Operating but Under Construction!
 | IntroductionWelcome to the humble and experimental Share Fair site. Thanks to Yola for providing this free service. The concept of share fair is co-operative. In particular it does not have any "official" venues of its own, just whatever venues anyone provides. See "details" below the calendar for more. It is run by everyone who participates. It should be quite a while before this site becomes popular so for now it is for pioneer types who want to help develop and support it. Meetings can be of any kind from classes to workshops to debates to performances to movies etc etc. The core of sharefair is the calendar which anyone can add an event to. You can either use one of the venues listed, or give another location you have found. Anyone can also add a venue to the list of venues available for others to use. There's also an online forum and anyone can add new sub-forums, eg a separate sub-forum for any meeting that is on the calendar. The forum is also a place for users to discuss and suggest ways of improving sharefair. Meetings format- The person who creates the event (the presenter) is in full control of the event. If someone repeatedly fails to follow his/her instructions, they can be asked to leave the room. Of course if the instructions are unreasonable maybe everyone will leave! If anyone resents this authority, they can create their own event. Anyone can take a turn at being a presenter, if they take the initiative. Also the presenter could of course choose to make it totally anarchist. - To avoid normal "one way traffic" presentations, it's suggested that 10 minutes audience discussion time be held every hour or less ( or at the end of recorded presentations like videos). You can still have a one-way lecture etc, as long as you are open to audience questions every hour. - Share Fair events should not be primarily "money making" - ie if money is involved it should be for expenses only or a benefit for expenses for another "worthy" cause or event. But preferably instead of money just trade, for services provided on share fair. Or if you attend an event, plan to give something back later. If you don't like the rules, contact us or comment in forum |
Venues:
Frontier: 61st and Market Sts, Philadelphia contact diymeetings@yahoo.com
Available: often (contact us)
Event restrictions: Uncensored ("be excellent to each other" - thanks noisebridge.net SF CA). Every event is an optional potluck.
Facilities: conference room - whiteboard, o/h projector with computer (net, powerpoint, paint/photo, video), video camera. seats about 15
Basement: Instruments for jamming incl drumset, computer with mixing s/w, art supplies, holds about 25.
Kitchen
LAVA Space: lavazone.org 4134 Lancaster Ave, West Philly
Chapter House: Coffee Shop at 620 South St, Phila. Available free for sit-down meetings weekdays only 9am to 10 pm.
Call them to book 215 238-2626
Anyone can add an event to the above calendar. Please include location.
You can hold your event at one of the venues listed, or find your own venue. Eg lounge-room, basement, park, coffee shop, community center, festival etc. If doing it at someone else's venue, check above to see when available.
Share fair comes out of a number of influences. Free schools; John Taylor Gatto's critique of compulsory schooling; co-operative festivals like Rainbow gatherings and Confest; Noisebridge hacking co-op in SF; and Occupy to name a few.
Free schools struggle to survive since they need funds for premises etc. Share Fair is an attempt to overcome this by not having any premises or financial responsibilities. Anyone can use it without permission. Anyone can run a presentation or a sharefair day of presentations, at any venue they can find.
Hopefully then users will discover that we can provide what we need for each other (DIO) without the need for rottenly corrupt govt and other institutions.
My preference is completely uncensored access to any presenter and subject, but this is up to whoever provides a particular venue.
At a meeting the idea is that everyone chips in to run the event, so the burden on a few leaders is lifted.. Ultimately share fair is just a website, or in some cases just a concept – it could be just on flyers or a chalkboard, with a blurb and calendars for each day that anyone can create an event on (as at Australia's Confest since the early 70's).
ShareFair is inspired by many things, but mainly by various free schools and by the biannual "confest" in NSW Australia (confest.org).
The idea of school is a bit limiting, since school implies a separation of learning from producing and working usefully. So events here can be of any type. So far the only restrictions are that there should be audience question time at least every hour, and they are not for money although trades and timeshare can be exchanged.
The intention of the rules is to try to keep events collaborative and inclusive, instead of just "one-way" info from authority figures. That doesn't mean there can't be lectures, performances etc, just that all lecturers open the floor periodically to the audience and answer questions and criticisms.
Obviously this website needs improving. the aim is to make it DIY also, so that anyone can enter venue details. The calendar and forum are already DIY
Anyone can start a sub-forum in the Nabble forum for any event.
Another goal is to hook this up with a timeshare/LETS service, so people can trade credits for workshops etc.
Instead of credibility being based just on reputation and credentials, the forum can be used to provide links to evidence that supports what your segment is about. Everyone is encouraged to start your own sub-forum to go with your segment.
, Philadelphia, PA | 215-5580483 |
