featuring several Khan Academy videos on personal finance topics on a standalone website, and showing them onscreen in 5,400 branches around the country, in concert with a series of seminars.

Over sandwiches in Bank of America’s tower at One Bryant Park, Khan explained their decisionmaking process to Co.Exist. “We were at first a little skeptical—is this going to be a big corporation telling us how to make our videos or what videos to make?” he asked. Here’s how they vetted the deal.

1: TAKE YOUR TIME

“It was a six month vetting process. We were running various scenarios by them: do you really want us to explain to your customers how to pay off your debt? Or every detail of a mortgage statement? We wanted to make sure we had complete editorial control.”

2: GET GOOD AT SAYING NO

“The whole point of my making this a nonprofit was so that no one would question what we were into it for. You do sometimes see not-for-profits compromising their values in order to reach other goals. With this partnership, and even when talking to donors, we’re getting better at saying no to things that are distracting us from our mission, and they’re respecting us more for it. What this partnership showed me was that by not compromising our values, it actually put us in a stronger position, because the value of our brand is in the credibility and independence.”

3: MAKE SURE YOU’RE GETTING MORE THAN MONEY.

“For us the real value in this is the energy and expertise we get from them, and the co-awareness. We have six million users a month, but Bank of America has a relationship with one in two households in America. To see our brand in 5,400 branches, that is personally exciting to me. Even just amongst Bank of America’s 280,000 employees—if they all go home and work on Khan Academy with their kids, that will be significant.”

4: DON’T BE AFRAID TO BE TOUGH

“Our two main things were one, keeping the site noncommercial: there are no interstitial ads before the videos, and when they appear on khanacademy.org, they’re not branded as Bank of America videos. And two, we didn’t want people to see us as beholden to a third party. We can do anything we want, on any topic, and Bank of America can take the stuff they feel is appropriate. “

5: DON’T BE AFRAID TO BE NAIVE, EITHER

“I have a naïve outlook on many things. So far it seems to have worked out. The world is a better place than most people assume it to be. Some might think—oh, a big corporation, they want to take us over or own us. But at the end of the day, most places are actually full of good people.”

Do you have any other tips for someone in that position?

[bucketworks]

Of interest because reasons.

[jennaddenda]

When the community manager finds an unflattering but truthful public comment about your space.

[bucketworks]

THIS.

[bucketworks]

The Bucketworks Community Newsletter is out in the wild. Catch it here.

[bucketworks]

Some very lovely mirrors were installed in the first floor meetup space this afternoon. 

The Milwaukee Community Circus folks will be very excited.

Aren't they lovely?

[bucketworks]

Bucketworks Community Newsletter: When Short February's Done

Angry Young Men

 "Mixed Tape" is the latest version of the live action puppet-comedy-variety show Full Frontal Pϋppetry.  One part Japanese Bunraku, one part Vaudeville, and one part Splatter Film, the "Full Frontal Pϋppetry" series is a combination of sketch comedy, musical numbers, political satire, video premieres, and inspired puppet mayhem. 

"Mixed Tape" brings brand new bits and classic hits as AYM Ltd's puppet cast of monsters, robots, zombies and 'others' infect Soulstice Theatre once again with their puppet hilarity.

AYM Ltd is excited to have Shayne Steliga as their Special Musical Guest for this round of FFP.  Shayne is a Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist and Actor who is currently finishing a new album.  Shayne will be joined by fellow musicians Tom Koehn (guitar), Mike Johnston (guitar), and Frank Pace (drums) who will be performing tracks from his upcoming album as well as joining in the puppet hijinks!

Kid-friendly (but not necessarily kid-safe) the show is rated PG-13, for Puppet Gore and an adolescent sense of humor.

March 1st & 2nd, 8th & 9th - Monday March 4th: Industry Night! Pay-What-You-Can Doors open at 7:00PM, shows start at 7:30PM Tickets available at the Door $10 

Soulstice Theatre, 3770 S Pennsylvania Ave.

Milwaukee Makerspace

Milwaukee Makerspace is now open at 2555 S. Lenox St. in Bay View. With 16,000 square feet of space, they're ready to welcome anyone in the Milwaukee area who wants to make something. With a full wood shop, metal shop, electronics lab, welding area, two laser cutters, and plans for a darkroom, silk screening and textiles area, this is where making will happen. And Milwaukee Makerspace is also a new member of the Space Federation, along with Bucketworks, and 50 other makerspaces/hackerspace around the world.

Roaring 20's

Richard Allen of the photography unit is planning his next big group photoshoot for Mid-April. The theme for this private event will be The Roaring 20's. A portion of the money raised will again be donated to charity, this time The Ronald McDonald House. This will be the third event hosted at Bucketworks. The first 2 events, Pink for October II and Toys for Tots Pin-Up Shoot, raised over $2200 for charitable causes.

Fruity, Nutty Affair

Join Wisconsin Foodie's Kyle Cherek, the rustic ensemble The BriarPickers, and Victory Garden Initiative for an evening of Fruity Nutty fun at the Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee from 7-midnight on February 16, 2013! Proceeds will support the planting of 150 Fruit & Nut Trees in 5 Milwaukee Neighborhoods! Sample tapas from great local caterers, bid on exciting food adventure auction items, rub shoulders with some wacky Fruity Nutty characters care of the Milwaukee Public Theater, then dance the night away in support of the Fruity Nutty Campaign!

Tickets: $50 (early bird rate: $45 until 1/31/13) A limited number of volunteer tickets are available for $25! Email if you're interested in volunteering to help out at the event. Purchase tickets today! 

Bucketworks February Events

Aerial Silks - Meetup

Tuesdays, 4:15pm - 6:15pm 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Thursdays, 4:15pm - 6:15pm & 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Fridays, 11:00am - 1:00pm

Contact [email protected] to register or for further information.

SCA Sparring Group - Gallery

Warmup Yoga, Drills, Sparring

Thursdays, 7:00pm - 9:00pm

2/9 - Basement LAN - Commons

12:00pm - 12:00am

2/10 - Ruby 201 - Commons 

10:00am - 6:00pm

2/18 - Ruby Users Group - Commons

7:00pm - 9:00pm

2/19 - WordPress Meetup - Commons

7:00pm - 9:00pm 

2/21 - Web414 - Commons

7:00pm - 9:00pm 

2/27 - Members Meeting

7:00pm - 9:00pm

Milwaukee Community Events

2/8 - interACT - Plankinton Arcade at Grand Ave

7:00pm - 10:00pm

2/8 - "Made in Milwaukee" (FluxDesign) Viewing Party - Mikey's

9:00pm - 11:00pm

2/9 - Idle No More Milwaukee Potluck/Community Discussion - All Peoples Urban Greenhouse Project

2:00pm - 4:30pm

  2/13 - Ex Fabula Story Slam "It's a Date" - Stonefly Brewing Company

7:30pm - 11:30pm

  2/14 - 3/3 - Fawlty Towers - Carte Blanche Studios

8:00pm - 9:30pm

  2/25 - Remarkable Milwaukee: Honoring Conrad Schmitt Studios and Gruenke Family - Historic Milwaukee Inc.

5:00pm - 8:30pm

Worth Supporting

  Optimist Theatre's Free Shakespeare in the Park Kickstarter

Catch the full newsletter here (or sign up!)