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--- f15:foam_network [2016-01-29 16:35] – maja
+++ f15:foam_network [2021-09-08 09:50] (current) – maja
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 Think of a time in FoAM's recent past when you felt that you were a part of a thriving network. What happened? How did you feel? What made this situation possible?
+  * Machine Wilderness
+  * Fo[am]tones
+  * bxl visit to kernow
+  * Lucid dreaming workshop
+  * Helping each other with funding applications
+  * GroWorld bazaar on gRig Froesjels
+  * Futures of Unconditional Basic Income
+What made these situations work?
+  * overlap of interests
+  * mutual support
+  * connections that didn't require a central HQ
+  * ideas developed by foam, taken up by an individual, transformed, fed back into the foam network, in different locations and contexts, with different people (project embedded in FoAM, but having a unique personal expression)
+  * it looks and feels like foam, no matter where it is: hosting culture
+  * feels like being a part of a shared, experimental culture
+  * things need to be experienced, just talking about foam's work rarely makes sense to people (but we 'know' what is and isn't foam...)
+  * feels like a family, ease of relationships, willingness to help (and be silly together): things happen and everyone has fun.
+  * doing something on your own, but knowing that this couldn't happen if it wasn't a part of the network; like dropping a pebble in a pond and watching the ripples (often being surprised by them)
@@ Line 86: / Line 105: @@
 Social media:
   * Twitter: continuous 'ambient noise' emanating from FoAM. All of us are on twitter, so all of us should tweet/retweet from @_foam account as well. So far Nik and Maja have been doing the majority of this, but we hope that others will take it up too: https://twitter.com/_foam
-  * Medium: shared publishing platform for considered articles, papers, reflection pieces, manifestos... The quality  of the pieces published on medium is more important than the informal blogposts: https://twitter.com/_foam
+  * Medium: shared publishing platform for considered articles, papers, reflection pieces, manifestos... The quality  of the pieces published on medium is more important than the informal blogposts: https://medium.com/@foam/
   * Slack: synchronous chats and informal conversations: https://tangle.slack.com/
   * Facebook: page we currently use to 'broadcast' updates and events. If others are more active there its use could change as needed https://www.facebook.com/foam.network/
@@ Line 94: / Line 113: @@
 ==== Internal communication ====
-How do we share information and tangents between ourselves? How do we communicate within the network (updates, problems...) How do we share our emerging topics of interest? How do we share our learning, explaining, reflection, writing, publishing, etc.? What should we do with out digital and physical archive (at FoAM bxl)?
+== How do we share information and tangents between ourselves?==
+How do we communicate within the network (updates, problems...) How do we share our emerging topics of interest?
+Tangle mailinglist:
+  * weekly updates from all studios
+  * post emerging interests, tangents and other curiosa you find worth sharing. we're all interested, just don't always have time to respond. don't let that discourage you!
+  * who is on tangle? alkan, amber, anna-maria, angelo, bart, christina, cocky, dave, francesca, lies, luea, maja, michka, nik, pieter, rasa, barbara, theun
+    * to do: check if all these people want to still be on tangle. if not, unsubscrube
+    * to do: subscribe new people if they are interested in what's going on in the network (e.g. long term residents, project collaborators, etc.)
+info [at] foam:
+  * general info email for the network.
+  * it's an alias going to: nik, maja, rasa, dave, theun.
+  * a place to ask general network governance questions, or give to people who want to know more about FoAM. the "info people" can then distribute the questions to other appropriate people.
+skype:
+  * monthly conference calls: every last friday of the month at 4PM CET / 3PM UK
+  * rasa to co-ordinate (in the beginning): reminder email to tangle, moderate conversation...
+  * these calls are meant to ask each other questions, ask and offer help, discuss ongoing conundrums, etc. we don't want them to be dry updates...
+== How do we share our learning, explaining, reflection, writing, publishing, etc.? ==
+  * Skype calls for discussions/explanations/questions
+  * FoAM Blog for sharing reflections in public
+  * Medium for more considered pieces
+  * Libarynth for work (in progress) documentation and background materials (e.g. http://lib.fo.am/marine_colab/ or http://lib.fo.am/future_fabulators)
+==What should we do with our digital and physical archive (at FoAM bxl)?==
+  * Spring cleaning
+  * Garage sale
+  * Gypsy caravan to FoAM Amsterdam
+  * Going through the archive and putting most interesting stuff online (Maja is doing this as part of writing the F15 publication here: http://lib.fo.am/f15/overview)
+  * For the rest.... hmmm... demolition party?
