Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

FAB CAMP LIVERPOOL : DESIGN / CREATE / BUILD

Open Labs in collaboration with Fab Lab Manchester and Liverpool Art & Design Academy hosted FAB CAMP LIVERPOOL over the weekend of 29 & 30 January 2011.

The weekend was filled with skills sessions on laser cutting & 3D printing coupled with talks from speakers such as Haydn Insley of FAB Lab Manchester, Soner Ozenc of RazorLab, Ilsa Parry of ReThinkThings and Jason Nelson from Dundee University.   

Some delegates were brave enough to book an Open Mic slot taking the opportunity to speak around their area of expertise and share their knowledge and overall delegates were treated to a great weekend of creativity, networking & interaction. 

The event was aimed at raising awareness of the revolution in digital fabrication, giving delegates the opportunity to have a go, learn some new skills and share some others.

All in all, it was a weekend packed with activity as well as hands-on participation but most importantly it was fun-filled. Check it out Flickr & Twitter.

Images by Rhian Askins Photography

Anthony Braniff & Nathan Ryder from Winning Team (Image: Jason Jones)

Open Labs in collaboration with the Design Pod at LJMU’s Art and Design Academy (ADA), hosted preFAB; an informal evening of creative collaboration.

The event attracted a group of creative enthusiasts, designers, tinkerers and makers from the Merseyside area, who were interested in gaining exposure to the ADA fabrication equipment with potential opportunities arising throughout the evening to use laser cutters and 3D printers.

During the course of the evening, each team had access to both the fabrication equipment at the ADA and assistance from the Design Pod staff to help them flesh out their ideas.  The event was also a great opportunity for participants to meet, work and mingle with like-minded creative people.

IIsa Parry of Rethinkingthings commented, “preFAB offered me the opportunity to meet new contacts, as well as participate in an unusual creative evening.  It was also great to understand what ADA@LJMU offer in terms of facilities and services.  I’m now really looking forward to FAB Camp in January.”

The evening’s activity was centred around a brief provided by the Design Pod team, based on the traditional Christmas cracker.  The parameters and guidelines given were largely to reinvent the cracker for the 21^st century.  Each design had to include, in whatever imaginative way they chose, the following 4 elements of a traditional cracker;

• Sound (an element of noise)
• Gift (presenting the essence of sharing & giving)
• Motto (a piece of text)
• Hat (or something to wear)

Andrew Hooper, Design Co-ordinator at the Design Pod, said, “Working in small teams, the delegates were pitted against the clock to re-design the Christmas ‘cracker’.   The challenge and promise of ‘prizes’ fuelled their competitive streaks as the teams produced a rough working prototype for demonstration and presentation back to the other participants.” 

The ideas that emerged ranged from a ‘kerplunk’ type game where people would bring their own prizes/forefeits and place them on a bread stick tree; A gingerbread tree structure made out gingersnap biscuits.  The idea being that you ate the remains.  Sustainability and minimising waste being a key theme in this team’s project.

Others included a long snap branch idea that was an elongated cracker that could reach across the dining table.  This could also be reused a number of times, giving you the opportunity to share it with more than one other party guest.  Inside the snap were mottos, memories and photos that you would upload when you bought the product online.

There was also a pyramid shaped customisable heirloom game idea; but the winning team produced an iphone application/device called Crack.r which shared random bits of information from your phone with people around the dinner table.  For example the surprise might be a photo being uploaded to your Facebook page or perhaps a really bad track from your music collection would be transferred.  This was really well thought out and mapped to each of the brief elements. 

Jason Taylor (Operations Manager at Open Labs) said, “preFAB is one of a series of activities focused on making local companies aware of emerging technology and market opportunities.  Events such as this are an ideal platform to raise awareness and encourage collaborations between the University and the Creative Industries.  A further more in depth event, FAB Camp Liverpool, is planned for January of next year.”

