Manual

LVL1 Manual

Introduction

Welcome to LVL1! Our space might be a little overwhelming at first, so we've created this manual as a rough guide to help you get the most out of the community we've created.

We hope that this guide will help you better understand how LVL1 is organized, answer common questions and provide direction on how to get the most out of the resources LVL1 has to offer.

This manual is a guide to all members of our community; from first-time visitors to founding members. Feel free to edit and contribute information to this guide. LVL1 is a dynamic space and we expect this guide to be as equally as dynamic.

If you have questions not addressed in this Manual, please also check our FAQ or email info@lvl1.org.

About LVL1

LVL1 is an open community workshop democratically operated by our membership. We are friendly community of tinkerers, makers, engineers, educators, scientists, artists, hackers and overall geeks. Anyone who is, aspires to be, or just wants to hang around smart, creative, friendly mad scientist maker/hacker Louisvillians is welcome at LVL1! We've got lots of cool tools and equipment. We've got a lot of really bright and creative people. We like to work on (and show off) fun and challenging technical projects.

LVL1 Culture

LVL1 strives to promote an open and welcoming culture. We like the fact that we're a public resource for the community. To keep this kind of openness in our community, it takes a little more effort in a social sense to keep things running smoothly. Being part of an open community can be a challenge sometimes. Try to display a little extra politeness, a little extra patience, a little extra cleanliness and a little extra friendliness.

Organization

LVL1 is a non-profit 501c(3) (pending) organization. We collect dues from our membership to pay rent, utilities, insurance and maintenance of the space. Any funds left over are used for tools and consumables for LVL1.

LVL1 has a 7 member Board of Directors elected by membership. This includes four elected officers and three at-large directors. The Board of Directors fulfill the roles required by Kentucky law and oversee the operation of LVL1. All of the directors are volunteers and are not compensated financially.

Regular Events

LVL1 has an Open Meeting & Making every Tuesday at 8pm. This is best time to come by the space to find out what's happening and meet our community.

We keep a calendar of upcoming meetings and events at http://lvl1.org.

Children

LVL1 is a dynamic space with potential hazards requiring a mature attitude towards safety. Due to the nature of this environment (and the extra precaution required) unattended minors under the age of 18 are prohibited from LVL1, except when accompanied by a legal guardian.

Nearby Resources

Map of Louisville Hacker Resources

Workshops

Hosting a Workshop

Workshops are a great way to spread awareness and grow LVL1 in knowledge, expertise and memberships. They're also a great way to show off and share what you know. Hosting a workshop at LVL1 is very easy.

1. Think of a workshop idea.
   Do you have any knowledge you'd like to spread? If you'd like, do an interest-check at a Tuesday meeting, or on the mailing list.
2. Figure out how many attendees you'd be willing to teach (recruit help if necessary!)
3. Figure out how much the workshop will cost.
   For hardware workshops, this might be quite a bit. For software workshops, this might be nothing at all! You're more likely to get committed folks if you put a nominal price on the workshop ($5-$10), but don't feel like you have to. If you'd like, add some money on top of the workshop to benefit LVL1.
4. Pick a date
   Any arbitrary date will do. Find one that isn't taken on the calendar.
5. Create promotional material for the event (a description, requirements, prerequisites, some graphics)
6. Email the board of directors to set up an EventBrite event.
   Eventbrite handles payments and ticketing. If you're hosting a free or low cost workshop, you can skip this and accept payment at the door.
7. Email the list to announce the workshop
8. Make a blog post to announce the workshop
9. Email the board of directors to purchase supplies
10. Come to LVL1 and teach the workshop!

Guide to LVL1 culture

• Fun is the prime directive. Keep things fun.
  • All people like to be around things that are fun.
  • All people tend to avoid things and events that are not fun.
  • Therefore the best way to keep attendance and occupancy up is to keep things fun.
• Fair Warning: Using the collective 'we' can quickly get you deputized.
  • This is meant to be a playful way of avoiding 'diffusion of responsibility'. Sometimes when people say "We should _________!", what they really mean is "Someone besides myself should _________!"
  • Being deputized doesn't mean you have to do it yourself. But, it does mean you should lead the charge, find people to help you, and cajole them as necessary (free beer or home-baked cookies) to make it happen.
• When scheduling something; pick an arbitrary date to start negotiations, thereby avoiding arbitrary non-starting negotiations.
  • Sometimes the hardest part of organizing is finding the 'best' time to do it.
  • There is never a 'best time' that works for everyone.
  • Once a date is set, everything else quickly falls into place.
• The less rules the better. Don't try to solve problems we don't have.
  • We rely on a culture of openness, friendliness and mutual respect.
  • If you have a conflict with some aspect of the space or a member, we expect you to try and resolve it with the member on a personal level first. If that is not achievable, then find a Director to help mediate the conflict. Rule-making is a last resort approach for conflict resolution.
• Be excellent to each other.

Membership

• You don't need to be a LVL1 member to hang out with us at meetings and events! All are welcome to come and geek out with us. There's a common misperception that you should be a member before coming to these meetings. This is not true! At least 50% of these meeting attendees are not dues paying members and all of them are welcome. Most of those non-members have no intention of becoming dues paying members. That's fine! There's no pressure to become an official member! Official membership has some awesome benefits and we'd love to have you, but it's cool if you just want to hang out and geek out.

Becoming a LVL1 member

• Membership is $50 a month through an automatic paypal
• Membership gives you the following rights:
  • Voting Rights (direction and conflict resolution)
  • 24x7 access to space, you get a key
  • Access to all equipment owned, donated or loaned to LVL1
  • Ability to sponsor new members