Come join DorkbotPDX for an evening of socializing, talking about odd hacks and poking around with other people toys. Bring things for show and tell if you like, or just bring a willingness to share your interests. We'll be the kids with all the coolest stuff on the table. Hope to see you there.

Dorkbot PDX brings you the next installation of its lecture series.

• Where: AboutUs 107 SE Washington St, Suite 520.
• When: Sunday, August 9th, 2009 -- 7pm

As always, the event is free and open to the public. Feel free to bring snacks and beverages to share. Please spread the word!

We are extremely honored to have two distinguished artists from New York visiting Portland and sharing their work with DorkbotPDX. Please help us welcome these amazing and inspiring dorks from across the way!

Michael Mandiberg

"FAIL, WIN!, FTW? Three Creative Commons Case Studies"

Michael Mandiberg is known for selling all of his possessions online on Shop Mandiberg, making perfect copies of copies on AfterSherrieLevine.com, and creating Firefox plugins that highlight the real environmental costs of a global economy on TheRealCosts.com . His current projects include the co-authored groundbreaking Creative Commons licensed textbook Digital Foundations: an Intro to Media Design that teaches Bauhaus visual principles through design software, HowMuchItCosts.us, a car direction site that incorporates the financial and carbon cost of driving, and Bright Bike, a retro-reflective bicycle treehugger.com praised as “obnoxiously bright.” He is a Senior Fellow at Eyebeam, and an Assistant Professor at the College of Staten Island/CUNY. He lives in, and rides his bicycle around, Brooklyn. His work lives at Mandiberg.com Open Dork

Your project, your dime!

OpenDork provides a flexible forum for people doing strange things with electricity to show off their work in a quick, formal, but relaxed setting. It's up to YOU! Do a quick demo, brag, ask for help, show off your stuff.

OpenDork talks/demos are short (generally 5-10 minutes) and may have slides, or hardware, or both, or neither. Get interactive! Marisa Olson

"Performed Listening"

Marisa Olson's work combines performance, video, net art, sound, drawing, and installation to address the cultural history of technology, the politics of participation within pop culture, and the aesthetics of failure. Her work has recently been presented by the Whitney Museum of American Art, Centre Pompidou-Paris, New Museum of Contemporary Art, 52nd International Biennale di Venezia, the British Film Institute, the Sundance Film Festival, and elsewhere. She's a Contributing Editor at Rhizome and Assistant Professor of New Media at SUNY-Purchase.

YPOP is hosting "Business for Culture and the Arts" for April's networking event for local professionals at the Heathman Hotel. The best networking in Portland, information on local arts organizations, drawings for great prizes, and enrollment for BCA's Art of Leadership program.

Vision planning for people who want to do something for a community.

Do you not yet have a vision statement written out, or would you like to tweak or revise? And do you say things like, "I'm hoping someone will want to contribute to my project: it is for the public good"? Then this workshop is for you.

Saturday, September 20th, 10am-12pm. Alex Linsker, Catherine Poole, and Russ Finkelstein will be the main facilitators and coaches of the workshop.

The main questions about your vision: Where are you coming from? What phrasing describes the reason why you’re doing this?

If related questions come up organically, we’ll explore. These questions are where groups like “Collective Agency” started.

Whether a website, open source project, discussion group, nonprofit startup, or something else, the main focus of the people who show up will be for the benefit of a group or groups of people (the "community"). We’ll have fun and develop a vision planning community of our own.

In 2 hours we will meet-and-greet (go around and say what we’re working on and what we’d like to happen with it), have a brief overview, then invest most of the time in one-on-one coaching in 15 minute sessions.

Coaches will each bring a vision plan for something they’ve done.

This event is free of charge. Coaching/mentoring/skill-sharing will be available here in the future with both free and paid options.

Please RSVP. Plancast is best, so people can see you're coming. Email [email protected] or tweet @alexlinsker with any questions.