Melbourne Blender Society (Proposed)- Call for displays of interest.

David_Mac

As per a post submitted to Blender Nation:
___________________________________

Hello folks,

I've been teaching Blender as part of a game asset development course at the Center for Adult Education here in Melbourne, Australia, and I've been receiving emails enquiring about advanced training and community development.

It's become apparent that there are quite a few Blenderheads bobbing about this city keen to establish a home.

I'm in a position where I'll be able to secure facilities to house a monthly meeting for Blender enthusiasts in the CBD, but I need evidence of interest to support my applications.

I aim to establish a monthly summit for individuals to present papers concerning Blender project workflow and implementation, and to share Blender training with peers. Ideally these lectures would be recorded and made available to the International community by way of a centralised website.

There is a little work to be done, but for now I'd appreciate a display of interest. If you live in Melbourne and you'd like to participate in a monthly meet, please register your support by posting on this thread.

freen

Nice one, David.
I'm currently working at TV station where we are increasingly using blender in our pipeline.
I'm very interested. Count me in.

fatfinger

Yes Yes. That sounds like a great idea. Count me in.

ideasman42

Sounds great, I'm keen to get involved in more local blender stuff/.

andrew-101

I wouldn't mind going to something like that to learn blender a bit better.

David_Mac

Hello again, folks.

Seems that Blender Nation didn't want to run the promo for me- understandably... it's not really the spot to launch incentives like this one.

Leaves me in something of a bind with regard to informing Melbournites and generating interest. Can anyone suggets a suitable forum for the above missive?

I'm going to need at least a dozen people interested before I have any hope of securing a space to meet up.

Thanks for any suggestions.

freen

try DLF...

the industry seems to be peppered with blenderheads at the moment it would surprise me if a dozen isn't possible.

David_Mac

Quick post to let any interested folks know that the gears are clicking into place on this startup. Thanks for the PMs and sorry the lapse in replying via this forum. Hope to be back with some good news within a couple of weeks.

David.

BenDansie

Don't suppose Adelaide could get even for the Grand Prix and pinch this thing?
JK. Sounds like a neat idea, all the best.

David_Mac

Update: A representative from Melbourne's Academy of Interactive Entertainment has been in contact with me and has graciously offered the use of one of their rooms to host the Melbourne meet-up. We're booked in for the 14th of October, kicking off at 6pm.

I'm currently working on the website, and I'm due to post to the DLF later this evening.

Next step is tracking down volunteers to present to the group. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to volunteer your services... more info soon.

kay_Eva

Is it possible to put it on a webcam so outsiders can watch? I'd consider attending if only the meeting was taking place a few thousand miles closer to home xD

David_Mac

Quote:

Originally Posted by kay_Eva

Is it possible to put it on a webcam so outsiders can watch? I'd consider attending if only the meeting was taking place a few thousand miles closer to home xD

Aye- I've got a reliable friend with a half-decent video camera. If all goes according to plan we'll be hosting the events via Vimeo with links from a centralised website.

freen

Sounds good to me. Could you expand on what sort of presentations you are after?

David_Mac

G'day Freen- the original idea was to "present papers concerning Blender project workflow and implementation, and to share Blender training with peers". Talking about the experience of using the program in a workplace environment would prove very interesting I'm sure, or if you're obsessed with one element of Blender.. say.. compositing nodes... maybe you could run a 20-30 min chat on why you dig it so much & how you go about using it.

Another idea might be project WIPs or drafting sessions- people rock up with work that they're doing or projects that they'd like to undertake and discuss their plans/ get feedback from the group, etc etc.

I've used Blender to build assets for an independent game and a commissioned visualisation- I could talk about the experience of dealing with a client, review the project & what went right/ wrong etc... I'm sure others out there would have similar stories and insights they could share.

We've got a pc and a projector and 30-40 seats at the AIE. If people just want to sit around and talk Blender I really don't mind- guess the real aim here is to get people meeting each other & talking Blender. I imagine we'll have people turning up that have never used Blender before, and others that know the program very, very well so... at this point... if you've got a good idea, fire away.

AD-Edge

Sounds like a nice idea.

I wish we had something like that here in Adelaide, ive been thinking about getting one started, but really don't have the time or patience at the moment to organize such a thing...

freen

AD-Edge: there seem to be plenty of blenderheads in Adelaide. If you decide to do it, you shouldn't have problems finding people.

David: Well, I could definitely discuss using blender in a busy workplace.
However, It'd be more of a discussion rather than a presentation.

Your ideas sound good. Looking forward to it.