Hack Day : Student Edition

Following on from the success of the professional Liverpool Hacks meet Hackers event in July, local company ScraperWiki, in partnership with Open Labs & Liverpool School of Art & Design, held a ‘Student Edition’ of the Hacks meet Hackers Hack Day for both LJMU’s School of Journalism and the School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences.

This practical event demonstrated how to utilise programming and design techniques to create online news stories and features based on ‘datasets’ from publicly available data. 

The ultimate aim of this event was to demonstrate to student journalists how to use programming and design techniques to create online news stories and features; and vice versa, to show student coders/developers/programmers how to find, develop, and polish stories and features.

Attracting a mix of students from both schools was essential to create the balance of hacks (journalists) and hackers (coders/programmers) who were introduced to the concept of data driven journalism.  The event was sponsored by Trinity Mirror which meant we had the added bonus of some professional journalists on hands to assist the students with fleshing out their ideas for projects.

Armed with laptops and Wifi, students fell into teams of around four to five based on topics which were of interest to them to develop project ideas.

The range of subjects which emerged included ‘Football League Attendance’: which related attendance at matches with performance on the pitch; ‘Police Helicopters’: an interesting investigation into the cost effectiveness of Helicopters in Merseyside policing; ‘The Class Divide’: a topical and interesting set of data reflecting the type of education current MPs enjoyed and whether some of them may have faired otherwise if they had to pay for their university education; and finally ‘Scraping the Barrel’: which was an unusual look into school applications in relation to Health statistics of a number of wards in the Liverpool region.

Towards the end of a feverish day of activity and excitement, each team where given the opportunity to present their project to the group.

The day culminated in a judging session, where all projects were assessed on a guidance criteria which included categories such as ‘concept development’ ‘execution of idea’, ‘project potential’ and ‘presentation format’, with a final prize giving session for the Judges’ winning project, which was ‘Scraping the Barrel’.Hacks meet Hackers Student Edition : a collaboration between ScraperWiki & Open Labs & the Liverpool School of Art & Design at Liverpool John Moores University and sponsored by Trinity Mirror.

For further information about Open Labs contact Director, Lindsay Sharples: l.h.sharples@ljmu.ac.uk or 0151 231 4747.

December’s JellyLiverpool was held in the new Leaf Bar & Café on Bold Street, where delegates traded their normal working environment for long tables and benches, which added an altogether different vibe to the day.

Word is clearly spreading that casual co-working is the way forward for freelancers and home workers, as despite the cold and snowy weather we had a great turn out with some new faces participating in the Jelly experience and in particular we had more females join us, which was great to see.

JellyLiverpool provides free wifi, free coffee and, on a good day, free butties, but mainly offers those in need of inspiration  an opportunity to work among other creative people in a welcoming environment. 

Jelly is a casual grass roots way of expanding your contacts and can lead to some interesting working partnerships and collaborations.  We are now attracting such a diverse bunch including freelance software developers, IT boffins, Designers & Technical Developers as well as Web Communicators and Trainers.

Just a reminder that there no specific criteria to participate in JellyLiverpool.  Join us for the day or just drop in for an hour or two.  It’s entirely up to you.  Everyone and anyone is made welcome whether you are a freelancer who usually works at home, or you just fancy a break from your normal office, come along and try the Jelly experience. You’ll be made very welcome. 

Signing up before hand isn’t compulsory but if you want to see who else is attending check out JellyLiverpool on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=events#!/event.php?eid=172055516140630

JellyLiverpool is sponsored by Open Labs@LJMU.

For further information please contact Open Labs’ Director, Lindsay Sharples: l.h.sharples@ljmu.ac.uk or 0151 231 4747.

November’s JellyLiverpool returned to the popular Parr St Studios venue. This great location provides such a welcoming and comfortable setting which is so well suited to the Jelly format that it has now become a favourite among Jelly regulars.

