[portland] It's the End of CubeSpace as We Know It...

[kirby urner]

On Tue, Jun 9, 2009 at 8:19 AM, Igal Koshevoy<igal at pragmaticraft.com> wrote:
> Dear Pythoneers,
>
> Is there a meeting tonight?* If so, it's our last one at CubeSpace.
>

Meetup said there was, and I became reliant on that even over
Calagator (still am in some ways), apologies for neglecting the
obvious.

> I'm very sad to forward along this message, but CubeSpace is shutting
> down. They've been the hub of our fledgling tech communities. It's the
> place where many of us first met, hung out, and spent many pleasant
> hours learning from each other. It's a place that helped incubate many
> new friendships, projects and groups.

Yeah this is certainly sad.  Of all the venues I've experienced for
PORPIG (now PPUG), Cubespace was by far the most conducive to
productivity, great meetings.  Top of the Fox Tower is runner up, but
wasn't as friendly, didn't have that ambiance of being a FOSS HQS more
generally, which Cubespace certainly had, even though many non-FOSSers
used it too.

>
> If you have any job leads for the wonderful, capable and dedicated
> CubeSpace owners and staff, please forward them on.
>

Portland needs coworking zones I reckon and losing Cubespace leaves a
huge void to fill.  I can't imagine the expertise of this staff would
be anything but highly valuable and sought after so I hope I'm right
about Portland's needs.  But then I'm the guy suggesting a scoreboard
style mini-map for near OMSI, showing global data 'n stuff, never
happened. ^^

That was the 1980s, OMSI still by the Zoo back then right?  Anyway,
only some of my futurism came true (the hypertext kiosks at Providence
-- Oregonian did a whole long article on those, Metro section I think,
before MOSAIC or Netscape -- some lawyers took me out to lunch after
that article, one guy pounding the table saying "I need to get *paid*
to learn this stuff" -- gotta love those lawyers, always so entitled
in ways convenient for them ;-D.

> If you have suggestions on where to move the meetings, please
> share you ideas.
>
> -igal
>

I'm uploading pictures of Urban Grind this morning for the benefit of
Terry Bristol (ISEPP prez) but could see maybe using it for PPUG
sometime?  They have a cool board room with a suspended stone table in
case we need to decide anything heavy.  Maybe PSU?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315@N00/sets/72157619496938336/
(location scouting, mostly local)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157315@N00/3608303721/in/set-72157619496938336/
 (suspended stone table)

I'll also contact Joyce Cresswell, CEO of Saturday Academy, as they're
always booking rooms.

Given our wifi and projection needs, options are limited.

Thanks igal, for notifying this groups and Admirers of Javascript,
maybe some others I'm not a part of, of this historic development.

I mentioned this in passing to PSF with a link back to this archive so
Pythonistas could watch over our shoulder as Portland struggles to
sustain its identity as FOSS-friendly and/or capable (count Patrick a
skeptic **).

Looking forward to OS Bridge (then Esozone, an unconference this year,
learning from geeks).

Kirby

^^ Oregonian, 1980s ("hypertext kiosks" was a different article, same author):
http://coffeeshopsnet.blogspot.com/2009/02/in-news.html

** Patrick is someone igal and I both know, came to PPUG once,
recruiting for his Chicago company (since standardizing to Python for
a lot of work):
http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2005/10/market-research.html (same guy
who introduced Lindsey to Wanderers e.g. me).

> PS: If meetings aren't announced on the list or published to Calagator,
> it's hard to tell.
>
> ###
>
> http://cubespacepdx.com/node/2015
>
> Friends,
>
> It is with deep sadness that Eva and I announce that CubeSpace will be
> closing its doors on Friday, June 12, 2009. During the past two weeks
> of negotiations, we have very much appreciated the support from all of
> you. Yet when it came down to it, we realized that even though
> business has been up and the outpouring of support from the community
> has been so great, we do not have the resources to  keep CubeSpace
> open.
>
> For roughly three years, Eva and I have poured ourselves into
> CubeSpace. We have poured in all of our financial resources, and have
> never taken any salary. We have poured the vast majority of our energy
> into CubeSpace. We have poured most of our attention into CubeSpace.
> Now, we have no more to put in. We are tired and broke, and it is now
> time for us to move on.
>
> We do not consider CubeSpace a failure. Rather, we succeeded in
> fostering a meaningful community that supports each other in hard
> times and celebrates together in good times. We feel privileged to
> have been a part of this community, and look forward to participating
> in other ways in the years to come.
>
> Many of you have asked what you can do to help. Eva and I have been
> unable to answer, until now. What we need now are jobs. We have
> mountains of debt, no assets, and are facing the possibility of
> personal bankruptcy.
>
> Another piece of help is not for us, but for the community. We know
> that the closing of CubeSpace will have a negative impact on the
> community. CubeSpace has served as a central meeting place. It has
> served as a clubhouse. It has been a default place to hold community
> events. We now need others in the community to step up and offer up
> meeting places. Eva and I will continue to contribute our time and
> energy to community events, but we will no longer be able to
> contribute the space. It may take some creative thinking, but I
> believe that as a community we will survive and continue to join
> together at events if other members of the corporate community will
> step up to offer space to host the many events CubeSpace has been
> hosting.
>
> Finally, please be aware that Eva and I need your emotional support as
> we go through this tough period. As I said in the beginning, we are
> very tired, emotionally drained and sad. Please do not tell us what we
> might have done better. Trust us, we know far too well all the
> mistakes we’ve made. Now is not when
> we want to rehash them. We welcome your support, your friendship and
> your caring. We would love suggestions for our future. But right now,
> we aren’t in a good position to be second-guessing past decisions.
>
> Thank you all so much for being a part of our lives these past years,
>
> David and Eva
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