Wednesday, January 2, 2008

This is, officially, my 100th post on this blog!

I am absolutely, completely, totally into the concept of a Saturday House. This is right up my alley.

Awhile back, an old friend had a women's themed idea like this. We'd get together on a regular basis and teach each other skills. If someone knew how to put up drywall, they would teach the other women "how to." To my knowledge, this never came to fruition.

I love the less structured approach. You're hanging out in a common space. You're thinking up cool ideas. You might even come up with the next big thing. You could do something crafty while you're sitting there solving the world's biggest issues. You could catch up on politics, you could share new music with each other. So many ways something like this could be put to use. You sip your cheap coffee (since you're making it by the pot and not paying someone else to brew it for you). You may even enjoy a glass of wine.

I also really like the idea of renting a community apartment like that. I could easily think of about 20 people who *might* be into something like this. Get that number up to 30 - and you could rent a $1,000 place for $35/month a person (or get 40 people to split an $850 apartment... and it is only a little over $20 a month). It's like renting an office space - except instead of doing it to get away from home distractions - you do it for the social interaction. For the sense of community.

Would this turn into a wasted space? Would people only use it to prefunk? I live in a shared house right now... so my desire for something like this is minimal. But would I participate in something like this when I live alone? Why would I do this when I could just invite people over to hang out? Of course, I wouldn't invite 35 people over to my small condo every Saturday. But, if I wanted, I could go to Saturday house every week. Or not go, and it wouldn't be the end of the world. Also... not to get all capitalist on you, dear reader... but is there potential to generate a profit? To have everyone contribute to something that could help the place break even, or even make money?

I'm going to let this idea simmer on the backburner for awhile. Hmmmm...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think it would all depend on the topic. The one in Ballard talking about sustainability would be a great one to attend... I think if you were working on a project and needed help with it, it might be a great place to brainstorm ideas... I think it could be fun where you create groups and you rent the facility nightly... one night it could be on Sustainability, another could be on computer language, another could be on blogs, etc... for each topic you want to do, create an event and pay $100 bucks to host the event there... then advertise it on a blog paid for by the LLC who rents the space and call it good... the most the attendance, the merrier.

Stacey said...

I think it's a great idea. There can be specific times for specific activities. $40 a month is a great deal if I could learn how to knit, do dry-wall, learn how to blog (I already know how to do that, but I could teach), take/teach a small yoga class, discuss politics, meet for a book club... I would totally join and host a class or discussion, and I think a lot of other people would, too.

GroundedGirl said...

I would be into this for sure. Knitting? Decoupage? Woodworking?
Writing circle? Salon (ideas, not hair)?

Site Meter