FAQ

How do you pronounce LVL1?

General consensus is it's pronounced 'level one'.

Do I need to be a paying member to come to LVL1?

No, we try to make sure our events are as open to the public as possible. Tuesday night meetings and open build at 8pm are open to anyone. In addition we have workshops and other open events that anyone can attend. Generally, we have an open door policy to let anyone into the space to work. This is contingent on members being at the space to let you in. If you'd like to know if people are at the space, or arrange a time to visit, your best bet is to post to the LVL1 Google Group.

I don't really want to be a member, but I'd like to support what LVL1 is doing. How can I help?

Thanks! Join in on some of the projects and events we have going on. Spread the word about LVL1. That's what we consider helpful support.
For financial support, you can sign up for either a one-time or recurring donation to LVL1. There's a link on the About page of our web site. http://www.lvl1.org/about/ Every little bit counts and we appreciate it.

Are you a hackerspace or a makerspace?

It doesn't matter. Hackerspace is the preferred term of the 'hackerspace movement'. Makerspace could be used when you don't want to scare someone who doesn't understand the true history of the word hacker.

Should I be scared that your hackerspace will break into my computer?

No, that's not what we do at all. We use the term hacker in the historical 'creative use of technology' sense, not the media's 'boogeyman cybercriminal' sense.

Will you hack into someone's facebook for me?

No.

I'd like to donate a bunch of stuff I don't use anymore. What can I give you?

Well thank you! We do already have quite a lot of equipment. Please check out Equipment to see if your items would be unneeded duplicates. The amount of space we have is limited, so we have to be efficient about what we take in. :-)

• We don't want any CRTs, tube TVs and tube computer monitors. These take up a lot of space and aren't useful in our modern flat screen world.
• We have tons of old computer hardware, so we don't need any of that. Modern computer hardware would be appreciated though.
• If you have broken electronics you want to donate, it'd help us greatly if you strip out useful components first (i.e. stepper motors, power supplies, things like that).
• We appreciate any and all donations, but please try to be thoughtful of about what is useful. We want to avoid using LVL1's space for electronic waste storage! :-)

What if I have questions that aren't answered here?

Here are the best ways to find out more:

• Take a look at our social media links on the Connect page of our web site http://www.lvl1.org/connect/ and try connecting to us there. In particular, we recommend:
  • Google Group. It's free to sign up and you can post questions that any one of the several hundred participants might be able to answer. (Note: this can generate a lot of emails per day. Turn off email updates, set up your filters, use the daily digest, or use the RSS feed.)
  • Facebook. Follow our page or join our group.
• Attend one of our Tuesday Night Open Meetings. We are here every Tuesday night and starting at 8:00pm we welcome all visitors to learn about what's happening at the space, see projects that people are working on, and tour the space. It's the best way to see first-hand what LVL1 is all about.
• You can also email directors [at] lvl1 [dot] org and one of our volunteers will get back to you.