 ==== Needs & Offers ====
-What are the needs and offers from different studios? How to scale up FoAM Kernow to support and work with more people? What is the role of the FoAM network in the transiency of FoAM bxl? What if Maja and Nik operate in between studios as an entangling jellyfish (moderating, knitting, horizon scanning, long term strategy, etc.)?
+What are the needs and offers from different studios?
+==How to scale up FoAM Kernow to support and work with more people?==
+Why? There is a need an an opportunity to create a good environment for people to work in. It also provides diversification of perspectives, networks, etc. for FoAM. Kernow could become a shelter from neoliberal institutions and corporations, a unique place for alternative higher education... The location in Falmouth makes this possible (sandwiched between two big institutions).
+What's the current situation?
+  * There is no core structural funding
+  * Majority of money is from client commissions
+  * A new residency programme started (3 people for a year) without appropriate resources. A funding proposal for residencies has been submitted, but even it it is accepted, it won't cover costs for getting another space.
+What is needed?
+  * To double the size of the space, and have enough room for six people.
+  * Some way to cover the core structural cost of the space and the staff
+What could be done?
+  * Map the funding, support and financing landscape possibly available to FoAM Kernow, with the eye on diversifying funding
+    * Identify key people to approach, find appropriate ways to communicate to them about why they cannot NOT fund FoAM Kernow
+    * Find out if the city has spaces they give to non profit organisations for free or low cost
+  * Move to a bigger, but cheaper space away from the centre, then rent central spaces only for workshops
+  * Build core overhead in commissions and funding bids (7-20%)
+  * Charge a higher daily rate
+  * Do workshops for money (team building, training courses for phd students...)
+  * Become a place for people to do their postdocs (like Alex)
+  * Find a way to have a good mix of people in residence (some who need full financial and professional support, others who bring in money, others again who can offer their skills to be included in FoAM's paid workshops, etc)
+  * FoAM bxl to share successful funding bids (in English and Dutch)
+  * Be careful to have a well balanced programme of activities (watch out for energy/resources drain and burnout...):
+    * that you get energy from
+    * that support others
+    * that bring in money and other resources...
+(Decision: we'll take it slowly; there are many other things that are more pressing atm...)
+==What is the role of the FoAM network in the transiency of FoAM bxl?==
+In one word: support and initiative. Taking over some of the essential tasks, such as sysadmin and online communication. Dave and Theun both volunteered to take up some of these tasks.
+We're interested to see what happens to the network when Brussels isn't 'pulling the cart' for a while. To evaluate after the year is over...
+== What if Maja and Nik operate in between studios as an entangling jellyfish?==
+(moderating, knitting, horizon scanning, long term strategy, etc.)
+All studios are interested, but it depends how feasible this is. It would require N&M detaching from the daily management of the Brussels studio... Not sure about how much time away from other work this would take... etc. To be prototyped and experimented with in 2017.
 ==== Membrane ====
 What is our shared vision and purpose? What should be written on the "about" page on the FoAM site?
+FoAM is...
+  * a lab for speculative culture, a school of jellyfish, a work in progress
+  * a clothing kitchen with unusual set of ingredients, tools, utensils and expending/shrinking family around the table with lots of anecdotes to tell.
+  * A collection of various agency, various approaches, skills, knowledge, practice, attempts, explorations, disciplines
+  * wonderful, thoughtful, flexible, aware
+  * A brain. Each of the FoAM studios is a region of the brain. Within each region, each person is a neuron. Each neuron is sending signals along neural pathways to other neurons in its region, and to other parts of the brain, as connections, cooperatives, collaborations and shared interests emerge. The more these pathways are used, the better established and more efficient they become. As particular pathways become relevant their use increases, while others may become dormant and gradually recede. The brain is constantly adapting, forming new connections and solving any problems put to it. It is fit for purpose for any task it is set, because it can adapt.
+  * A distributed network of people from disparate fields and cultures, working and living together in uncertain times, guided by our motto "grow your own worlds".