If you haven’t yet experienced Jelly, perhaps it’s time to check it out.  Ask yourself, do you:-

• * work from home, trudge from coffee shop to coffee shop in search of wifi and power?
• * wish that “working for yourself” didn’t always have to mean “working by yourself”?
• * get “cabin fever” and are desperate for a change of scene, some inspiration and motivation?  

If the answer to any of these questions is YES; then JellyLiverpool is what you need!  

Don’t worry, Jelly isn’t about finding new clients, pitching your business or selling.  Jelly is for anyone who’d like to work alongside other creative people in a welcoming environment.  It’s a mixture of work, chat, comparing of ideas, passing on tips and help and maybe sometimes collaboration on the birth of a new project.  

Bring your laptop and some work, and Jelly provides wifi, a table and chairs, and smart people to bounce ideas off and collaborate with.

We hold JellyLiverpool on the first Thursday in each month, so the next one will be on 2nd December (venue tbc).  Don’t miss the chance to mingle with the up and coming movers and shakers in Liverpool. 

The ignite concept is an evening of lighting talks where no subject is off limits.

It an opportunity for presenters (that’s you!) to share their personal and professional passions, using a 20 slides auto-advancing 15 seconds – that’s quick –  for a total of just five minutes.

Open Labs is very excited to announce the 4th Liverpool Ignite will be held on Tuesday 23rd November at Liverpool Medical Institute.

The venue is amazing and full of history, you’ve been past it but have you ever been inside – come and have a look.

Remember, enlighten us but make it quick!

Scraperwiki in association with Open Labs@LJMU are hosting the first ever Student Edition of Hacks meet Hackers.

When is it?                                     8^th December 2010

Where is it?                                   Academy of Art & Design

Time:                                                9.30am–5pm (food & beverages provided)

Want to know more and register your place ? Click HERE.

The next JellyLiverpool is on Thursday 4th November 2010 and will again be held at Parr St Studio 2.  We’ll be there from 9am so come and join us….you never know who you might meet.

If you missed last month’s, you missed the opportunity to work in a fantastic city centre location among a group of smart and creative people whose areas of expertise range from web designers, smart phone ‘app’ developers to legal eagles, psychologists, marketing & educational researchers … plus of course the free wifi, free coffee and on this occasion a bacon buttie!

If you are a Facebook user then you can sign up here.   Alternatively you can sign up on the main Jelly Wiki but you will have to sign up to edit the page.

Check out our main JellyLivepool page for more information.

The Wired City Reconnected events are ‘collaborative’ networking events aimed at the digital, creative and ICT businesses interested in potential collaborations or the chance to share and exchange ideas. The events are facilitated by Les, Fiona and Immy of Alba Associates, who provide a bespoke matching and introduction service prior to the event.  Wired City Reconnected (WCR) events are all about making the best use of your time, by providing an invaluable networking opportunity, whether your business has a current skills gap or you are looking to collaborate with others to meet new or current clients’ needs you could benefit from attending the Wired City Events. 

WCR events seek to offer businesses a new and refreshing option to the sales pitched, speed dating and other unspecific and open networking events. There are no speakers at this event…. Read the rest of this entry »

October’s JellyLiverpool was held at Studio 2, Parr St Studios and by all accounts this great environment went down a storm with the creative bunch that are making JellyLiverpool their own.

If you missed it, you missed the opportunity to work in a fantastic city centre location among a group of smart and creative people whose areas of expertise range from web designers, smart phone ‘app’ developers to legal eagles, psychologists, marketing & educational researchers … plus of course the free wifi, free coffee and on this occasion a bacon buttie!

The next JellyLiverpool is on Thursday 2nd December 2010 & will be at the new Leaf Cafe on Bold Street…. we’re there from 9am so come and join us….you never know who you might meet.

If you are a Facebook user then you can sign up here. Alternatively you can sign up on the main Jelly Wiki but you will have to sign up to edit the page.

Check out our main Jelly Livepool page for more information.

Jelly People