+  * Inter/postdisciplinary platform
+  * a way to exist between hard and well defined structures
+We exist because...
+  * as an experiment in possibility.
+  * there is a need to mess up peoples mind and perception, fill up existing gaps with different colours and build non existing bridges from diverse materials.
+  * nothing else is quite like us
+  * We are resilient given the diversity mentioned above. Because we are open to explore. Because take attempt at the tacit
+  * We have an opportunity. The brain has evolved in a way which means that more connections can be made than ever before. More neurons, more power.
+  * Existing institutions, economic and operational models don't allow us to be human beings we want to be and do things that would make our species evolve beyond its current wasteful and unsustainable state
+  * there is a need to connect unlikely bedfellows
+We do this by...
+  * exploring interstitial spaces, building bridges, making hammocks, prototyping other worlds, approaching the inexplicable...
+  * experimenting, recording, failing, caring and celebrating.
+  * Staging experiences. Immersing audiences in knowledge and in our research. We take the 'everyday' and put it under a microscope - enlarging it and in the process melting it with an acute awareness which stays. Through embodying knowledge, the audience comprehends through the body and not just as knowing of.
+  * Connection, communication and evolution.
+  * Communicating honestly, finding things where they aren’t often found
+  * Daring to ask "what if", prototyping possible futures as alternate presents, redesigning education, reinvigorating our living environments, contemplating, hosting and otherwise encouraging serendipity and synchronicity to allow new possibilities to emerge.
+  * Prototyping, artistic research...
+  * being a jellyfish, maintaining outside perspectives while working to understand others
+We aim to achieve...
+  * whatever we set out to achive using unconvetional means to find techniques for thriving in uncertain times.
+  * a more including, beautiful, holistic worlds and spaces to breath, connect and have fun.
+  * A deep commitment to issues at hand, To the environment, to food particularly (for me)
+  * The freedom to explore and make the most of this opportunity.
+  * provoking conversations, sharing of information and knowledge freely, supporting understanding & being generally nice people
+  * A more holistic, inclusive, interstitial culture growing out of cracks of decaying global capitalism...
+  * a way to make this possible, to move beyond where we are
+{{ :f15:theun-mission.jpg?direct&600 |}}
 ==== Activities ====
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 How do we encourage more joint activities? How do we share and make the most of new opportunities?
+To begin with: more frequent informal contact (weekly tangle updates, monthly conference calls, slack chats, posting interests, following each other's work...).
 ==== People ====
-Who is currently in the FoAM network? How do we streamline the selection (and movement) of people, projects, new studios, etc?
+== Who is currently in the FoAM network? ==
+http://fo.am/people/
+-> should be more frequently updates (people added and taken off...)
+it is possible to include non-human entities (oscar, hiccup, etc.), as long as they are connected to some activities/events/blogposts...
+==How do we streamline the selection (and movement) of people, projects, new studios, etc?==
+People: We do this informally by talking about it to each other, also introducing new people on our communication channels. By now most of us have an intuition who is a good fit for the network, so no need for strict selection criteria. We know we'll make mistakes too, but that's a part of the process...
+Projects: Questions to ask yourself are here: http://lib.fo.am/foam_projects
+New studios: This needs more work on the part of the 'jellyfish', to support the embryonic studios in their inclusion in the network, the financial and infrastructural support, etc. We would need to contact with Maki, Hans & Veronique to see about how to establish studios is Tokyp/Okinawa (JP) and Treasure Beach (JM)... to follow up after the fallow period of foam bxl...
 ==== Next Steps ====
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     * existing tools (e.g. sparkleshare, loomio, slack, flickr…)
     * FoAM server / website
+    * see https://repo.fo.am/foam/systems/wikis/overview
   * Caclulate and communicate total yearly cost for Linode and other online services
   * Make a psw file on repo
@@ Line 186: / Line 345: @@
 All / Kernow
   * start thinking about the FoAM retreat in 2017 (including an internal crypto party): possible site: somewhere in Cornwall (alternatives: Greece, Italy, Croatia, etc.)
+  * Research if there are current EC funding opportunities for EU networks, such as this one: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/creative-europe/actions/culture/creative-europe-culture-european-networks_en (now closed, but maybe there are other similar schemes)